Amy Grant News and Articles

Amy Grant is a survivor. After all, she has withstood musical trends, tabloid headlines and the big-hair days of the '80s and '90s. At 44, she's happily married to country star Vince Gill and has five children, including a stepdaughter. For the first time in her career, she's hosting a reality show, Three Wishes, which premières Sept. 23 on NBC. Before she turns all her attention to the show, she's doing a quick concert tour that stops in Phoenix.Gill will play in the band during the show, which Grant promises will cover her career of nearly 30 years. That means fans can expect such pop hits as Baby Baby, Good for Me and The Next Time I Fall, as well as such early favorites as El Shaddai, Father's Eyes and I Have Decided that made her contemporary Christian music's first bona fide superstar.

Grant still puts her fans' hearts in motion, even if she won't be wearing that infamous leopard-print jacket that launched so many teenage fantasies all those years ago.

You've always had great hair.

(Laughing) "Oh, the hair."

Is there a secret to it?

"Well, I don't it dye it or streak it or anything. At 44, I haven't developed that much gray. And I inherited my dad's naturally curly hair, so that's good. I think it looks best when I wash and straighten it and then let the natural wave sneak back in. If I let it dry naturally, it's wildly curly."

How does Vince like it?

"Long. Men like long hair."

And you?

"I like it long enough to pull it back. If it's too long, I don't like it. We used to have these missionaries come into my church when I was younger, and this one missionary would come back every 18 months with the same hairstyle, but it had gotten longer. I don't want missionary hair - nothing against missionaries."

So there's no special shampoo you use?

"Well, whatever's in the hotel, which isn't necessarily great for your hair. Right now we have a Paul Mitchell product in the shower, and I'm not quite sure how it got there. I use (Clairol) Herbal Essence or Redken Cream Rinse. I'm not picky - I could use better things."

Any fashion choices you made that you regret?

"Oh yeah (laughing). From the Heart in Motion tour, there are so many things on that tour that I look at and think, 'Just where were my friends?' I think all the times I was trying to have a "look," those are the things that look so odd to me now."

Do you look back at that stuff often?

"No, but I did this greatest-hits DVD last year and it was interesting. I never really had the opportunity to see all the videos back to back, and I was pleased at how often I saw myself in blue jeans and a T-shirt. That's truly a staple as my comfort clothes. Wild colors, shoulder pads, big hair, that comes and goes, but blue jeans and a T-shirt always work."

Do you still have the leopard-print jacket?

"Yes, somewhere. It's not like it's hanging in my bedroom closet."

Is that probably your greatest fashion statement?

"I think it's probably my only fashion statement."

Amy Grant will perform at 7:30 p.m. Aug. 16 at the Celebrity Theatre, 440 N. 32nd St., Phoenix.

Tickets are $25-$45 and available at (602) 267-1600 or www.celebritytheatre.com.