CeCe Winans makes history at 53rd Annual Dove Awards

CeCe Winans accepts Dove Award. (Photo by Javis Dason)

Nashville, TN – The 53rd Annual GMA Dove Awards were handed out Tuesday night, October 18, 2022, at the Allen Arena in Nashville, Tennessee to a sold-out audience. The show aired Friday, October 21, exclusively on TBN and was simulcast on SiriusXM The Message. Co-hosts Erica Campbell and Chris Tomlin led the all-star night of music with performances from across the music community including Gospel, Latin, Hip Hop, and Southern Gospel.

Iconic artist CeCe Winans made Dove Awards history this year as the first Black female solo artist to win Artist of the Year. When accepting her award, instead of an acceptance speech, she sang a few lines from the Andraé Crouch classic, “To God Be the Glory,” moving many in the audience to tears. She and the co-writers for “Believe for It” were also awarded Song of the Year. Throughout her incredible career, CeCe has won a staggering 25 Dove Awards including the very first New Artist of the Year award in 1988 with her brother BeBe Winans.

“It’s amazing when we come together and we love each other and we stand for righteousness, it’s amazing what God will do,” Winans said after accepting the award for Song of the Year. “It’s amazing what He’s already done. But He wants to do so much more. I’m believing for God to move in this industry greater than He ever has before. The God we serve responds to faithfulness and the testimonies I’ve heard through this song have blessed my life.”

Jekalyn Carr sings at Dove Awards
Jekalyn Carr (Photo by Terry Wyatt)

Choirmaster Ricky Dillard won his first-ever Dove award in the category of Traditional Gospel Album of the Year for his twelfth album, Breakthrough: The Exodus (Live).  Young gospel queen Jekalyn Carr picked up the third Dove award of her career. This time, she won Traditional Gospel Recorded Song of the Year for her No. 1 hit, “My Portion.”

For KING + COUNTRY, writer/producer Jeff Pardo, and Phil Wickham led the night with three awards each. Twenty year-old newcomer Anne Wilson took home two awards including New Artist of the Year and Pop/Contemporary Song of the Year for “My Jesus.” The latter was recently certified gold by the R.I.A.A.

The night was packed with one-of-a-kind performances such as Steven Curtis Chapman’s career-spanning mash-up of his hits such as “The Great Adventure” and “Dive.” Phil Wickham and his electrifying band performed his current Top Ten single, “Hymn of Heaven.”

TobyMac thanked followers for their prayers and support following his son Truett’s unexpected death in 2020 before launching into a spirited performance of “The Goodness” with Nigerian-born singer Blessing Offor. “Thank you for the kindness you showed me and my family as we walked through the deepest valley in losing my firstborn son,” he said. “…There were times I never thought I would ever write another song, much less an uptempo song or a song that felt like joy. But God is good. He might not always give us what we want, or take away the pain, but He is right here with us. He doesn’t leave. He remains.”

Here are a few of the other winners. For a full list of winners, visit doveawards.com/awards/2022-winners.

Rap/Hip Hop Recorded Song of the Year
KB, nobigdyl
“King Jesus”

Contemporary Gospel Recorded Song of the Year
Tasha Cobbs Leonard
“Gotta Believe”

Gospel Worship Recorded Song of the Year
Maverick City Music ft. DOE, Jonathan McReynolds, Chandler Moore
“Breathe”

Rap/Hip Hop Album of the Year
Lecrae 1k phew
No Church in a While

Contemporary Gospel Album of the Year
DOE
Clarity

Gospel Worship Album of the Year
Tribl, Maverick City Music
Tribl Nights Atlanta

Short Form Music Video of the Year
Tauren Wells ft. Aaron Cole
“Fake It”

The theme of this year’s show was Sound of Heaven, highlighting how all the different styles of Christian and Gospel music come together under one banner of hope. “The music created by the artists assembled tonight covers a lot of ground style-wise, but collectively they represent the sound of heaven,” said co-host Chris Tomlin. Co-host Erica Campbell added, “We bring it all together to unite as one for the kingdom of God. One mind, one voice, giving glory to God. That’s the sound of heaven.”

The 53rd Annual GMA Dove Awards is produced by the Gospel Music Association. Jackie Patillo and Justin Fratt serve as showrunners and executive producers, alongside Curtis Stoneberger and Paul Wright as producers. Russell E. Hall returned as director, Michael Nolan as scriptwriter, Scott Moore and Go Live Productions as production manager.

