As a musician, motivational speaker, and renowned philanthropist, Natalie Grant has nurtured a generation of contemporary Christian musicians.
Staying true to her message, Grant has come under fire for many controversial opinions. Let’s find out more about her inconvenient lifestyle in this video, don’t forget to subscribe to the channel.
Early Life & Achievements:
Grant was born December 21, 1971, in Seattle, Washington. She enrolled at Northwest College in the same state, pursuing a career as a schoolteacher.
Grant had viewed her musical capabilities as secondary as compared to her academic pursuits, therefore she merely shared them 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.
In the same community, a Christian music group called Truth performed at her local church.
Grant was immediately drawn to the world of contemporary music. She auditioned with the band taking it as her calling; “I heard them perform and I said to myself, ‘This is what I’m supposed to be doing. And my whole life took a left turn.'”
Grant did not have the customary vocals normally associated with Christian contemporary singers.
She spent two years touring with Truth, admitting it was sometimes very difficult living on a bus and performing more than 300 shows a year. After leaving the group, she was approached by Benson Records in 1997.
Her first self-titled debut was released in 1999. However, soon left she left Benson for Pamplin Music to publish the much-renowned album Stronger in 2001.
By 2013, she had released 5 different studio albums, starting with Deeper Life in 2003.
With her breakthrough success, in 2005 through the same album; she followed it up with Love Revolution on August 24, 2010, and Hurricane on October 15, 2013.
The three albums released between 1999 and 2003 contained the majority of her hits during her career.
She has reported being very unhappy with the way she was imaged by her early record label which marketed her based on her physique and exterior appearance. and says of her first record, “It wasn’t me at all either.” In an interview with The 700 Club, Natalie revealed that she suffered from bulimia.
She says God helped her get over her eating disorder. She later wrote a book in 2005 titled The Real Me: Being the Girl God Sees, about her struggle and how she overcame it.
In an interview with CBN, Natalie explored the moment of realization and acceptance that helped her in her recovery journey, “He actually created us in His image.
And the more I began to just tell myself that ‘When God sees me He sees Himself’…He’s the fairest of ten thousand. So I think He kind of knows He’s got it going on.
And so I don’t think He looks at us and goes ‘Man I sure messed up on that one.”
However, all the credit goes to her enthusiasm and formidable talent which helped her produce her first widely successful album, Awaken.
The album was widely inspired by Grant’s involvement in campaigning against human trafficking. Her journey started after being affected by an episode in Law & Order that dealt with the topic of human trafficking.
Her efforts led her and her husband to travel to India to witness the red-light districts and what is being done to stop them.
Reminiscing about these surreal accounts of events, she said, “I was walking down the street in Mumbai, in broad daylight, when my eyes locked on a little girl, maybe 6 or 7 years old, peering out of a cage, looking at us on the street below.
It was beyond my imagination,” Natalie says of the experience. “I’ll never forget that moment. That was her life.
Every day people walked by, and they didn’t even notice her.” That experience changed the trajectory of Natalie’s life and reportedly changed the way she approaches her music.
She founded The Home Foundation to exterminate the industry of sex trafficking through aftercare accreditation, advocacy, education, and provision of restoration homes for victims of sex trafficking.
It later evolved into Abolition International, an international organization well-known in the worldwide philanthropic community.
See also: What Really Happened to Kari Jobe?
For her services and utmost dedication, Grant received the 2012 Bishop Ketteler Award for Social Justice from the Sisters of Divine Providence, honoring her for her work against human trafficking.
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.
She recently released her tenth studio album No Stranger on September 25, 2020. The lead single of the album “My Weapon” which was released on February 21, 2020, gained a lot of speculation by the media.
Grant is currently residing in Nashville, Tennessee, where she now lives with her Canadian husband, Bernie Herms, and their three daughters; Grace and Isabella, and Sadie.
Controversies:
Natalie Grant has stayed away from biased fronts in the Christian Music scene. However, as a part of the bigger music industry, many instances require an immediate response by these conservative artists.
This so happens that during the 2014 Grammy, Natalie Grant left the Grammy Awards following Macklemore & Ryan Lewis’s performance of “Same Love,” a song in support of gay rights, while Queen Latifah officiated the marriages of 33 gay and straight couples.
In response to her sudden exit, she relayed the following message to her fans; “We left the Grammy’s early.
I’ve many thoughts about the show tonight, most of which are probably better left inside my head. But I’ll say this: I’ve never been more honored to sing about Jesus and for Jesus. And I’ve never been more sure of the path I’ve chosen.”
Dozens of lgbt+ rights activists made sure to be heard in her comment section, while many others praised her for staying true to her faith despite the unconventional message at the Grammy Awards 2014.
Recently, in 2020 singer Natalie Grant and her husband, composer Bernie Herms were involved in another controversy regarding equality rights.
According to the analytics, they had lost thousands of fans after speaking up against systematic racism and police brutality in America following the death of George Floyd.
Grant, along with her husband hosted an Instagram Live exchange with a few of her African American friends for awareness about the workings of racism in America.
She shared. “What’s funny is Bernie and I have actually lost several thousand followers in the last five days because we posted about this issue, which, for me, shows the very thing I’m saying — it’s a heart issue.
At the very center of the Gospel of Jesus Christ is a message of reconciliation. That’s the center of the message of the Gospel.”
She brought up the need to address the white privilege within America which is ingrained in the social institutions within her country. “There is an immediate association with Black Lives Matter to liberalism or you’re automatically against anything conservatives stand for.
This is not us vs. Trump or Democrats vs Republicans. We’re literally just pleading for our lives to be considered in the same way anyone else’s should be. All lives do matter, yes, but all lives will matter when black lives matter.”
After multiple death threats and biased accusations, the couple posted multiple unwavering responses to their social media accounts and blocked all negativity from their comment section.
Conclusion:
Natalie Grant has made a name for herself on many fronts including the body positivity movement and gender equality. Rather than standing in opposition to the secular ideologies of her society, she has always dealt with it in kindness.
Throughout the albums, she has been fiercely determined to use her influence to compel others to see the tragedies of life itself and her philanthropic endeavors.
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