Author: Libra Boyd

Libra Nicole Boyd, PhD is a musician, award-winning author, gospel music aficionado, and the founder and editor of Gospel Music Fever™. Her commitment to journalistic integrity includes bringing you reliable gospel music content that uplifts and advances the art form. Libra is presently working on several scholarly projects about gospel music in the media as well as gospel music in social movements.

Pastor Nancy Wilson passes away

Pastor Nancy Carree Wilson

Pastor and singer Nancy Wilson has died, her family announced today. Pastor Wilson was 73 years old.

“It is with deep and profound sadness that we announce the passing of our beloved wife and mother, Pastor Nancy Wilson,” her husband and children announced on social media. “We are thankful to God for the impact she has made on all of our lives through her ministry of singing, preaching and intercession. We are grateful for your prayers, love and encouragement.”

Pastor Wilson, a Greensboro native, was a renowned presence in North Carolina and beyond. Her musical résumé includes recordings with Bishop Larry Trotter & Sweet Holy Spirit, Pastor Debra Morton & the Women of Excellence Choir, Men of Standard (of which her son Isaac Carree is a founding member), and others. In 2004, she released her own project, recorded live at Chicago’s Sweet Holy Spirit Church, entitled, Nancy Wilson – Designed for Worship. Additionally, Pastor Wilson was a host of the long-running weekly television program, “Gospel Expo,” which aired locally on ABC and FOX8 WGHP. In 1994, the songstress and media personality became pastor of Greensboro’s New Beginnings Community Outreach Church.

GMF extends condolences to and prayers for husband Pastor J. Teddy Wilson, children Angela, Kimberly and Isaac, and the entire family.

Pastor Nancy Wilson official death announcement

Radio execs unite to form National Association of Gospel Radio

National Association of Gospel Radio Board

(Shreveport, LA) – A group of the most influential executives in the urban inspirational and gospel music radio industry has come together to create the National Association of Gospel Radio (NAGR) with a mission to empower stations as they preserve, protect, and advance the format. The national organization’s first president, Charles Johnson aka Pastor CeJay, was elected by the board to serve as its first lead officer. Johnson is a transformative community leader and an executive with Alpha Media, which owns the historical KOKA Radio Station (72 years of existence) in Shreveport and two other gospel stations within the country. The organization is operating in a limited capacity with plans to launch fully on January 1, 2023.

“We are America’s only trade association for radio professionals working in the gospel/inspirational format,” Johnson explains. “Separately, we reach thousands of ears every day, but together we reach millions of listeners. Our membership comprises radio station programmers, management, engineers, announcers, and salespeople. We believe our existence will uphold the legacy of gospel radio and help it grow for generations to come. Our vision is to become a trusted ally and to provide a hub of resources to stations to help them expand their listening base, increase advertising, and to support music artists within the format.”

Kyle Glover, with the Reach Gospel Radio network that reaches 20 American cities and Canada, will serve as Executive Vice President of the National Association of Gospel Radio. Ju Joyner, from Virginia Beach’s Chesapeake-Portsmouth Broadcasting concern, will be Vice President of Finance. Fred Harris, of Salem Media Group which reaches nearly 40 USA media markets, will be Vice President of Marketing & Promotions. The leadership is rounded out by board members: Dr. Sctonda Kelly Gordon, Program Director with Eternity Media Group in Augusta, GA; Chris Squire, Senior Vice President of Sales with iHeart Media, the largest radio corporation in America; and Ron Thompson, Program Director with Radio One (the largest urban radio corporation in America) in Washington, D.C.

R.I.P. David ‘Ready Writa’ Felder of Half Mile Home

David "Ready Writa" Felder of the popular gospel group Half Mile Home unexpectedly passed away on July 3rd at the age of 42.

David “Ready Writa” Felder of the popular gospel group Half Mile Home unexpectedly passed away on July 3rd at the age of 42. David was a loyal member of the Billboard chart-topping group. He was also a dedicated father of four and known throughout the industry for his talents as a writer, producer, and singer.

With their 2022 return, Half Mile Home’s latest single “Closet” has been trending in the Top 40s for several weeks on the Billboard chart. The message of “Closet” will resonate personally with the remaining group members, Todd Burton and Darryl Brownlee. The song references the prayer closet, where people of faith go into a secret place to pray and cast all their cares over situations that are bigger than them. Once they emerge from the closet they watch their faith work on the issue that was prayed about. The group members will need their closet in the coming days to stay strong and continue their work without David.