Watch on the TBN YouTube channel.

– From a press release

2021 GMA Dove Awards: CeCe Winans collects four statuettes

Published October 26, 2021, at 4:01 PM ET
Updated October 27, 2021, at 5:32 PM ET

Photo Credit | Terry Wyatt

Nashville, TN (October 26, 2021) – The 52nd Annual GMA Dove Awards were recently handed out in 38 categories at the Allen Arena in Nashville, Tennessee. Under the banner Stronger Together, Christian/Gospel music’s biggest night of the year stressed a theme of racial harmony in light of America’s polarization following the birth of COVID-19 and the death of George Floyd. The show was hosted by gospel singer Jonathan McReynolds, and Christian Pop star Natalie Grant, who lost thousands of social media followers when she condemned Floyd’s killing last year.

The biggest winner of the night was gospel legend CeCe Winans, who won four awards, including Gospel Artist of the Year. Draped in an angelic silver and black gown with feathers, she belted out the title track of her album, “Believe for It,” to standing ovations when she opened and concluded the dramatic performance. Later, R&B star and Maroon 5 keyboardist PJ Morton, along with gospel showman Pastor Mike Jr., presented her the Gospel Artist of the Year trophy.

“I’m honored to lift up the name of Jesus,” Winans said, echoing the evening’s theme. “I’m so glad for all of my brothers and sisters and it’s time we understand the importance of unity because it’s through us really loving each other that the whole world is going to come to know who He is.”

Although he wasn’t in attendance, Marvin Sapp won Traditional Gospel Album of the Year for his project, Chosen Vessel. Jekalyn Carr took home the statuette for Traditional Gospel Recorded Song of the Year for her track, “Changing Your Story.” Lecrae picked up the 11th Dove of his career for “Deep End,” which won Rap/Hip-Hop Recorded Song of the Year. KB took home the prize Rap/Hip Hop Album of the Year for his set, His Glory Alone

After 2020’s virtual show, the music community reunited this year with stellar live performances which included Lauren Daigle’s haunting ballad “Hold on to Me” and a chill-inducing rendition of “My Weapon” by Natalie Grant. There were also one-of-a-kind collaborations that lit up the stage such as rapper KB with British worship leader Matt Redman, Jonathan McReynolds with Mali Music, and Dante Bowe with Kelontae Gavin. The show also paid tribute to the Fisk Jubilee Singers’ 150th anniversary with a montage of the choir’s history.

The ground-breaking, multi-racial music collective, Maverick City Music – currently the only act sharing space in Billboard’s Gospel Streaming Songs chart with Kanye West – performed their big hit, “Jireh” that featured solos by Chandler Moore and Naomi Raine. They also ended up winning the New Artist of the Year award.

For the complete list of winners, click here

The GMA Dove Awards aired Friday, October 22, on Trinity Broadcasting Network. If you missed it, you can view it on YouTube.

– From a press release

GMA announces 52nd Annual Dove Awards nominees

52nd GMA Dove Awards Nominees Announced

Nashville, Tenn. (August 11, 2021) – The Gospel Music Association is pleased to announce nominees for the 52nd Annual GMA Dove Awards. Top nominations include Steven Furtick with ten (10) nominations, Chris Brown with nine (9), Wayne Haun with eight (8), seven (7) nominations each for Elevation Worship and Brandon Lake, six (6) to for KING & COUNTRY and five (5) nods to CeCe Winans, Ed Cash, Tiffany Hammer (Hudson) and Zach Williams. Voted on by the GMA Professional Membership, this year’s nominees were chosen from over 4,600 submitted entries and include a wide range of creativity and artistic integrity in both artist and non-artist categories.

Nominees were announced in a star-studded livestream event featuring Alex Campos, John Cooper, Bill & Gloria Gaither, Kari Jobe, Brian & Jenn Johnson, Jonathan McReynolds, Wande and Tauren Wells. The announcement premiered on the GMA Dove Awards YouTube and Facebook pages with clips on the Dove Awards Instagram and TikTok.

“We are thrilled to welcome back an in-person Dove Awards this year and equally excited about our impressive list of nominees,” says GMA President Jackie Patillo. “As we continue to celebrate the immense creativity and diversity within our community, we’re looking forward to an awards program this year’s nominees deserve.”

