Amy Grant Shares Important Message About Heart Disease

Veteran singer Amy Grant revealed in February 2020 that she was diagnosed with a heart condition called partial anomalous pulmonary venous return. She underwent open-heart surgery in June last year.  Now, one year after first receiving her diagnosis, Grant stopped by ABC's Good Morning America to speak about her recovery and give her first performance since her surgery.

"I feel fantastic," she relates. "I just have this feeling like this is going to be the best year yet. I love it."

The singer says her experience with heart disease left her with an important message to share, especially with other women. February is American Heart Month, in addition to being the month during which Grant learned of her condition. Cardiovascular disease is the No. 1 cause of death among Americans - per the American Heart Association, one in three women die from the disease.

"I guess all I can really share is from my own story," Grant reflects when asked for her words of advice about heart health. "My birth defect was an encroaching killer, and I had no idea. And so my advice would be: Take care of yourself. The world needs you. Even if you feel like everything is fine, you don't really know what's going on inside."

She added that she believes women are especially prone to de-prioritizing taking care of their health, as they juggle many other responsibilities in life. "It's more like, 'Oh, my children, my grandchildren, my work, my spouse,' all of those things, and we need the gift of each other," she points out. "So even if you go, 'Oh, I've got nothing on the radar,' just get somebody else to check it out."

About Amy Grant:
Amy Grant's career spans more than 40 years and stretches from her roots in gospel into becoming an iconic pop star, songwriter, television personality and philanthropist. With three multi-platinum albums, six platinum albums and four gold albums, her total career album sales have exceeded 30 million and over 1 billion global streams. Grant's chart success has been consistent throughout her career with six No. 1 hits, 10 Top 40 pop singles, 17 Top 40 Adult Contemporary tracks and multiple Contemporary Christian chart-toppers. In addition to her six GRAMMY® Awards, Grant has earned 26 Dove Awards (including four Artist of the Year Awards) and has been awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame as well as the Music City Walk of Fame. Conventional wisdom has it that Grant put Contemporary Christian Music on the map becoming the first Contemporary Christian artist to have a platinum record, the first to hit No. 1 on the Pop charts and the first to perform at the GRAMMY® Awards.

With that, her legacy as one of the most influential artists of the past four decades is assured. In April of 2016, Grant celebrated the 25th anniversary of her iconic hit "Baby Baby" with a worldwide release of the song featuring pop sensation Tori Kelly. Tennessee Christmas released in late 2016, marked Grant's first all-new holiday album in nearly 20 years.  Last February, The T.J. Martell Foundation - the music industry's leading nonprofit to fund innovative medical research focused on treatments and cures for cancer - honored Grant with the Tony Martell Outstanding Entertainment Achievement Award at their 2020 Honors Gala. 

 

 

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