At the age of 47, after surviving numerous depressions and a scandal-plagued divorce, the singer has found the love she yearned for all her life

As a top-selling Christian music artist, Amy Grant has spent a lot of time basking in the spotlight’s glow — but life offstage hasn’t always been quite so rosy. In her recent memoir, Mosaic, she reflects on the joys that faith, family and career have brought her. But the star also talks candidly about tougher stuff, including her battles with depression, her guilt over the dissolution of her first marriage and the challenges she and second husband Vince Gill, 50, faced when attempting to blend their families.

Amy’s career was launched at age 15 when a Nashville, Tenn., studio owner heard one of her demo tapes. Before she was 16, she was offered her first record deal, and from there, she quickly became a leading force in contemporary Christian music. She married singer/songwriter Gary Chapman in 1982, and for the next 17 years, she continued to write music, record albums, win Grammys and raise the three children she and Gary had together — Matt, now 20, Millie, 17, and Sarah, 14.

Happily Ever After Fails

Amy appeared to live a charmed life right up until the moment in 1999 when she and Gary announced they were divorcing. But for the singer, a devout Christian, it was hardly a quick or easy decision. “When I chose to end my marriage to the father of my three older children, there was a time when I was too wrecked and too ashamed to pray with them at night,” she admits.

During the divorce proceedings, many Christian radio stations refused to play Amy’s music, and disappointed fans deserted her. What they didn’t know was that she and Gary had been seeing marriage counselors for 14 years, and even went through pre-divorce counseling when they finally realized the marriage was over.

Amy says she only discovered in hindsight that she had spent 10 years in transition, going from being “fully engaged as a wife, all systems go, to being fully engaged in a different direction.” However slow the process, the effects were still devastating.

“I invested in my own family and the family I married into for 17 years — on a daily basis. So to then say, ‘I can’t do this anymore,’ is not just the end of a marriage. That was my biggest life investment up to that point.”

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The Grammys are music’s big night to shine. But Grammy has been known to dress a little funkier than its uptown cousin, Oscar. Artists often take a few more fashion risks and show a bit more skin — remember Jennifer Lopez’s famous plunging green gown a few years back? But in 2008, the Grammys went grown-up in a big way. The out-there outfits were few, replaced with a red carpet full of full-on glamorous gowns.

Carrie Underwood arrived on the red carpet in a fresh-from-the-runway flowing floral gown by Zuhair Murad, seen just days earlier during Fashion Week in New York. Underwood wore the dress when she picked up a Grammy for Female Country Vocal Performance for “Before He Cheats” during the pre-telecast portion of the awards. Artists don’t typically show up for the pre-telecast, but Underwood told the audience, “You couldn’t keep me from getting this actually myself.”

For her performance, Underwood shed the filmy gown for sexy short shorts and sparkly boots. In fact, sparkly could have been the theme for the evening, with sequins, beads and shiny fabrics as far as the eye could see. Disney Channel superstar Miley Cyrus (aka “Hannah Montana” — or Billy Ray Cyrus’ daughter, for those too old to have a tween in the house) sported a short silver dress by Celine, and Beyonce dazzled in a strapless silver Cinderella gown. Even Brad Paisley’s black western shirt subtly twinkled in the spotlight, and Vince Gill was suited up with shine as he accepted his award for country album.

Both Taylor Swift and Natasha Bedingfield picked purple (and strapless) — Swift in a light shade with beaded accents by Nashville designer Sandy Spika, and Bedingfield in a bold royal belted gown. “Brilliant jewel tones really worked well this year,” notes Libby Callaway, fashion columnist for the Nashville City Paper. “Natasha Bedingfield’s purple gown, though a bit too formal for the event in my opinion, was a really gorgeous color of purple. The looks I liked best were the short, pretty cocktail-style dresses like the electric blue Zac Posen number that Rhianna wore, which had a full skirt and feather underlay.”

Some artists bucked the trend toward bright colors and sparkly fabrics. Faith Hill chose a classic black close-fitting gown with a simple bow on one shoulder, and still managed to stand out from the crowd. Of course, that probably has less to do with the dress than with the fact that she’s Faith Hill.