#ThrowbackThursday: “Baby Baby” by Amy Grant
Amy Grant “Heart In Motion” A&M Records by Sean Smith
Multi-platinum selling Christian artist Amy Grant recruited a rising star in today’s music, tori Kelly, to help give new life to one of her aging hit songs.
On April 29th, Amy Grant and Tori Kelly released a remixed version of her 1991 crossover hit single “Baby Baby”. It features Kelly recording her own vocals for the song which are paired with the 25-year-old original recorded vocals of Amy Grant. Of course the track also includes an updated more modern sounding instrumental. The remix was made to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the song, as well as to commemorate the success of the album it was released off of Heart in Motion, which was wildly successful as well.
Prior to the release of “Baby Baby” and Heart in Motion, Amy Grant had a successful and respected career in the Christian music genre. However, up until that point she had yet to find success with a more mainstream audience. That all changed in 1991 when her single “Baby Baby” achieved crossover success. It climbed to the top of the chart on the Billboard Hot 100 and stayed there for two consecutive weeks. That kind of reception helped make Amy Grant the first Christian pop artist to have a number one song in the United States. As a result Heart In Motion Proved to be a blockbuster in the genre with the additional hits “Every Heartbeat”, “That’s What Love Is For,” and “Good For Me.” Each of these also became Top 10 hits on the Hot 100 following “Baby Baby.” This momentum helped make Heart In Motion one of the biggest commercial releases for both 1991 and 1992, selling over five million copies in the US alone. It was anything but overnight success for Grant however, as Heart in Motion was her eighth studio album to be released and her twelfth album overall.
“Baby Baby” was written by Amy Grant along with Keith Thomas, who has a number of #1 hits to his credit over the years as both a songwriter and producer. Thomas wrote the music and asked Grant to write the corresponding lyrics, with the condition that the song’s title be “Baby Baby”. She struggled to write lyrics to such a title, until one day inspiration struck. She looked down at her then six-week-old daughter and said “Oh Baby Baby”. She then wrote the rest of the song at her kitchen table in a matter of minutes.
The song penned by Amy Grant about her newborn daughter Millie would go on to be nominated for three Grammy Awards in 1992. It was nominated for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance, Record of the Year, as well as Song of the year. Grant did not take home either of those three Grammy Awards however, with Bonnie Raitt taking home the Grammy for Best Female Pop Vocal for “Something to Talk About” and Natalie Cole’s “Unforgettable” taking home the honors for both Record and Song of the Year. Her album Heart in Motion was also nominated for Album of the Year, though it too lost out with the Grammy again going to Natalie Cole forher album Unforgettable… with Love.
So with “Baby Baby” getting a fresh sound in recent weeks thanks to Tori Kelly, helping to mark the song’s 25th anniversary, this week we take a moment to remember the original “Baby Baby” by Amy Grant. Enjoy.
Amy Grant
“Baby, Baby”
From Heart In Motion
A&M Records
Amy Grant Featuring Tori Kelly
“Baby, Baby”(2016 Remix)
Amy Grant Productions/Sparrow Records
Amy Grant Featuring Tori Kelly
“Baby, Baby”(2016 Remix) (Behind The Scenes)
Amy Grant Productions/Sparrow Records
Related Media
Amy Grant
“Baby, Baby”
From 1992 Grammy Awards
CBS
Amy Grant
“Every Heartbeat”
From Heart In Motion
A&M Records
Amy Grant
“That’s What Love Is For”
From Heart In Motion
A&M Records
Amy Grant
“Good For Me”
From Heart In Motion
A&M Records
