Amy Grant: 31 years ago today, “That’s What Love Is For” was in its third and final week at #1 on the Billboard Adult Contemporary Charts

BrianWilkins.org
December 17, 2022

I will forever and always miss these days. Amy Grant had a stellar 1991.

“Baby, Baby” reached #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 on April 27, 1991, and #1 on the Billboard Adult Contemporary (A.C.) Charts on May 4, 1991. “Every Heartbeat” peaked at #2 on the A.C. Charts on August 10, 1991, and #2 on the Hot 100 in August 17, 1991.

Both of those songs are tied to so many great memories. But not as many as “That’s What Love Is For.” The song topped out at #7 on the Billboard Hot 100 on November 23, 1991. But it hit the top spot on the A.C. Charts on November 30, 1991 and stayed there for three weeks.

Richard Marx and “Keep Coming Back” overtook Amy Grant on December 21, 1991.

Grant won six Grammy Awards as a gospel singer, five of them before entering the pop scene in the mid-1980s. Her 1982 album Age to Age was the first Christian album ever to be certified platinum. The single “El Shaddai” (a Hebrew term meaning “God Almighty” in English) won the Gospel Music Awards (GMA) Song of the Year.

But Grant often straddled the line between Christian singer and pop singer through the 1990s.

In a 1985 interview, the then 25-year-old said it was hard for her to remain “pure” until marriage in 1982. She would “flirt” but go no further as a teen. Grant wanted to have fun like any other young person, but got funny stares when she brought up Jesus in conversations.

Evangelical groups attacked her for her on-stage ensembles, semi-racy (from a conservative perspective) pop videos, and ostracized her when she got divorced in March 1999, and married country singer Vince Gill less than one year later. Mainstream media and tabloids were all over the story. Gill and Grant had a very awkward interview on CNN’s Larry King Live in December 2003 when he asked them about how it all went down.

Despite all that, Amy won her sixth Grammy in 2005 for the Best Southern, Country or Bluegrass Gospel Album, Rock of Ages…Hymns and Faith. Though nominated for many, she never won a Grammy as a pop artist.

I’d rather not know or even think about what Amy Grant is up to today. But that’s no different than nearly all other 1980s and 1990s singers and songwriters who made lasting impressions. If only we could have frozen time back then.

“That’s What Love Is For” is one of my top-10 songs of all time, based solely on the number of times I’ve played it in my life. The memories will always be there. Thank you, Amy.