Amy Grant is a music legend—so it only makes sense that she’ll be co-hosting CMA’s Country Christmas special alongside Trisha Yearwood once again.
The two emceed the show in 2023 and are returning for this year’s edition, which will air on December 3 at 8 p.m. ET on ABC. In a preview for the special, the duo cracked tons of jokes while revealing the performers who’ll be singing.
Of course, Amy is known for her powerhouse voice. But that talent was nearly ripped away from the singer after she experienced a serious bike accident in 2022.
In February, the 63-year-old revealed to E! News that she “actually had to learn how to sing again” after undergoing a January 2023 surgery related to the accident. But thankfully, the vocalist is currently doing far better than ever.
“I just felt like an old, beat-up car that went in and got a paint job and had the dents knocked out,” she told the outlet.
Here’s everything to know about Amy’s accident, including her injuries and ongoing recovery.
The bike accident happened in 2022 near Amy’s Nashville home.
In July 2022, the “Baby Baby” singer hit a pothole while riding her bike in Nashville with a friend, according to People. Amy, who was wearing a helmet at the time, was taken to a local hospital and treated for cuts and abrasions. She was listed in stable condition after her accident, but stayed several nights in the hospital for observation and treatment, her publicist told the outlet at the time.
Deadline later reported that Amy was unconscious for 10 minutes after her accident. The crash also caused a traumatic brain injury and memory loss, per Today.
Amy ultimately had to postpone several shows after the accident, with her team writing on Facebook that she needed “more time to recover from injuries and a concussion sustained in a bicycling accident.” Her manager Jennifer Cooke added that, although Amy “is getting stronger every day,” she needs to “concentrate on her recovery and rebuild her stamina.”
“She wants to be able to give 100 percent when she tours,” Jennifer wrote at the time, “And, unfortunately, we do not think that will be the case by the time rehearsals would start for the fall dates.”
It also exacerbated a cyst in Amy’s throat.
The accident also aggravated a cyst in her throat, which she only discovered after working with a vocal coach. “She said, ‘What is happening in your throat? Lean your head back,'” Amy recalled to Today in Feb. 2023. “And I said, ‘I know. It’s like I’ve got an Adam’s apple that keeps getting bigger.’ Unbeknownst to me, I’d had a thyroglossal duct cyst.” (That type of cyst can interfere with a person’s ability to eat, drink, and sing, according to the National Institutes of Health.)
The cyst “went into hypergrowth” after the trauma of her bike wreck. “I had this five-hour surgery and they took it out,” she told E! News. “I actually had to learn to sing again.”
But, Amy did experience one upside after all this: She was asked if she wanted a face lift while under the knife in Jan. 2023 to correct the cyst. “I said, ‘Dear God, no, I actually have to be on stage in X number of weeks,’” she told the outlet. “I didn’t ask for it, but I came out of surgery and my neck was a little tighter… that’s a gift!”
She still suffers from balance and memory issues.
Amy is doing much better now, but she’s not back to 100 percent quite yet. The “Every Heartbeat” singer shared that she still has “issues with my short-term memory,” as well as with her balance.
“My balance is still weird,” Amy told E! “Sometimes, I walk around like I’m drunk, and you just have to laugh about all of it. I can’t remember what I can’t remember.”
Her memory used to be her “superpower,” but told AARP (via USA Today), but said that “there are hidden gifts in everything.”
Amy is “more intentional about” her health now, adding that she made the switch to nonalcoholic beer.
She went through a tough time after her accident.
Unfortunately, Amy’s accident didn’t just affect her physically—it also took a mental toll. After it happened, she didn’t leave her house for a month and avoided seeing “any screens,” per AARP (via USA Today).
“I’ve had to be very patient with myself,” she said. “I have had a lot of good, hard cries. And I went through depression. But everybody is recovering from something. That’s life. If nothing else, we recover every day from the shock of what it means to age.”
Amy has leaned on her faith throughout her recovery.
The “Heart In Motion” singer has revealed that “so grateful” for her recovery. “As I’ve gotten older, I just say, ‘Wow, it changed everything when I believed that God designed me to be uniquely me,’” she told Today in September 2021. “And I’m going to believe he designed you to be uniquely you.”
“I’m sure there are so many things I don’t understand. But I’m just trusting that God, who holds everything in his hands, it’s not a surprise to him,” she added.
So excited to watch you on CMA’s Country Christmas special, Amy!
Korin Miller is a freelance writer specializing in general wellness, sexual health and relationships, and lifestyle trends, with work appearing in Men’s Health, Women’s Health, Self, Glamour, and more. She has a master’s degree from American University, lives by the beach, and hopes to own a teacup pig and taco truck one day.
