Amy Grant‘s entire world came to a screeching halt in July, when a bike accident left her unconscious for about ten minutes, followed by a nearly week-long hospital stay. The singer-songwriter thought the fall of 2022 would be her busiest, with a tour in support of the release of Behind The Eyes (25th Anniversary Expanded Edition). Instead, Grant found herself home, postponing those tour dates while she recovered from her injuries in her Nashville home.
“It has been the quietest season of my life,” Grant tells The Washington Post. Indeed, her recovery time included very little work, as she was told to limit screen time and focus on rest and healing. For someone who has worked nearly nonstop since her debut album came out 45 years ago, the break was not something Grant did easily.
“There are times in our lives where we can just be so busy that you’re present, but you’re also ticking off that list of things that need to be done,” Grant reflects. “Or somebody sits down for a conversation and you’re giving 100 percent attention, but you also can’t make the next thing on the calendar completely go away. That was the biggest adjustment.”
Grant remembers nothing of the accident, which caused her to lose consciousness for about ten minutes, or her time in the hospital. Her memory came back in pieces, something she can find humor in now.
“I was just trying to remember people’s, like my extended family, names,” Grant recalls. “Every conversation would start with ‘Are they dead or alive?’”
Grant’s friend who was with her when the accident occurred, later told Grant that she repeated the same three phrases over and over.
“’I can’t believe I still have my teeth,'” Grant shares. ‘Something is wrong with my shoulder,’ [and] ‘I needed this.'”
“It’s crazy that I don’t have a memory of that conversation,” Grant admits. “So I just look at this season of my life and go: Some things are a mystery to us, but they happen.”
Grant is back on tour, with her Christmas With Amy Grant & Michael W. Smith Tour, which will be followed by her Christmas at the Ryman with Amy Grant & Vince Gill residency. Now ready to return to the stage, the 62-year-old has nothing but gratitude for her season of rest.
“I have worked and loved it from the time I was in high school,” Grant says. “And what a gift to have total rhythm change when there’s still a whole lot of work ahead.”
Grant’s career will be recognized this Sunday, when she is one of the recipients of the Kennedy Center Honors,
“The timing of this … it’s really given me the opportunity to look at the majority of my life,” Grant acknowledges. “And kind of, I don’t know — just wrap my arms around the whole thing. I mean, that’s a gift for anybody.”
Grant will be honored along with U2, Gladys Knight, George Clooney, and composer and conductor Tania León.
The Kennedy Center Honors ceremony will air on Wednesday, December 28, on CBS. Find tour dates at AmyGrant.com.
