Natalie Diane Grant (born December 21, 1971) is an American singer and songwriter of
contemporary Christian music
Contemporary Christian music, also known as CCM, Christian pop, and occasionally inspirational music is a genre of modern popular music, and an aspect of Christian media, which is lyrically focused on matters related to the Christian faith and s ...
. She received the
Gospel Music Association
The Gospel Music Association (GMA) is a nonprofit organization founded in 1964 for the purpose of supporting and promoting the development of all forms of gospel music. As of 2011, there are about 4,000 members worldwide. The GMA's membership co ...
's
Dove Award
A Dove Award is an accolade by the Gospel Music Association (GMA) of the United States to recognize outstanding achievement in the Christian music industry. The awards are presented annually. Formerly held in Nashville, Tennessee, the Dove Awards ...
for
Female Vocalist of the Year four consecutive years (2006, 2007, 2008 and 2009), and again in 2012. She has also been nominated for eight
Grammy Awards
The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pres ...
(2012, 2014, 2015, 2017, 2018 and 2020).
Early life
Grant was born December 21, 1971 in Seattle, Washington.
She enrolled at
Northwest College
Northwest College is a Public college, public community college in Powell, Wyoming.
History
Northwest College opened in 1946, as the "University of Wyoming Northwest Center," with the support of the University of Wyoming and the local school dis ...
(Now Northwest University) in Kirkland, Washington, studying to be a schoolteacher.
She reportedly figured that her musical gifts were merely for sharing with her local church until she learned how to find God's true calling for her life, and so switched directions and began a career in Christian music.
Career
Grant first started in contemporary Christian music when she auditioned for the travelling music group
Truth
Truth is the property of being in accord with fact or reality.Merriam-Webster's Online Dictionarytruth 2005 In everyday language, truth is typically ascribed to things that aim to represent reality or otherwise correspond to it, such as beliefs ...
.
Later she moved to Nashville, Tennessee to pursue her solo career.
There she signed with
Benson Records
Benson Records was founded by Bob Benson and John T. Benson, who formed the John T. Benson Music Publishing Company in 1902. The record label started out as Heart Warming Records, creating house labels such as Impact Records, Greentree Records, R ...
in 1997 and began working on her self-titled debut which was released in 1999. She left Benson for
Pamplin Music
Pamplin Music was an independent Christian record label founded in 1995 by Robert B. Pamplin Jr. The label was a subunit of Pamplin Entertainment and in turn Pamplin Communications, which was already established in the Christian media market thr ...
soon after and released the album ''
Stronger'' in 2001. She then ended up at
Curb Records
Curb Records (also known as Asylum-Curb and formerly known as MCG Curb) is an American record label started by Mike Curb, originally as Sidewalk Records in 1963. From 1969 to 1973, Curb merged with MGM Records where Curb served as President of ...
after Pamplin folded, where she has made five solo albums as of 2012, starting with ''
Deeper Life
''Deeper Life'' is the third studio album by Contemporary Christian music singer Natalie Grant. It was released on February 11, 2003, through Curb Records. The entire album lasts for about 49minutes of play time.
Critical reception
Jonathan Wid ...
'' in 2003. ''
Awaken'' was her breakthrough success, in 2005. It was
RIAA certified
In the United States, the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) awards certification based on the number of albums and singles sold through retail and other ancillary markets. gold. It was followed by ''
Love Revolution'' on August 24, 2010 and ''
Hurricane
A tropical cyclone is a rapidly rotating storm system characterized by a low-pressure center, a closed low-level atmospheric circulation, strong winds, and a spiral arrangement of thunderstorms that produce heavy rain and squalls. Depend ...
'' on October 15, 2013.
Grant released three albums between 1999 and 2003, although the majority of her hits came later in her career. She has since reported being unhappy with the way she was imaged by her early record label which marketed her partly on her looks and says of her first record, "It wasn't me at all either."
However, she credits her early albums with having been necessary to her progressing and growing into an artist that takes control of such decisions, starting with her first widely successful album, ''Awaken''.
Another factor that was essential to her later success was a life-altering trip to India in 2004. Not only did this trip inspire her charitable pursuits, "but it brought a new passion and direction to her music." Instead of focusing only on what song might be a hit, Grant reports that she now focuses on songs that will inspire, give hope, and motivate others to make their lives matter.
There have been other noteworthy events along the way. She wrote a book entitled ''The Real Me'' in 2005. She toured on the Speaking Louder Than Before tour with
Bebo Norman
Jeffery Stephen "Bebo" Norman (born May 29, 1973) is a former contemporary Christian musician from Columbus, Georgia, US. His most successful album to date is ''Myself When I Am Real'', which included hit songs "Great Light of the World" and "Fall ...
and
Jeremy Camp
Jeremy Thomas Camp (born January 12, 1978) is an American contemporary Christian music singer and songwriter from Lafayette, Indiana. He has released eleven albums, four of them RIAA-certified as Gold, and two live albums. Camp's original musi ...
in 2008. She contributed the song "Breathe On Me" to
Crystal Aikin
Crystal Renee Aikin (born September 21, 1974) is an American gospel singer-songwriter from Tacoma, Washington, and the winner of the first season of '' Sunday Best''. Her eponymous debut album was released on January 13, 2009, through Verity ...
's
self-titled debut album. She was a speaker and performer on the Revolve Tour, a conference for teen girls from Women of Faith. She toured with award-winning, multi-platinum selling Billboard magazine's Artist of The Decade
MercyMe
MercyMe is an American contemporary Christian music band founded in Edmond, Oklahoma. The band consists of lead vocalist Bart Millard, percussionist Robby Shaffer, bassist Nathan Cochran and guitarists Michael Scheuchzer and Barry Graul.
