Gospel Music 101: Who are BeBe & CeCe Winans? Gospel artists BeBe Winans and CeCe Winans

Photo of BeBe and CeCe Winans from press kit

Who Are BeBe & CeCe Winans?

The seventh and eighth children in a family of ten kids, Benjamin "Bebe" Winans and Priscilla "CeCe" Winans grew up in Detroit, MI, into a home of gospel music performers. The Winans Family of gospel artists was led by a mother and father who taught their ten children the foundations of a Godly life. The Winans children were taught from an early age to use their voices for the glory of God. The success of their four older brothers, who started performing as The Winans while BeBe and CeCe were still in high school, set the standard for BeBe & CeCe and helped prepare them to develop their own style of writing and performing.

BeBe & CeCe Winans Change the Face of Gospel Music

As reported in BeBe & CeCe Winans release Still - 1st album from BeBe and CeCe in 15 years, BeBe & CeCe were the first African-American artists to receive significant airplay on gospel music radio stations and the second African American artists to receive the Dove Award in the Group of the Year category. Because of that, BeBe & CeCe have been credited with changing the face of Gospel music along with artists like Billy and Sarah Gaines.

BeBe & CeCe Winans Honors & Awards

After the success of their self-titled debut album on Sparrow Records in 1987, the Winans siblings became the first Gospel pair to see their second album, Heaven, reach #1 on the Billboard sales charts in 1988 and be certified Gold. In 1991, BeBe & CeCe released Different Lifestyles featuring two singles which topped the R&B charts, "Addictive Love" and a cover of the Staples Singers classic, "I'll Take You There." BeBe & CeCe followed their early success by releasing two more albums and then went on to pursue successful solo careers. BeBe has released 6 solo albums, and CeCe has released 8 albums as solo artists.

BeBe & CeCe have won five Grammy Awards, eight Dove Awards, two NAACP Image Awards, one Soul Train Award and over a dozen Stellar Awards. During their 20-year-career, they have generated 12 chart topping R&B singles, as well as numerous #1 singles on Christian AC and CHR radio, three gold albums and one platinum album.

BeBe Winan's 2009 Arrest

BeBe Winans, who played Harpo in "The Color Purple" on Broadway in 2008, was in the news in March of 2009 for a domestic assault charge when his wife Debra Winans accused him of pushing her to the ground during an altercation in February of 2009. He was cleared of all charges in December 2009 (see Bebe Winans exonerated of domestic violence charges).

BeBe & CeCe Winans - Still

In October 2009, BeBe and CeCe will release Still, their first album together in 15 years. (See BeBe & CeCe Winans release Still - 1st album from BeBe and CeCe in 15 years.)