With the release of Simple Things, Amy Grant is making a comeback of sorts. But recent years have been anything but simple for Grant, who went through a very public divorce and remarriage. Just how complicated have things been? We asked, and here's what she had to say …

With last week's release of Simple Things (Word), her first pop album in six years, one might say Amy Grant is back.

Not that she ever left us, of course. Since her last pop album, 1997's contemplative Behind the Eyes, Grant has given us more warm yuletide fare (1999's A Christmas to Remember) and a marvelous collection of hymns (2002's Legacy).

For a few of those years, Grant laid relatively low while her personal life took center stage—much of it in the tabloids. In the late '90s, she had a much publicized friendship—and rumored romance—with country musician Vince Gill, who had divorced in 1997. Then came Grant's 1999 divorce from singer/songwriter Gary Chapman, her husband of 16 years and the father of their three children. A year later, the Grant-Gill romance rumors were confirmed as they walked down the aisle. And a year after that, Grant and Gill had a baby girl, Corinna.

In the wake of Grant's divorce, many Christian media—including Christianity Today International—avoided doing Amy Grant stories. Many Christian radio stations and bookstores refused to play her music or sell her records. Disillusioned fans turned their backs on her. It was open season on Amy Grant, and many Christians picked up their weapons. Some of the barbs were cruel, some merely speculative.

In early 2000, Christianity Today magazine questioned Grant's high visibility less than a year after her divorce ("Take a Little Time Out," February 7, 2000). The article noted that "neither Grant nor the Christian marketing industry, in promoting her concerts and albums, has missed a beat." That story noted Grant ads in two other CTI magazines, Today's Christian Woman and, irony of ironies, Marriage Partnership. The article concluded: "Whether Amy Grant and Vince Gill have found happiness amid the pain of others is a matter between them and their families, their church communities, and the Lord. But her dressing up and our propelling her public ministry, without taking time for serious reflection, violates what should be the Christian conviction about the sanctity of marriage."

Grant was aware of the backlash in the Christian community, but says she was mostly unfazed by it. She says all of her emotional energy was spent recovering from the pain of a broken marriage, investing in her new marriage and, soon thereafter, a new baby.

Over the next couple of years, Grant became more open about her regrets concerning her divorce. In May 2002, CCM magazine asked Grant what she would say to those who felt betrayed, confused or angry because of her divorce and remarriage. Grant replied, "The first thing I would say is, 'I'm sorry.' I did the best I could, and in some arenas, my best was not good enough. I've made some bad choices." And in a press release accompanying Simple Things (Word), released on August 19, Grant said she's had to "grapple with the shame that you feel when you've been through a divorce."

Simple Things is Grant's 18th CD. The multiple Grammy and Dove award winner has sold over 22 million albums; 1991's Heart in Motion, seen by some as the best contemporary Christian album of all time, sold more than 5 million copies.

ChristianityToday.com interviewed Grant on the day before Simple Things released. Here's what she had to say:

This is your first pop album in six years. Some are calling it a comeback. Would you agree?

Grant: That depends on how well it does! (Laughs).

Even though it's titled Simple Things, your life has been anything but simple for the last few years. Why didn't you call it Complicated Things?

Grant: Because that's not how I feel. The hard times are several years behind me now. This is probably the most peaceful stretch of life I've known as an adult.

You've decided to focus on the simple things that bring you peace?

Grant: A good friend once described me to somebody by saying, "She's actually a very simple person." I wondered if I should have been insulted. I said, "Look, I'm highly educated. I've traveled the world. I work hard." But then I got to thinking, It's true. I'm a simple person. Some people tend to live from trauma to trauma, and that energizes them. I have a hectic schedule, but my mind seeks simplicity—like being in nature, a long bike ride, or sitting on the back porch. My son Matt, who's almost 16, is just a whirling dervish of energy. One plan is ending, and he's always making five more plans. But if I wake up and have a great cup of coffee first thing in the morning, I have pegged the Thrill Meter for the day. I'm not looking for the Next Big Thing.

Many Christian media kind of backed away from Amy Grant stories after your divorce. Many Christian radio stations and bookstores stopped carrying your music. And many of your fans were disappointed in what had happened in your personal life. Do you understand why people felt that way, and do you think it was fair?

Grant: I would rather not comment on any of that. Anybody who's ever gone through a hard time—any outsider's perception, no matter how much information they're given, they have no idea what the person's life is like. It's two different worlds. But my energy was focused on trying to find my way out of a deep, dark wood, and getting good help that I trusted, and being involved with the people I was responsible for and responsible to. Beyond that extended family/friends/church base, there was no energy to consider who was putting the ban on me. If somebody made that choice, I totally respect that. But I had no interest in trying to justify anything to anybody.

