Natalie Grant Signs With Capitol CMG, Announces ‘Christmas’ Album

Five-time GMA Dove Awards female vocalist of the year winner Natalie Grant, known for hits including “King of the World” and “In Better Hands,” is celebrating a new career chapter with a new label home.

Grant has joined Capitol Christian Music Group (Capitol CMG), after previously being with Curb/Word Entertainment for more than two decades.

Capitol CMG is also home to artists including Chris Tomlin, Josiah Queen, Amy Grant, Crowder, TobyMac, Anne Wilson and more.

Grant’s signing with Capitol CMG comes as the company was recently part of a greater reorganizing, with Capitol Music Group bringing Capitol CMG and Capitol Records Nashville under the Capitol Music Group Nashville umbrella. Capitol CMG, which includes Motown Gospel and Tamla and distribution operations, continues to be led by CCMG president Brad O’Donnell. Music executive Candice Watkins joined as president of Capitol Records Nashville and executive vp of Capitol CMG.

“I love Brad and Candice and the entire team and I’m excited to work with them,” Grant tells Billboard. “I think they are truly the best in the business. The world looks a lot different than it did when I signed my first deal. I went, ‘What makes the most sense for me now?’ At this stage in my life, one of the important things to me [in looking at a label] was, ‘Who’s the best at doing marketing, who does that so well?’ My manager brought me three labels, small, medium and large, and when I looked at who was best at servicing that, it was Capitol. Especially, looking at some of the things I want to do with this new chapter, musically, it just made the most sense.”

The nine-time Grammy nominee celebrates this new career chapter with the upcoming release of her first holiday album in two decades, when Christmas arrives Oct. 3 (pre-order).

“We are beyond thrilled to welcome Natalie to the Capitol Christian Music Group family,” O’Donnell told Billboard via a statement. “We’ve been fans for a long time and it’s an honor to partner with her on this project—especially as she marks 20 years since her first holiday release. ‘Christmas’ is a classic and timeless collection of holiday songs that will resonate with fans of all genres and generations.”

Grant, whose previous Christmas album Believe released in 2005, recorded her new project with her husband and longtime collaborator, composer/producer Bernie Herms. Christmas includes a mix of holiday favorites and new music. Among the tracks are the Gospel music-flavored rendition of “Hark! The Herald Angels Sing,” as well as a swing music-oriented version “Jingle Bells,” while incorporating two original songs, “Christmas Looks Good on You,” and six-minute ballad, “God’s Gift.”

“It is a very classic Christmas record,” Grant says, adding, “I knew that first thing, I wanted to make a Christmas album. I was so excited that Capitol was all in from the get-go. ‘God’s Gift’ has such a classic feeling. You get to that bridge and it has a ‘Handel’s Messiah’ vibe to it, a sacred feeling to it. We wrote it with Mitch Wong, who I think is one of the great worship songwriters right now. I said to Bernie, ‘I wnat to go late ’90s, early 2000’s, massive CCM pop ballad. What would [Contemporary Christian Music artist Michael W. Smith] have done on his Christmas record in 1998?’ I feel like he captured it.”

Grant says the rest of the project also has a very authentic, intimate feel, saying, “It’s real music. We sat with the Nashville strings and did real strings. Bernie went to L.A. and it was real horns and all the singers sang around one microphone, like, ‘What would Ella Fitzgerald done when she recorded her Christmas record?’ We tried to lean into that and you can feel that.”

In December, Grant will team with Danny Gokey to launch the 10th annual Celebrate Christmas Tour, starting Dec. 4. The tour will visit nearly a dozen cities in states including Florida, Tennessee and Virginia.