That same year a South Carolina singing instructor named William Walker published a widely popular hymn book combining the now-familiar tune with Newton's words. was married to the words of John Newton,' Turner says. And 'Amazing Grace' continued to be associated with a number of different tunes throughout much of the 19th century. Turner says that in Newton's day, the song would have been sung 'to another song that fit its meter' - if it were sung at all. Newton supplied the lyrics, but the tune sung today arrived much later. Turner says it was a meaning Newton - with his sordid history and personal tale of redemption - could take to heart.

He understood grace to mean God's unmerited favor to lost souls.

When Newton put the internal rhyme 'amazing grace' together, it wasn't purely for poetic reasons. Turner tells NPR's Liane Hansen it was written without 'ceremony' in an attic room where Newton wrote weekly hymns to amplify the message of his sermons. 'Amazing Grace' was first heard on New Year's Day in 1773. Steve Turner's book Amazing Grace: The Story of America's Most Beloved Song tells the story of composer John Newton's conversion from slave trader to abolitionist, and traces the evolution of the song from its composition in 1772 as a hymn with no set tune to the version familiar today. While 'Amazing Grace' is among America's most well-known and oft-recorded pieces of music, the song's history is as remarkable as its popularity. Steve Turner and The Church Mission Society, London. John Newton, composer of Amazing Grace, from a painting by John Russell.

John newton story