For Christian artist Natalie Grant, Christmas has always meant coming home, and this year, that word carries more weight than ever.
“It’s crazy to me that it’s exactly 20 years since my last Christmas record,” the nine-time Grammy-nominated singer told The Christian Post. “I always knew that as soon as I got the chance, I’d do another one. And the moment I fulfilled my record deal, that’s exactly what I did.”
Grant’s new album, Christmas, marks both a creative homecoming and a personal one. After two decades under Curb Records, Grant said her new independence has opened a floodgate of creative freedom and sentimentality.
“I’ve built an entire Christmas brand off a 20-year-old record,” she said. “So to finally return to that place, with new music and my family as my inspiration, feels full circle.”
The 53-year-old singer, who has received the Gospel Music Association’s Dove Award for Female Vocalist of the Year four consecutive years, grew up in Seattle, the youngest of five children in what she calls “a big, singing family.”
Each Christmas Eve, they’d gather around the piano, a tradition she still carries on today. “Now there’s about 40 of us when you count all the spouses and grandkids,” she said. “Everybody can sing, it’s like a choir.”
Grant carried that community spirit into her new album, co-produced by her husband, composer and producer Bernie Herms. Her take on “Jingle Bells,” inspired by Ella Fitzgerald’s classic version, was recorded live with horns, background singers and a single shared microphone.
“It’s all real, real strings, real horns, everyone in the room together,” Grant said. “We asked, ‘How would it have been recorded back then?’ and tried to replicate that. It’s a throwback to mid-century studio sessions.”
The album also carries deep reverence; Grant’s duet with MercyMe frontman Bart Millard on “Silent Night” features a subtle lyrical shift that emphasizes the peace the Son of God brings to the world.
“At the end, instead of ‘sleep in heavenly peace,’ we sing, ‘now we can sleep in heavenly peace,'” Grant said. “That one line says it all for me. Because of Christ the Savior, we can rest in that peace. It’s my favorite moment on the record.”
Motherhood, too, has shaped Grant’s creative lens. This year will be the first Christmas her twin daughters, Gracie and Bella, will return home from college. The singer said she recorded “I’ll Be Home for Christmas” just before her daughters left for school.
“It’s a whole new meaning,” she said. “I get why my mom used to count down the sleeps until I came home. Now I’m that person, with a calendar, counting the days. … I sobbed every time I tried to sing it. I recorded it before they left, but I already knew what was coming. My husband Bernie and I were emotional wrecks.”
“There’s so much life in these songs,” she said. “It’s not just nostalgia. It’s faith, family and peace, peace that’s not just a feeling but a person.”
Grant is also celebrating another milestone in the story of Christian music: the opening of the Museum of Gospel & Christian Music in downtown Nashville, where several of her dresses are on display.
“It’s a huge deal,” she said. “Most people think of Nashville as the home of country music, but we actually got the name Music City from the Fisk Jubilee Singers, a gospel choir who sang for the Queen of England. She said, ‘Surely they are from a city of music.’ That’s where it started.”
Grant, who was part of the museum’s inaugural celebration, characterized the space as a long-overdue acknowledgment of the genre’s foundational influence.
“The Ryman Auditorium was built as a tabernacle to host a revival,” she said. “So much of this city’s history is rooted in gospel, and this museum finally gives that music its rightful home.”
She hopes the museum’s presence on bustling Broadway, surrounded by honky-tonks and neon lights, will serve as what she calls “a megaphone for hope.” “There’s all this wonderful music downtown,” she said, “but there are also people who need Jesus. To have this beacon right in the middle of it all is incredible.”
Grant, who released her debut album in 1999, has witnessed the evolution of the Christian music industry — from small labels and church circuits to arena tours and crossover hits like Forrest Frank’s “Your Way’s Better” and Brandon Lake and Jelly Roll’s “Hard Fought Hallelujah,” which they performed at this year’s Dove Awards.
Today’s cultural moment, she said, is both a renewal and an awakening.
“When I started, Christian music was desperate to cross over,” she said. “Now we’re watching mainstream artists cross into Christian music because the message has changed their lives. You can feel it. People are desperate for hope.”
She pointed to what she calls a broader spiritual shift, a hunger for meaning reflected in everything from the success of “The Chosen” to major networks investing in faith-based stories.
“Scripture talks about a great falling away and a great awakening,” she said. “It’s happening at the same time. Yes, the world feels dark, but God is still revealing Himself through His people.”
That hope, she said, is clearest when she looks at her daughters’ generation. “They’re not just doing this because it’s their parents’ thing,” Grant said. “They’re hungry for God’s presence. You see it in the new worship movements, in artists like Forrest Frank bringing something fresh. It looks different, but the message is the same.”
Even as technology reshapes music-making, Grant said she’s committed to remaining grounded in what endures. “Sometimes I think, what will the world look like for my kids and grandkids?” she said. “But then I remember: God’s Word never changes. The flowers fade, but His Word remains forever.”
“More than ever, people need peace,” she said. “But peace isn’t a state of mind. It’s not a vibe. Peace is a person, the Prince of Peace. My prayer is that this album reminds people that through Christ, we can live in that peace right now.”
Christmas is now available.
Leah M. Klett is a reporter for The Christian Post. She can be reached at: leah.klett@christianpost.com
