Pop classic ‘Baby Baby’ gets Tori Kelly reboot

NASHVILLE – A pop classic from the early ’90s, Amy Grant’s hit “Baby Baby,” is getting a reboot 25 years later thanks to Grammy-nominated singer Tori Kelly.

A new version of the song featuring original vocals from Grant and new vocals from the “Should’ve Been Us” singer was released Friday digitally as the 1991 No. 1 song is being remade for a new generation.

“At least those of us who enjoyed the first run of it, we hear this version that Tori Kelly does and it just brings back all the best memories where that song was the backdrop,” said Grant during an interview from her Nashville, Tennessee, home.

Grant was already a well-known Grammy-winning gospel singer before she crossed over to pop. She is now one of Christian music’s most successful musicians, with six platinum and three multiplatinum albums and 10 Top 40 pop songs.

“I was always trying to find a unique way to express a lifestyle of faith without being preachy,” Grant said.

“Baby Baby,” co-written with Keith Thomas and inspired by Grant’s daughter Millie, made her the first Christian pop artist to have a No. 1 song. Her album “Heart in Motion” was certified platinum five times. The song eventually became a worldwide hit, reaching top 10 charts in several other countries as well. In Nashville, she was mobbed by screaming teenagers and it became a fan favourite at her live shows.

“That song came out at a time when it just fit so comfortably in everybody’s playlists,” Grant said.

The new version adds an R&B rhythm and beat over Kelly’s vocal range, which Grant said impressed her immediately when she saw Kelly sing in the studio.

“For Tori to be joining me on this song and then taking it to where it always wanted to go, to me that’s fantastic,” Grant said.

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Online:

Amygrant.com

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Follow Kristin M. Hall at http://twitter.com/kmhall