Three Grammys in one night, 15 in her career: CeCe Winans and Believe For It
At the 2022 Grammy Awards, there were four prizes for gospel and contemporary Christian music. CeCe Winans won three of them.
Her live album Believe For It took Best Gospel Album, and its title song won Best Contemporary Christian Music Performance/Song. “Never Lost”, also from the album, won Best Gospel Performance/Song. The wins took her career total to 15 Grammy Awards, making her one of the most decorated gospel artists in history.
A family of singers
Priscilla Marie Winans, known as CeCe, was born in Detroit in 1964 into one of gospel music’s most famous families. Her brothers performed as The Winans, and her parents, known as Mom and Pop Winans, also recorded. CeCe first reached a national audience in the 1980s singing duets with her brother BeBe, including on the PTL television network.
BeBe and CeCe Winans became one of the most successful duos in gospel, crossing into R&B charts with songs such as “Addictive Love” and “I’ll Take You There”. Her solo career from the mid-1990s produced hits including “Alabaster Box” and “Throne Room”.
Believe For It
Believe For It was recorded live in Nashville and released in 2021. The album combined worship songs, contemporary Christian arrangements and gospel vocals, and it reached listeners in churches far beyond her usual audience.
The title song, which Winans co-wrote, carries a simple message: believe for the miracle while you are waiting for it. It became a staple of church worship teams in the United States and abroad.
Goodness of God
The album also included Winans’s version of “Goodness of God”, a worship song originally recorded by Bethel Music’s Jenn Johnson. Her recording became one of the most popular versions of the song, sung by congregations across the world, including in Ghana and Nigeria.
Pastor and singer
Winans is also a pastor. With her husband, Alvin Love, she founded Nashville Life Church in Tennessee, where she leads worship and ministers regularly. Her faith is at the centre of her public life, and she has spoken often about balancing ministry, family and career.
Why she lasts
Many gospel artists have one great decade. Winans has had four. Her voice is clear and controlled rather than showy, and she has adapted her sound from 1980s R&B-influenced gospel to modern worship without losing her identity.
The 2022 ceremony
The 64th Grammy Awards were held on 3 April 2022 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, moved from Los Angeles and from their usual January date because of the COVID-19 pandemic. The gospel and Christian categories were presented during the afternoon premiere ceremony before the main broadcast. Winans’s three wins made her the biggest winner in those categories that year, ahead of nominees that included some of the most successful worship collectives of the decade.
She began singing on television with her brother as a young woman. Nearly forty years later, she walked away from one Grammy night with three trophies and a song that congregations around the world were already singing.