Voting for the final winners will run August 19 through August 26. The GMA Dove Awards are happening live and in-person in Nashville, TN, October 19, 2021. A limited number of tickets and Fan Experiences are still available. The broadcast will air exclusively on TBN, Friday, October 22, 2021 8:00 p.m. ET and then again at 10:00 p.m. ET.

For the complete list of nominees, visit doveawards.com.

51st GMA Dove Award Winners announced

Tasha Cobbs Leonard performs for the 2020 Dove Awards.
Tasha Cobbs Leonard performs for the 2020 Dove Awards. (Photo by Don Claussen/Trap The Light Photography for Dove Awards)

Winners for the 51st GMA Dove Awards were announced this past Thursday, October 29, during the show’s pre-telecast and Friday, October 30, during the main show on TBN. The events included pre-taped artist performances and stories but forwent a live audience due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Kudos to all the winners. Among them were Tasha Cobbs Leonard (Gospel Artist of the Year), The Clark Sisters (Traditional Gospel Album of the Year), Kierra Sheard (Gospel Worship Recorded Song of the Year), and Kirk Franklin (Contemporary Gospel Album of the Year).

See the complete list here.

Nominees announced for 51st GMA Dove Awards

Nominees for the 51st annual Dove Awards have been announced.  Zach Williams and For King & Country lead with five nominations each. Hillsong Worship, Kirk Franklin, and Jonathan McReynolds received four nominations. Among first-time nominees is Kanye West with three nods and Gloria Gaynor with two.  The complete list of nominees is available here.

The 2020 awards show will air on TBN Friday, October 30th.  Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the show will feature a variety of pre-recorded performances and acceptance speeches. 

Congrats to all nominees!

Lauren Daigle has huge night at 50th Annual Dove Awards

The 50th Annual Dove Awards was a night to remember, especially for Lauren Daigle.  Daigle took home three Doves, including the coveted “Artist of the Year” Award.  

Lauren Daigle (Photo Credit: Jules Wortman/Wortman Works)

Songwriter Jason Ingram was the night’s big winner with four awards.  Composer Wayne Haun and producer Paul Mabury also added three Doves to their trophy cases, while Gospel’s Kirk Franklin, Lecrae, and Tasha Cobbs Leonard added a pair each. 

The 50th Annual Dove Awards was celebrated among a sold-out audience at Lipscomb University’s Allen Arena in Nashville.  It will air exclusively on TBN Sunday, October 20, at 8pm EST. 

Read the complete list of winners here

Nominees for 50th Annual Dove Awards

50th annual Dove Awards nominee, Lauren Daigle
 
Nominees for the 50th annual Dove Awards have been announced.  Lauren Daigle (pictured) leads with six nominations, closely followed by For King & Country and Kirk Franklin’s five.  Tasha Cobbs Leonard is among three artists who received four nods.  The complete list of nominees is available here.

The 2019 awards show will take place October 15 in Nashville and will air October 20 at 8 PM ET, on TBN.

Congratulations to all nominees!

Winners of 49th Dove Awards announced; Tauren Wells collects handful of trophies

Tauren Wells wins four Dove Awards
Wells walked away with four awards at the 49th annual show.

Congratulations to all of the winners at the 49th Annual Dove Awards, which took place October 16, at Lipscomb University’s Allen Arena in Nashville.  Tauren Wells, Cory Asbury, and Tasha Cobbs Leonard were among artists with multiple wins on Christian/gospel music’s big night.

For the complete list of winners, click here.  The Dove Awards will air exclusively on TBN this Sunday, October 21, at 8 PM CT. 

GMA announces 49th annual Dove Awards nominees

Tauren Wells is among 49th Annual Dove Awards nominees
Wells

Nominees for the 49th annual Dove Awards have been announced.  Tauren Wells and Tasha Cobbs Leonard are among several nominees who received multiple nods.  The complete list of nominees is available here.

The 2018 awards show will take place October 16, at Lipscomb University’s Allen Arena in Nashville and will air October 21, exclusively on TBN.

Congratulations to all nominees!

Winners of the 48th Annual Dove Awards announced

CeCe Winans

Congratulations to all of the winners at the 48th Annual Dove Awards, which took place October 17, at Lipscomb University’s Allen Arena in Nashville.  CeCe Winans and Kirk Franklin were among many artists who picked up wins on Christian/gospel music’s big night.


For the complete list of winners, click here.  The Dove Awards will air on TBN this Sunday, October 22, at 8 PM CT.