Before I started to date a hip-hop DJ, before the trips to the raves with the jungle and the 2-step and the trance music (that, admittedly, doesn’t sound as good now that I stopped taking drugs) or even the trips to the gay clubs with its diva house music singing about freedom and pride and “taking people higher,” I had a music diva whose music I knew all the songs to, watched all the music videos for, was totally fascinated with.
That pop star, of course, was Amy Grant.
While many gay boys grew up idolizing Madonna or Kylie Minogue (or for today’s gay youth, Britney and Christina) I had a giant five-panel poster of Amy Grant from the Unguarded album, permed hair flowing in a giant wind machine, her fake leopard-skin jacket revealing her quest for eternal hipness while marking a Christian sensibility.
My friend Jen would make fun of that poster when I lived in the dorms. “Good Morning, Amy!” she would say, impersonating me as I woke up in the morning. “Good Night, Amy!” I would supposedly say at night. “Good Night, Ernie!” she would crow back. “And remember, love will find a way!”
(That last sentence, by the way, is funny to exactly seven people reading this weblog.)
But alas, times change, people change, good Christian boys come out of the closet and lose their grips on religion and even Christian pop stars aren’t able to “find a way” sometimes. A recent conversation driving to a restaurant reminded me of that.
Ernie: … Oh yeah, and I was Amy Grant’s #1 fan.
Mike: Hey, isn’t she like the Madonna for Christian gay boys?
Ernie: *dirty look* No. Besides, she stopped doing albums for a while while she was going through a divorce. Rumor had it she was having an affair with Vince Gill.
Mikes friend, Ponnie: AMY GRANT WAS HAVING AN AFFAIR WITH A MEMBER OF MOTLEY CRUE!?
Everyone in the car: …
Ponnie: Oh. Wait. That’s Vince Neil. Nevermind.
Mike: Well, if you’re going to do something un-Christian, you might as well go all out and sleep with the Motley Crue guy.
Ernie: Werd.
OMG! I get to be the first!
.:chortle:. Amy Grant and Vince Neil…heh! I have this odd desire to find out what a duet of theirs would be like.
I can’t believe you are up this late on a Sunday night.
As to the comment about not liking electronic music anymore… aside from the fact that I know you a just saying that because it sounds better for the story, I really hope that HipHop Mike is not corrupting you in more ways than the one. I mean, go all out crazy in bed… dowhatyoulike… but don’t get so perverse in your musical tastes and suddenly give up electronic music in exchange for the likes of 50 cent and Jay-Z.
There is much room in music land for both the fo sheezy and the thump-thump cheesy.
Amy Grant and Vince Neil would be FAR MORE INTERESTING than Amy Grant and Vince Gill any day!
And here I thought I was the only gay boy with an Amy Grant fixation. “Stay for a while” is my favorite. So, you were not alone.
Wow. I never read that piece on IIStix before. Sounds very much like me post-high school. And I still have my Amy Grant albums, buried under about 100+ house cds, which I also dont listen to anymore. Maybe Amy and Vince should do a hip-hop album… isnt that what those kids are into today?
Hahaha! Amy Grant and Vince Gill are doing their “Simply Christmas” concert tonight in Grand Rapids MI … They’re married now.
Obviously, love found its way!
Hmmm. You really sent me down ol’ memory lane with all this talk of Amy Grant. Do you remember when she moved away from the Christian music to go pop? Oh, the days — of the late 80s/early 90s, that is.
(STOP for a minute, BABY I’m so glad your miiiiine…)
One of my bar regulars is a roadie for Vince Gill. He told me that Amy Grant’s first husband was a raging asshole/alcoholic, and that her affair was more than justified.
Baby Baby… I’m taken with the notion, to love you with the sweetest of devotion
Casts a whole new light on that for me.
Yes but have you seen Amy Grant’s Mandible?
All my gay friends loathe every artist you’ve mentioned. It’s all about alternative now.
i am proud to be one of the 7 who got the reference!!
I saw Grant and Gill on a talk show a couple of weeks ago, talking about how the whole divorce / remarriage thing played out. I was impressed with how humble they both were, and how honest they were in relation to reconciling that kind of situation with their faith. I was never a fan but I thought they were pretty cool after seeing that. People who can admit they fuck up sometimes are much more appealing to me than the televangelist types who pretend to be perfect… until they’re caught.