Half Mile Home and the family of David Felder request prayers as they go through this difficult time. Services will be announced in the forthcoming days. GMF extends its deepest condolences.

– From a media release

“Your Will Your Way” – Jewelstone

Jewelstone Your Will Your Way art

“Your Will Your Way”
Jewelstone
Quickening Spirit Gospel Records LLC (2021)
Available here

By Libra Boyd
Gospel Music Fever

After having tried to single-handedly navigate life’s hills and valleys, Jewelstone expresses their surrender to the Almighty through the contemporary ballad, “Your Will Your Way.” 

Most likely an intentional effort to keep the focus squarely on the song’s introspective lyrics, the music to “Your Will Your Way” is largely unremarkable, save for lush string orchestrations over a repetitive minor scale progression. 

The trio of Cunningham sisters, collectively known as Jewelstone, hail from Detroit and are presently based in Pensacola, FL. The singer-songwriters debuted their first album, How Awesome, in 2012.

Earnest Pugh recovers from COVID-19, releases new music

Earnest Pugh Records “America the Beautiful” to Celebrate 4th of July and remakes
Evelyn Turrentine-Agee’s “God Did It” to Thank God for His Recovery from COVID-19

(Houston, TX) – Renowned gospel singer, Earnest Pugh, best-known for Billboard No. 1 hits such as “Rain on Us” and “I Need Your Glory,” has returned from the brink of death.

Last summer, Pugh was in a Houston area veteran’s hospital battling a severe case of COVID-19. He was on a ventilator for ten days. His oxygen level dropped to 70. His temperature crested to 102 for over a week as he developed double pneumonia. Pugh’s condition became so acute that the medical staff contemplated inducing a coma so that they could better address his issues. “My physicians said they hadn’t seen anyone with a case as bad as mine make a turnaround,” Pugh confesses. “They also feared the ventilator would harm my singing ability if, by some miracle, I did survive.”

At that juncture, Pugh’s daughter, Kira, reached out to Pastor Ralph Douglas West and the Church Without Walls church family to pray. ”I believe that made the turnaround,” Pugh adds. “After the church started praying for me, my oxygen jumped from 72 to 85 within hours. Millions didn’t make it, but I was one of the ones who did make it.”

Pugh’s recovery inspired him to remake Evelyn Turrentine-Agee’s up-tempo gospel classic, “God Did It” (P Man Music / Estabrookroad Records), as his new single. He transformed it from a quartet track to a quartet meets New Orleans brass band vamp. “Those are the three words I said when I was out of the woods,” Pugh adds. “God did it!”

The Memphis native is also expressing his appreciation to America through a soul-stirring rendition of “America the Beautiful” that releases July 1st, in time to commemorate the 4th of July holiday. The retired Army sergeant spent 15 years in the armed services.

“I’ve always had a sense of pride about America,” Pugh says. “I joined the military at the age of 18. It was simply my part to help make the world a better place. Is America perfect? Absolutely not, but I seek to magnify her best qualities. She’s my choice and my home. She’s beautiful to me.”

Quartet Music Award Winners (2022)

Quartet Music Awards logo (from Facebook)
From Facebook @theQMAs

Black quartet gospel music was celebrated in all its glory last weekend at the Quartet Music Awards (The QMAs). The inaugural event took place Saturday, June 18, at Atlanta’s Center Stage Theater with Dr. Bobby Jones and Justin Rufus as hosts.

Throughout the evening, awards were presented in 16 categories for excellence in quartet music. QMA Honors were also presented to pay homage to the legacy and contributions of the late Lee Williams (Lee Williams and The Spiritual QC’s), Tiffanie Tutu Agee (The Truthettes), George Dean (The Gospel 4), Evelyn Turrentine-Agee, Harvey Watkins, Jr. (The Canton Spirituals), Cleve Graham (The Pilgrim Jubilees), Spencer Taylor (The Highway QC’s), and the late Percy Griffin (The Swanee Quintet). 

The Quartet Music Awards was birthed from the vision of D. Chubbs Morton and Connie Birth. Morton is a songwriter, musician, and frontman for the quartet group D. Morton and Gifted. Birth is a gospel radio personality and music executive.

GMF congratulates all the inaugural QMA recipients.

