Amy Grant '78 to be recognized at the 2022 Kennedy Center Honors

Grammy award winner Amy Grant Gill ’78 has been selected by the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts as one of the recipients of the 45th Kennedy Center Honors.

An accomplished singer-songwriter, Ms. Grant has sold nearly 18 million records, won six Grammy awards, over 20 Dove awards including Artist of the Year four times.

In 2021, she was inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame alongside Rhett Akins, Buddy Cannon, Toby Keith, and John Scott Sherrill.

Now, she will receive the prestigious Kennedy Center Honor alongside actor George Clooney, soul legend Gladys Knight, composer/conductor/educator Tania León, and the band U2. All will be celebrated at the center’s annual gala in Washington, D.C. on Dec. 4.

“Never in my wildest dreams did I imagine ever receiving this prestigious Kennedy Center Honors,” Ms. Grant said in a statement to the media.

“Through the years, I’ve watched so many of my heroes serenaded by colleagues and fellow artists, always moved by the ability of music and film to bring us together and to see the best in each other. I cannot wait to celebrate with my fellow honorees, friends, and family. Thank you for widening the circle to include all of us.”

Often nicknamed the “Queen of Christian Pop,” Ms. Grant became the first artist to bring contemporary Christian music to the forefront of American culture, according to the Kennedy Center’s website.

While a student at Harpeth Hall, Ms. Grant performed in the Frances Bond Davis Theatre as her career as a Grammy-winning artist began. Her peers named her Lady of the Hall her senior year, and almost two decades later, in 1996, Harpeth Hall honored her as a Distinguished Alumna. Ms. Grant remains active in the Harpeth Hall community, serving as an honorary trustee, and, in recent years, speaking to students at Step Singing and to alumnae audiences as part of reunion panels.