Oh, and Vince Gill is kind of hunky in a chunky way. Can’t really blame her.
Love will find a way, I laughed, thinking that was funny (but I can’t remember why. (How Granpa Simpson of me).
I had heard the thing about her first husband being an alkie/druggie, too, long before she hooked up with Vince Gill. They were having problems early on and she stayed with him for a long time trying to work it out. She probably gave it a better shot than most.
And I loved her too, but that probably has to do with the fact that she’s hot and I’m a huge lesbian.
Wait. You’re gay and you weren’t all into Michael W. Smith?! I dunno– I think he was more gay than Amy Grant…
Uh, not that I would know or anything.
It’s been awhile since I’ve seen that post. A lot of people go to church on Christmas and Easter because they’re seeking familiarity and nostalgia, but I think they’re missing something and hoping that a trip to church will fill that gap, whatever it may be. To paraphrase a quote from “Dogma”: “When I was younger, a little bit of faith was all I needed to fill my glass, but as I got older, my glass got larger, and that little bit of faith wasn’t enough anymore.”
And now I shall return to looking at porn.
“Angels watchin’ over me every step I take. Angels watchin’ over meeeeeeeeeeee!”
Yes, I recall the Amy Grant days. I had the poster, her entire collection and begged my mom for the leppard print jacket. (I didn’t get it though…)
Then one day a pastor came along and told my parents this music wasn’t “Christainly”. Suddenly, my entire collection was ransacked and burned. The elders of the churched did a “exorcism”. I was essentially scarred for life…
Didn’t Amy Grant end up having an affair and leaving her husband for another man?
Ahhh, life is so ironic…
Amy Grant – sigh – I’m one of the seven and will giggle half the day.
Ha!! Make that 8 people who thought it was funny!!
;o)
Even though I’ve been reheathenated and shit, I still find myself secretly singing the lyrics to ” I love you” and pogoing ala Cyndi Lauper in the “Girls just wanna have fun” video. Shit, iffen it weren’t for Amy Grant and Steve Taylor, I’d still be listening to Sandi Patti and Carmen and secretly wishing Jesus hadn’t died for my sins.
Does anyone remember the seminars on backward masking your church used to throw every year and how shortly afterwards you’d find yourself in the local forbidden heathen music store with the preacher’s kid looking for the titles?
Thank God for Prince and Black Sabbath.
guess I’m #9. I was going to retort with “straight ahead”, but it suddenly seems so … inappropos.
thanks for the memories, ernie. maybe I’ll even dust off my vinyl copy of “unguarded”.
let me say once more …
Number Ten. I still have the ticket stubs from her concerts pasted in my old photo albums… *sigh*. And all the albums (LPs of course).
I think we should start a Queer Fans of Amy Grant: QFAG!
Number Ten. I still have the ticket stubs from her concerts pasted in my old photo albums… *sigh*. And all the albums (LPs of course).
I think we should start a Queer Fans of Amy Grant: QFAG!
Number Ten. I still have the ticket stubs from her concerts pasted in my old photo albums… *sigh*. And all the albums (LPs of course).
I think we should start a Queer Fans of Amy Grant: QFAG!
Nothing wrong with losing your grip on religion…
way too fun! QFAG. I remember how exciting it was to be a queer pre-teen and watching that permed-hair, leopard-print-wearin’, bare-foot-dancing Diva boppin’ ‘you betta wise up.’
I am a member of Friends Of Amy. My dear, you are not alone. There are pleny of gay folks on http://www.amygrant.com, and we are having a blast. Just don’t tell the other folks on the website
I am a gay collector of amy grant concerts and radio interviews. Come on over and let’s have an amy grant listening party. Just make sure you have a week or so off.
“You’re not alone in the world……..”
I am a member of amy grant’s website and i don’t think I’ve ever had so much fun anywhere. That wasn’t illeagel. If the “frozen popsicles” there only knew how much fun there is on there w/o being so conceeded. I have ever LP, cassette, and cd she has released .
Amy Grant
Matt, didn’t your freshman roommate have an Amy Grant obsession? Before I started to date a hip-hop DJ, before the trips to the raves with the jungle and the 2-step and the trance music (that, admittedly, doesn’t sound as good