around bare chested. Matt played his
mom’s protector, warning Gill: “If you
ever hurt my mother, I’m going to kill
you.” Gill remained patient, content to
be Grant’s husband—not an authority
figure to her kids. Time passed, and
“I hate you” and “I don’t choose you”
eventually evolved into acceptance.
“All those things had been said,
so when it finally turned to toler-
ance, respect, and, best-case scenario,
love—oh, that was quite a journey,”
says Grant. “It’s like a broken bone that
grows stronger if it heals properly.”
Corrina’s birth in 2001 helped pro-
mote the healing. “[She’s] the glue
of this whole family,” Gill says. “She
bonded all of us in a blood way that re-
ally did connect us.”
Like Gill’s daughter, Jenny, 29, who
has sung on her father’s albums, Corrina
shows a flair for music. Last year she
performed with her mother at Lipscomb
University. “She belted out her part
like Whitney Houston, giving it every-
thing she had,” Gill recalls. “When she
got done, the crowd madly cheered.
She did this double-fisted pump,
‘Yeah!’ And I said, ‘ We’re screwed.’ ”
Charity off the charts
From her earliest success, Grant lent
her talents to fund-raising. “I grew
up feeling very interconnected to the
community around me, even when I
was oblivious to current events,” she
says. “My older kids’ grandmother
used to always pray, ‘Lord, lead me
today to those who need me.’ Most
mornings I pray that prayer.”
“Her charity is off the charts,” says
Blanton. “I’ve never seen anybody so
generous with her life and her funds.”
Gill, who performs at two or three
charity events for each paying gig, is
equally benevolent. He almost never
turns down a request to play fund-
raisers, he says, because he remembers
when no one asked.
Individually and together, the two
have raised millions of dollars for
causes including St. Jude Children’s
Research Hospital, Habitat for Human-
ity, the American Red Cross, Nashville’s
symphony, and, through Gill’s annual
pro-celebrity golf tournament (“The
Vinny”), junior golf programs through-
out Tennessee. In 2004 the pair began
hosting an annual golf tournament and
concert to raise funds for Challenge
Aspen, which offers recreational pro-
grams for people with physical and
cognitive challenges. Challenge Aspen
started tailoring services for returning
servicemen and -women, and in 2009
Gill and Grant hosted a Kennedy Cen-
ter concert to help launch Challenge
America. The nonprofit assists veter-
ans—many wounded—in making the
transition from battlefield to home.