Male Vocalist Of The Year
Darrel Petties

Female Vocalist Of The Year
Lisa Knowles-Smith

Mixed Quartet Of The Year
Blest By Four

Graphic Designer Of The Year
Johnathan Johnson (Merge Media)

Producer Of The Year
Ray Braswell

Radio Announcer Of The Year
James “G-Man” Guy

New Artist Of The Year
The Robinson Bunch

Label Of The Year
Malaco Records

Song Of The Year
“I Still Got Joy”
(Roy & Revelation)

Album Of The Year
Quartagious
(The Williams Singers)

Male Quartet Of The Year
Darrel Petties & Take 2

Female Quartet Of The Year
Lisa Knowles-Smith & The Brown Singers

Emcee/Host Of The Year
Justin Rufus

Promoter Of The Year
Cheryl Snell

National Artist Of The Year
The Gospel Legends

2022 QMA Artist Of The Year
Men Of Prayze

CeCe Winans announces first national tour in over a decade

CeCe Winans announces concert tour for Believe For It
Photo | Kris Rae

(Los Angeles, CA) – Good things come to those who wait. It’s a timeless, unquestioned truth that’s never been more accurate than when considering the legendary CeCe Winans’ first full-length live recording, Believe For It (Pure Springs Gospel / Fair Trade Services). After almost 40 years of patiently waiting, Winans’ millions of fans around the world were blessed last year with an uplifting live worship experience that listeners have said is hard to top.

But Winans’ true fans know that exceeding expectations while surprising her audiences has been a hallmark of her incomparable career. So leave it to the 15-time Grammy winner to conceive and launch the only project that could follow the recorded album. She’s taking Believe For It on the road! 

Winans has just announced her first national tour in over a decade. Sponsored by Compassion International, the tour is stopping in 21 cities beginning in Indianapolis on September 21, and CeCe promises to bring together church, community, and friends for an amazing, highly anticipated night of worship.

“This tour is going to be amazing,” says the 15-time Grammy award-winning Winans. “I can’t wait to share this experience LIVE with everyone across the country who has supported my career for all of these years, and those who will be hearing the new album for the first time.”

During the tour, Winans will be sharing classics like “Alabaster Box,” “More Than What I Wanted,” and many other hits that have made her the best-selling and most awarded female gospel artist of all time.

And If you’ve not yet heard Winans’ new Believe For It, you should give it a listen before Winans comes to your hometown this fall. In addition to the title track, the album features fan favorites “Never Lost,” “No Greater,” and “Fire.” 

Speaking of fire, the album’s incendiary third single, “Goodness Of God,” is burning up the charts with 205+ million US streams, 148+ million video views, 110+ million TikTok views, and #1 on CCLI’s Top 100 chart (measured from over 250,000 churches’ worship services).

Transparent Productions, one of the largest producers of Christian concerts, tours, and festivals across the U.S. provides the marketing and promotion wheels behind the Believe For It Tour, partnering with Winans to ensure she connects with fans in key cities.  For ticket information and more tour details, go to www.cecewinans.com.

UCON and WSPAA hold inaugural Juneteeth pageant, gospel celebration

Greensboro, NC (June 20, 2022) – UCON (Unwind Communications Outreach Network) and WSPAA (Winston-Salem Performing Arts Alliance) crowned the winners of the inaugural Little Miss and Junior Miss Juneteenth Pageant. Participants in the Little Miss Juneteenth Pageant are girls ages 7-10 years old and girls ages 11-14 years old for the Junior Miss Juneteenth Pageant from various cities throughout the state. “The pageant is designed to provide the girls with soft skills necessary to be well rounded and successful in life as well as building their confidence and offering encouragement,” says Linda Greenwood, UCON director.  

To enter the pageant, the girls had to have a 2.0 GPA and participated in special sessions in haircare, journaling, presenting on camera, Juneteenth history as well as fundraising. Along with the pageant WSPAA executive director Elliott Lowery, UCON director Linda Greenwood put together a special gospel celebration that highlighted the rich heritage of the African  American culture on Sunday, June 19th in Greensboro at the Van Dyke Performing Arts Theater.  This event featured an incredible line-up of regional and local artists – storyteller Fred Motley, renowned contemporary gospel artist W.I.L., and gospel rappers Ezzy Wall and Mr. GP.  

During their year-long reign, Little Miss and Junior Miss Juneteenth are expected to promote positive images through school appearances and community events and serve as role models and spokespeople for Juneteenth.

The Winners

Saraiyah Johnson, Little Miss Juneteenth
Serenity White, Little Miss Juneteenth runner-up
Joie Holding, Junior Miss Juneteenth
Pictured from left to right: Saraiyah Johnson, Little Miss Juneteenth; Serenity White, Little Miss Juneteenth runner-up; and Joie Holding, Junior Miss Juneteenth.