The b ...
in April 2011. Also, in October 2011 she starred in the Gospel Music Channel (GMC) made-for-television movie ''Decision''.
On September 27, 2013, it was announced that Grant would be hosting the
GSN original game show ''
It Takes a Church'', which premiered on June 5, 2014.
She released her tenth studio album ''
No Stranger'' on September 25, 2020. It was preceded by the lead single "
My Weapon" which was released on February 21, 2020.
Personal life
In pursuing her music career, Grant moved to
Nashville, Tennessee
Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the List of muni ...
, where she now lives with her Canadian producer husband,
Bernie Herms
Bernhard "Bernie" Herms (born March 26, 1972) is a Canadian composer, songwriter, and music producer in Nashville, Tennessee. He has received and been nominated for Grammy Awards, GMA Dove Awards, and GMA Canada Covenant Awards, due to his song ...
, and their three daughters; Grace and Isabella (born 2007) and Sadie (born 2010)
In an interview with ''
The 700 Club
''The 700 Club'' is the flagship television program of the Christian Broadcasting Network, airing each weekday in syndication in the United States and available worldwide on CBN.com. The news magazine program features live guests, daily news, co ...
'', Natalie revealed that she suffered from
bulimia
Bulimia nervosa, also known as simply bulimia, is an eating disorder characterized by binge eating followed by purging or fasting, and excessive concern with body shape and weight. The aim of this activity is to expel the body of calories eate ...
. She says God helped her get over her eating disorder. She later wrote a book in 2005 titled ''The Real Me: Being the Girl God Sees'', about her struggle and how she overcame it.
Philanthropy
Grant is involved in campaigning against
human trafficking
Human trafficking is the trade of humans for the purpose of forced labour, sexual slavery, or commercial sexual exploitation for the trafficker or others. This may encompass providing a spouse in the context of forced marriage, or the extrac ...
. She was affected by an episode of ''
Law & Order
''Law & Order'' is an American police procedural and legal drama television series created by Dick Wolf and produced by Wolf Entertainment, launching the '' Law & Order'' franchise.
''Law & Order'' aired its entire run on NBC, premiering on ...
'' that dealt with the topic and began to do research. Her studies led her and her husband to travel to India to witness the
red-light districts
A red-light district or pleasure district is a part of an urban area where a concentration of prostitution and sex-oriented businesses, such as sex shops, strip clubs, and adult theaters, are found. In most cases, red-light districts are particu ...
and what is being done to stop them. That experience changed the trajectory of Natalie's life and reportedly changed the way she approaches her music.
In 2005 Grant founded The Home Foundation, which has since evolved into Abolition International, an international organization to eradicate sex trafficking through aftercare accreditation, advocacy, and education and provision of restoration homes for victims of sex trafficking.
On October 23, 2012, Grant received the 2012 Bishop Ketteler Award for Social Justice from the Sisters of Divine Providence, who honoured her for her work against human trafficking.
Discography
* 1999: ''
Natalie Grant
Natalie Diane Grant (born December 21, 1971) is an American singer and songwriter of contemporary Christian music. She received the Gospel Music Association's Dove Award for Female Vocalist of the Year four consecutive years (2006, 2007, 2008 an ...
''
* 2001: ''
Stronger''
* 2003: ''
Deeper Life
''Deeper Life'' is the third studio album by Contemporary Christian music singer Natalie Grant. It was released on February 11, 2003, through Curb Records. The entire album lasts for about 49minutes of play time.
Critical reception
Jonathan Wid ...
''
* 2004: ''Worship with Natalie Grant and Friends''
* 2005: ''
Awaken''
* 2005: ''
Believe''
* 2008: ''
Relentless
Relentless may refer to:
Film
* ''Relentless'' (1948 film), an American film directed by George Sherman
* ''Relentless'', a 1977 American television film starring Will Sampson
* ''Relentless'' (1989 film), an American crime film starring Jud ...
''
* 2010: ''
Love Revolution''
* 2013: ''
Hurricane
A tropical cyclone is a rapidly rotating storm system characterized by a low-pressure center, a closed low-level atmospheric circulation, strong winds, and a spiral arrangement of thunderstorms that produce heavy rain and squalls. Depend ...
''
* 2015: ''
Be One''
* 2020: ''
No Stranger''
Bibliography
* 2005: ''The Real Me: Being the Girl God Sees''
* 2014: ''Dare to Be Devoted: 30 Day Devotional''
* 2016: ''A Dolphin Wish'' (Faithgirlz / Glimmer Girls)
* 2016: ''London Art Chase'' (Faithgirlz / Glimmer Girls)
* 2016: ''Miracle in Music City'' (Faithgirlz / Glimmer Girls)
* 2016: ''Finding Your Voice: What Every Woman Needs to Live Her God-Given Passions Out Loud''
Filmography
Awards and nominations
GMA Dove Awards
Grammy Awards
References
External links
*
Grant's videoson
YouTube
YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...
Grant's videoson
GodTube
GodTube is an online video platform which strives to have Christian content. It is owned by Salem Web Network, the internet division of Salem Communications. GodTube includes music videos, comedy, children, animals, sports, news and inspirat ...
{{DEFAULTSORT:Grant, Natalie
1971 births
Living people
20th-century American singers
20th-century Christians
20th-century American women singers
21st-century American singers
21st-century Christians
21st-century American women singers
American game show hosts
American performers of Christian music
Christian music songwriters
Christians from Washington (state)
Curb Records artists
Musicians from Seattle
Performers of contemporary Christian music