FREDERICK — Amy Grant released her first album of original music in 13 years, titled 'The Me That Remains,' following a series of serious health challenges that began with a 2022 bicycle accident. She was knocked unconscious for about 10 minutes in the fall and hospitalized with a concussion, cuts, and abrasions.

Grant experienced lingering effects from the traumatic brain injury, including short-term memory problems, slowed response time, balance issues, fatigue, and difficulty remembering lyrics. She also battled depression during her recovery. A vocal coach later noticed visible changes in her neck, leading doctors to discover a thyroglossal duct cyst—a rare congenital throat condition seldom found in adults—that had enlarged after her brain injury. She underwent a five-hour surgery to remove it in January 2023 and had to relearn how to sing afterward.

Her health struggles extended beyond the accident. In late 2019, while accompanying her husband Vince Gill to a cardiologist appointment for shortness of breath, Grant was advised by cardiologist Dr. John Bright Cage to get her own heart checked. Tests revealed she had partial anomalous pulmonary venous return (PAPVR), a rare birth defect causing improper blood circulation through the heart. Dr. Cage told her: 'You’ll be fine, fine, fine … and then catastrophic.' She said: 'No one was more surprised than I was that I was living with this. There was nothing about my life that said, “You have a ticking time bomb.” But I do.' She underwent open-heart surgery a few months after the diagnosis, which she said saved her life.

She began writing music more intentionally a couple of years ago as part of her healing process. The first song she wrote during recovery became the album’s title track. During a May 13 interview at Covenant House California’s 'Speak Out' event, she said a doctor advised her: 'Here’s my advice. Lean in, don’t pull back, don’t shrink. Lean into the things that you’ve loved.'

She described the album as a reflection on life’s truths: 'In the whole record “The Me That Remains,” I feel like I’m just I’m a witness to my life and others’ lives.' She added: 'The older I get, the less I’m worried about how it comes out. There’s something about time that gives you the freedom to speak the truth. It’s not always pretty, but it just is what it is.' She also said: 'For every one of us, “The Me That Remains” is like who you wake up and look at in the mirror. And we’ve all been through so much, and it’s just, you’ve got to wrap your arms around your own life, welcome yourself, and to the ability you can do that, you have the capacity to welcome other people.'

She said: 'What I feel now is that there’s a lot less of life ahead of me than behind me. I’m grateful. Every day I wake up, I go, “Oh my gosh, I’ve got another day, I have another day.” And I think until some pretty serious things happen to me physically, I never thought about not having another day and now, every day’s a gift.'