Little Miss Juneteenth representing High Point, NC is Saraiyah Johnson, the daughter of Michelle and  Tacuma Johnson. Saraiyah attends The College Prep and Leadership Academy, also known as The Point. The first runner-up for Little Miss Juneteenth is Serenity White, who represents Winston-Salem. Serenity is the daughter of Victoria Montgomery and attends Ward Elementary.  

Junior Miss Juneteenth representing Greensboro is Joie Holding, the daughter of Tiffany Donnell and Daniel Holding. Joie attends Morehead Elementary.

About UCON and WSPAA

UCON and WSPAA are 501c3 organizations. UCON’s mission is to raise the awareness of community residents on the benefits of collaborating with communication venues, disseminate information pertaining to broadcasting, teach people about broadcasting, develop musical artists through training, and inform the community about how communication technology works. 

The mission of WSPAA is to inspire, uplift, and educate underserved children, youth, adults, and seniors. We seek to build the self-esteem and self-worth of the communities we serve through the performing arts.

Candi Staton goes Gold in Belgium

Music legend Candi Staton has scored a gold record certification for her dance anthem, “Hallelujah Anyway” (Defected Records). London-based Defected Records recently mailed Staton a plaque celebrating the gold status of “Hallelujah Anyway” in Belgium.

“I’m so tickled,” Staton says. “I knew the song was popular because European promoters always ask me to put the song in my concert repertoire when I play Europe. However, I had no idea that it had gone gold in Belgium. I’m so thrilled that these remixes are introducing my voice and the gospel message to a new generation of clubgoers.”

Candi Staton first recorded the infectious groove for her Proverbs 31 Woman (Beracah) album in 2002 when the song received heavy airplay rotation on Radio One’s gospel format. A decade later, DJ Simon Dunmore (founder of the world’s largest dance music recording label, Defected Records), commissioned German DJ, Larse, and the legendary Chicago House DJ, Frankie Knuckles, to create their mixes that have racked up over 10 million streams on Spotify alone. It was an instant smash in clubs across the globe. It has since been remixed by other influential DJs such as Eric Kupper, Moplen, David Penn, and Dr Packer. The song has also been covered by London’s House Gospel Choir on their 2020 Island Records release, RE//CHOIRED.  

– From a press release

Black Music and Entertainment Walk of Fame 2022 induction set for June 18

Tamela Mann, Donnie McClurkin, The Clark Sisters, and T.D. Jakes are among the 2022 inductees.

Spotlighting a cross-section of history’s most influential Black artists, entertainers and icons, the Black Music and Entertainment Walk of Fame (BMEWOF) Crown Jewel of Excellence Black Music Month Class of 2022 Induction and Juneteenth Celebration will be held on Saturday, June 18, in Atlanta. The Black American Music Association (BAMAssoc) and the Georgia Entertainment Caucus (GEC), collaboratively announced the ceremony and plans for the Black Music Month Class of 2022 Induction. 

A full list of all 16 inductees is as follows: 

Cathy Hughes (Foundational)
Edward Kennedy “Duke” Ellington (Foundational)
Kenny Gamble & Leon Huff (Foundational)
Robert Smith (Foundational)
Run DMC (Foundational)
T.D. Jakes (Foundational)
Charlie Wilson (Mainstream)
Donnie McClurkin (Gospel)
Tamela Mann (Gospel)
The Clark Sisters (Gospel Group)
NAS (Hip-Hop)
Angela Bassett (Actress)
Steve Harvey (Mogul)
Bob Marley (International)
Patti LaBelle (Legacy)
Prince (Legacy)

With a national and international appeal, the BMEWOF will acknowledge, preserve, respect, and inspire the Black creative community for generations to come. Atlanta has long been the mecca of Black music and entertainment and the BMEWOF has already become a key addition, showcasing the industry’s greatest contributors.

The Crown Jewel of Excellence emblems for the inductees of the BMEWOF are permanently installed on Martin Luther King Jr. Drive, in front of the Mercedes-Benz Stadium. The Crown Jewel of Excellence emblems for June 2022 – and for every class of inductees moving forward – will continue to be added at the BMEWOF’s location in historic downtown Atlanta, preserved for all the world to see, and for generations to come.

For information and updates on the Black Music and Entertainment Walk of Fame head to: http://www.theblackwalkoffame.com/

– Excerpted from a press release