Debrah Inspired By Amy Grant

Hi ladies and happy Tuesday! I hope and pray that each of you ladies and your families are doing well. I'm happy to present another blog called "Debrah Inspired By Amy Grant". You may wonder who is Amy Grant? Well Amy was born in 1960 the youngest of four daughters to her late Christian parents Bill and Gloria and lived in Nashville, Tennessee. Just side note she's not at all related to Natalie Grant who's born in 1971 and is the youngest of five kids and was born and raised in Seattle, Washington. (Side note I wrote blogs honoring Natalie Grant.) Anyway Amy grew up singing hymns in church but she didn't get saved until her early teens in 1973 at "Belmont Church". She began writing songs and playing acoustic guitar shortly after getting saved. Amy swept floors at a recording studio and made a demo tape specifically for her parents. Well Brown Bannister (father of Contemporary Christian artist Ellie Holcomb) played her demo tape for Christian record deal with Word records and called her late at night about it. Amy's dad got upset for being on the phone too late having no idea that Brown called offering Amy a record deal and was signed to Word records for over thirty years prior to her signing with Sparrow records! (Side note Sparrow records is also a Christian record deal.) Well Amy in 1977 released her self-titled debut album, 1978 finished high school, went to college, in 1979 released "My Father's Eyes" and in 1980 released "Never Alone". Amy eventually dropped out of college and her first three albums did well but it wasn't until 1982 "Age To Age" is when she became popular and known for her signature song "El Shaddai" where she won first Grammy award. Also in 1982 she got married to her boyfriend and Christian artist Gary Chapman and had three kids Matthew born in 1987, Gloria Mills nickname "Millie" in 1989, and Sarah born in 1992. Also throughout the 1980s, Amy released more albums, won Dove, and Grammy awards and became known as a Contemporary Christian artist. But in the 1990s things changed and released her 1991 album "Heart In Motion" and it was a pop album not a "Christian album". Her hit single was "Baby Baby" causing acceptance for the mainstream world but backlash in the Christian music industry. She continued to release more pop albums while also dealing with troubles in her first marriage to Gary Chapman. Gary for a season battled with alcohol and drug addiction but God helped him through it and there were other issues going on too. In 1999, Amy faced another backlash on her getting divorced from Gary Chapman and started dating friend and country artist Vince Gill (also a divorced parent) shortly after. In 2000, Amy and Vince got married while Gary married his second wife Jenny. (They later divorced in 2007 and in 2008 married Cassie and adopted a daughter later on.) Amy's three kids didn't like Vince at first but grew to like him overtime which are the challenges of a blended family. In 2001, Amy and Vince had their daughter Corinna which brought unity in their blended family and inspired her to go back to her gospel roots. In 2002, Amy marked her 25th anniversary in the music industry and released "Legacy, Hymns, & Faith" as a sign she returned back to doing Contemporary Christian music and has released several albums since then. Amy's kids (including Corrina) and her stepdaughter Jenny are adults and many of them are married with kids making Amy and Vince grandparents! What does that have to do with Debrah? Well Debrah grew up singing hymns in church, plays acoustic guitar, is a alto, lived in Nashville, Tennessee, a household name, won Dove and Grammy awards like Amy Grant. Debrah's first husband was a Christian musician but sadly had troubles in her first marriage that sadly led to divorce and eventually getting remarried which resulted in a blended family as well. When Debrah remarried it was to an old friend similar to Amy. Debrah also has had a long career in the Contemporary Christian music world and is a loving grandmother as well too. What are their differences? Amy was born in 1960 and has brown hair and Debrah was born in 1972 and has blond hair. Amy was born in Nashville Tennessee, while Debrah was born in Springfield Missouri. Amy's the youngest of four daughters while Debrah is the oldest of two daughters. Debrah was a pastor's kid and came from a lineage of pastors and though Amy's late parents were Christians they were never pastors. Amy's parents are in heaven while Debrah's parents are still living. Amy became a Contemporary Christian artist as a teenager while Debrah didn't become one until after college. Amy dropped out of college while Debrah attended "Evangel University" (freshman and sophomore year in college) and "Belmont University" (her junior and senior year in college) and graduated from college. Amy did mainstream music while Debrah stayed true to Contemporary Christian music. Amy has always been a solo artist while Debrah was in a couple of bands before being a solo artist. Amy has kids from her first marriage while Debrah had infertility struggles from her first marriage and couldn't have biological kids in her previous marriage. Amy's first and second marriage were to white men while Pastor Rudy Debrah's second husband is black. That's what I wanted to share with you ladies. If you haven't gotten my Debrah book go on Amazon to get it. Blessings to each of you ladies and have a blessed week everyone.






