Natalie Grant

Natalie Diane Grant (born December 21, 1971 in Seattle, Washington) is an American contemporary Christian music singer and songwriter. She is a four-time Female Vocalist of the Year Dove Award winner and a nine-time Grammy nominee. In addition to garnering nearly 1 billion streams and multiple number #1 albums and singles on the Billboard Christian charts, she is also a respected author and philanthropist. She is the co-founder of Hope for Justice, a non-profit organization in the fight against human trafficking, which has 32 offices across 9 countries and 5 continents and has helped over 102,000 children in the last few years.

Born and raised in Washington state, Grant enrolled at Northwest College (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.

Grant first started in contemporary Christian music when she auditioned for the travelling music group Truth. Later she moved to Nashville, Tennessee to pursue her solo career. There she signed with Benson Records in 1997 and began working on her self-titled debut which was released in 1999. She left Benson for Pamplin Music soon after and released the album Stronger in 2001. She then ended up at Curb Records after Pamplin folded, where she remained starting with Deeper Life in 2003. Awaken was her breakthrough success, in 2005. It was RIAA gold certified.

More albums would continue to follow.

Grant 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.

In 2005, Grant also authored her first book The Real Me: Being the Girl God Sees, about her struggle with bulimia and how she overcame it. On October 23, 2012, Grant received the 2012 Bishop Ketteler Award for Social Justice from the Sisters of Divine Providence, who honored her for her work against human trafficking.

Grant currently lives in Nashville with her Canadian husband producer Bernie Herms and their three daughters; Grace, Isabella and Sadie.

NOTE: Natalie Grant is not related to CCM singer - songwriter Amy Grant.

More information on Natalie Grant at Wikipedia:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Natalie_Grant

Discography

Natalie Grant (1999)

Stronger (2001)

Deeper Life (2003)

Worship with Natalie Grant and Friends (2004)

Awaken (2005)

Believe (2005)

Relentless (2008)