Amy Grant reflects on her new album ‘The Me That Remains'
Amy Grant opened up about her new album, ‘The Me That Remains,’ which marks her first collection of original music in 13 years.
Amy Grant shared a touching story from outside Dolly Parton's hospital room.
In a new interview with Fox News Digital, the 65-year-old musician opened up about what it meant to her to honor Parton at the 57th Annual GMA Dove Awards and shared a story she heard from a friend who worked at Vanderbilt Hospital, where Parton died.
"Someone in Dolly's close circle had said, 'I know Dolly loves to sing to the tune of 'Amazing Grace,' praise Jesus.' And I said, ‘Do you mean praise God? Because that would, like, be the same syllables.’ And she said, 'No, praise Jesus and, as a matter of fact, some of the administration, an old and a younger doctor, some of the gathered outside her room toward the end,'" Amy said.
"And I'm just trying to imagine, has there ever been a circle of doctors and nurses singing ‘Praise Jesus’ to the tune of 'Amazing Grace' outside anybody's room? I would venture to say no."
Amy Grant said she heard that doctors and nurses sang outside of Parton's hospital room. (Getty Images)
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Parton died Aug. 25 at the age of 80 after a brief battle with cancer.
While speaking with Fox News Digital, Amy shared many memories from her friendship with Parton, noting the singer "always presented at the top of her game" and was always dressed to the nines. Grant joked that she didn't "know who had the behind-the-scenes look at Dolly, except maybe God."
What Amy called the "magic" of Parton was her kind spirit and how "she was so intentional with the way she reached out to people." She recalled how kind Parton was when meeting her stage manager and how she offered to send a video to her guitarist's daughter when she found out her and her friends were having a "Dolly Parton night."
"She chose to see other people, and my feeling is that's the first act of love. Love sees," Amy said.
Amy Grant admired Dolly Parton's ability to be intentional with her choices. (Jason Howard/Bauer-Griffin/GC Images)
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Amy then told the story of when she traveled to Austin, Texas, with her husband, Vince Gill, and their young daughter, Corrina, in 2003 when she was a baby to film a televised concert special with Parton and other musicians, noting her baby was sick most of the time but that they were able to make it to the show.
"Then when I saw Dolly, years later, she said, 'How's that magical child of yours?' All I could think of was like, do you take notes?" Amy said. "When she passed, I did think, man, ‘Dolly, I hope all of us think about the intentional choices that you made for how you wanted to live. And I hope we are all reminded of the power of our own choices for how we might live a little differently.’"
The "Lucky One" singer recently honored Parton with a tribute at the 57th Annual GMA Dove Awards, singing alongside Natalie Grant. She explained she initially was only meant to do the spoken introduction, but Natalie and her husband asked her to join in on the song.
The 57th Annual GMA Dove Awards were held Oct. 6, 2026, at Nashville's Bridgestone Arena, hosted by Tauren Wells.
Amy described feeling "a lot of emotion with Dolly's passing and to have the opportunity to speak about" her at the award show, noting she "was not able to read through teleprompter one time without getting choked up."
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Amy Grant and Natalie Grant honored Dolly Parton at the Dove Awards. (TBN/Trinity Broadcast Network)
"They told us to wear pale pink, and I had a dress coat of my mother's that I had never worn, and it was from the 1960s, and it was pale pink," she said. "I had it altered, and I just put my hand on the lapel and I said, 'Mama, just help me get through this.' And I walked out there, and the audience was just so welcoming and receptive, and it just felt like we were all doing the tribute to Dolly, all of us."
When it came time for singing one of Parton's songs, Amy said she was nervous and didn't think she "could pull off any of her songs," noting "her stuff is tough," and just "fit" Parton's voice.
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Amy Grant wore her mom's pale pink coat to the award show and asked her to give her strength. (www.tbn.org)
"All I'm saying is we all bring our unique gifts to the table, but I would not have had the opportunity to honor Dolly and song had not Natalie not asked me. And, afterwards, she and I just had a big hug and said, 'What a one time to sing. What a chance to share that we're honoring this icon.' So, it was so meaningful to both of us."
