Amy Grant recalls being 'so scared' to return to touring following serious bike accident

Amy Grant has been performing concerts for decades —and has more than enough Grammys to fill a shelf — but the idea of returning to the stage terrified her the first time she did it following her bicycle accident last July near her home in Nashville.

"So the first night of the Christmas tour, which is the first time back on tour … and I was on heels," the "Every Heartbeat" singer said Wednesday on Today. "I was, like, holding onto the piano. Before the show I was like, 'I'm so scared. I'm so scared.' And I work with so many great singers, and they're like, 'We got you, we got you.'"

Her apprehension was understandable. For one thing, Grant has explained that she struggled with memory loss following the traumatic brain injury she experienced. At first, she coped with it by recording the facts she needed to know and by using a teleprompter to recall lyrics.

"I wrote this long book. It was a spiral notebook," she said. "And I was just writing to remember, writing — making sure I could remember everybody's name in my family, which I couldn't, at first."

The Christian singer also turned to her faith in the dark time. Her recovery was one of many health problems, including a heart surgery and a cyst on her throat that affected her voice, that she's faced in the last few years.

"It's helped me not be afraid," she said. "And just to go, however this turns out, I believe I'm held by love, just like I believe that about you, and everybody I meet."

Grant, who's married to country singer Vince Gill, is slowly returning to fighting form; doctors said she may experience cognitive issues for up to 18 months. But, as she's said before, all she's been through has helped her appreciate that beauty and goodness are present, even in trauma.

"I feel fantastic," Grant said. "I mean, really from 2020 on, I feel like I had to, if I were a car, I've made a lotta trips to the shop. And I feel like I'm emerging. I went, 'Oh man, I feel like a classic now.' And actually sort of re-revved up in a really beautiful way."

She's set to release her first new music in a decade, a song called "Trees We'll Never See," with singer Cory Asbury, on March 24.