You didn't feel like you had to do any kind of damage control?

Grant: With so much public perception, that's like trying to put out a grass fire. And whenever I thought I was being dealt with unjustly, I would think, Some day, this is all going to play out in heaven, and everybody will see the full picture, and it won't even matter. That was always my thought process, just doing the things I felt I needed to do, and letting other people do what they felt they needed to do.

In stories I've read, it seems like you've been seeking forgiveness for your divorce. Does it seem that Christians have been slow to extend grace and forgiveness?

Grant: That depends who you're talking to. I just did an interview with a Christian radio station, and he asked, "How have you found people to be?" He was anticipating that my personal experience was that people have been very judgmental. But my experience is that people who have been through painful, difficult times are filled with compassion. And those compassionate people were the first to say, "Keep putting one foot in front of the other. God's merciful in Plan B. Don't give up. It was never about your goodness in the first place." Those were the people who filled the horizon of my world. Those were the people who said, "Hey let's just say a prayer right now," and they would lead me through the most merciful prayer that reminded me of God's love. I have not had one face-to-face lambasting from anybody.

Everybody's entitled to think whatever they want and to express that, but my personal day-to-day experience does not come into contact with any of those people. I'm not surrounded by "yes men"—far from it. But I think people are a lot braver to say things from their own soapbox. From a distance, it's easy to be judgmental and grandiose about your opinions. But none of us, face-to-face with a wounded human being, often chooses to be cruel. Do I think I've been the emotional piñata at a few parties? Maybe, but they were never parties that I was invited to.

On your new CD, the song "Eye to Eye" includes the line, "I'd like to figure out a way to leave a troubled past behind." Have you figured that out yet?

Grant: From a songwriting standpoint, I'd give an A to "Eye to Eye." But it was a group effort; Keith Thomas and I wrote the song together. So, don't read it as entirely autobiographical. The line you quoted, part of it is true, and part of it is poetic license.

"Happy," the opening song on Simple Things, begins with a line that includes the words "behind your eyes." Your last pop album was called Behind the Eyes. That's no coincidence, right?

Grant: It was just a coincidence. The decision to start the album with "Happy" was not my choice.

What was your first choice?

Grant: I wanted to start with "Out in the Open," because that was the first song written for the album. I wrote it in 1999, when I finally started being creative again, when I felt the first real experiences of forgiveness and moving past shame to something better. As for the sequencing of songs on the album, I have a circle of people I work with, and we all have an equal vote. Even though I wanted to start with "Out in the Open," I got voted down! (Laughs.)

There's a nice mix of good old-fashioned love songs and songs of faith. How do you decide the mix?

Grant: I want to hear both types of songs. I am a music lover. For me, the backdrop of half the experiences of life includes music. It never crosses my mind, This is what people want to hear. My thinking is, This is a song I wrote thinking about my niece. Or, This is an idea that came to me when I looked at Vince across the table the other night. Every one of those songs, even the two I didn't write, was so life appropriate, though not necessarily autobiographical.

What's it like working with Vince on your records?

Grant: We didn't work together much on this one, but it's always the easiest thing in the world. I'm a huge fan of his, and I think he's an incredible talent. On this record, he played mandolin on one song, and sang a duet and a background part. It was very different with Legacy (Word, 2002), when he was a producer, directing me. When he produced Legacy, he was very encouraging, very nurturing.

Do your kids dig your music?

Grant: None of them have listened to the new record. The only one I asked to listen to it was Millie, who's 13. I put it up in her room about four months ago and said, "Would you listen to this, and tell me your three least favorite songs?"

That's an interesting way to ask!

Grant: That's what I'm always curious about. But she never did listen! But we were in the car yesterday with a couple of my teenage nieces, and they have really connected with this record.

So, what are your kids listening to?

Grant: Matt (15) has diverse tastes. He loves Radiohead and Coldplay. He likes Incubus, but their language gets a little bit rough. He likes some harder stuff, like Linkin Park. Millie is more into soundtrack stuff. Sarah (10) leans more toward Dixie Chicks and Jo Dee Messina and country. Corinna is actually the only one who listens to my stuff, and it's because she's only 2! I put her to sleep every night to Legacy.

But around my house, the release of Simple Things is no big deal. The much bigger news around my house is that Sarah, who's entering fifth grade, is getting contact lenses. That's the big news bulletin in our home. But that's real life!

To read more about Amy and her new album, visit her artist page, where you will also find previous interviews and reviews of her albums, including Simple Things. You can listen to song clips and purchase her music at Musicforce.com.

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