CeCe Winans

CeCe Winans Bio

Priscilla Marie Winans, known professionally as CeCe Winans, is an American gospel singer widely recognized as the best-selling and most awarded female gospel artist of all time. Born on October 8, 1964, in Detroit, Michigan, she first rose to prominence in the 1980s as part of the platinum-selling gospel duo BeBe & CeCe Winans alongside her brother BeBe Winans. She later launched a celebrated solo career with the 1995 album Alone in His Presence and has since earned 18 Grammy Awards, 36 GMA Dove Awards, 28 Stellar Awards, 7 NAACP Image Awards, and 6 Billboard Music Awards.

Early Life and Background

Priscilla Marie Winans was born in Detroit, Michigan, to Delores and David Winans of the famed Winans Family gospel group on October 8, 1964. She grew up as one of ten children in a deeply religious household. Her parents were members of the Church of God in Christ, and the family only listened to gospel music at home. This environment shaped her early relationship with music and set the foundation for her future career in ministry through song.

Surrounded by siblings who were also active in music, CeCe Winans was exposed to performance from a very young age. She sang her first solo at the age of eight, performing in church settings. The tight-knit Winans family acted as her earliest musical school, with brothers and sisters rehearsing and performing together. The combination of faith, family, and music defined her upbringing and gave her the confidence to step into the spotlight as a teenager.

Path to Music

CeCe Winans began her professional career in 1980 as part of the larger Winans family singing group. In 1981, she traveled to Charlotte, North Carolina, to perform as a singer on the Christian television program The PTL Club, hosted by Jim and Tammy Faye Bakker. While at PTL, she and her older brother BeBe Winans began performing as a duo after audiences responded warmly to their rendition of the song Up Where We Belong, with lyrics adjusted for Christian listeners. This collaboration laid the groundwork for the formal duo BeBe & CeCe Winans.

In 1984, CeCe and BeBe Winans released their first album, Lord Lift Us Up, on PTL Records. The duo went on to release nine Gold and Platinum-certified recordings together, achieving crossover success on gospel, Christian, and R&B charts. Their album Different Lifestyles was the first gospel release by a group to sell more than one million units, marking a historic moment in gospel music history.

CeCe Winans Career

Early Career (1980s)

CeCe Winans began her professional career in 1980, initially performing with her family and later with her brother BeBe on The PTL Club. After establishing the duo BeBe & CeCe Winans in 1984, the pair built a strong reputation in gospel and Christian music. Their early recordings on PTL Records and Sparrow Records helped them grow a loyal audience and earned them industry recognition throughout the late 1980s.

During the 1980s, the duo released albums that blended gospel, R&B, and contemporary Christian sounds, attracting mainstream attention. Their crossover appeal helped open doors for gospel music in secular markets. By the end of the decade, BeBe & CeCe Winans had become one of the most respected gospel acts in the United States, setting the stage for CeCe Winans’s eventual solo career.

Breakthrough (1990s)

CeCe Winans launched her solo career with the album Alone in His Presence, released in 1995. The album was only the third gospel release by any artist to sell more than one million units, and it earned her a Grammy Award along with two GMA Dove Awards, including Female Vocalist of the Year. The success of the album made her a leading solo voice in contemporary gospel and established her as a major force in the music industry.

Her follow-up release, the Gold-certified Everlasting Love, arrived in 1998 and featured her highest-charting solo singles, including Well Alright and Slippin. The track On That Day from the album was written and produced by R&B singer Lauryn Hill. In 1999, Winans released the Christmas album His Gift and started her own recording label, PureSprings Gospel, with the album Alabaster Box as its first release. Around this time, she also contributed the duet Count On Me with Whitney Houston to the Waiting to Exhale soundtrack, a single certified Gold in the United States.

Notable Works and Milestones

Across her solo career, CeCe Winans has released acclaimed albums such as CeCe Winans (2001), Throne Room (2003), Purified (2005), Thy Kingdom Come (2008), Let Them Fall in Love (2017), Believe for It (2021), and More Than This (2024). Her song Count On Me with Whitney Houston reached No. 8 on the Billboard Hot 100, and her 2024 single That’s My King reached No. 1 on the Hot Gospel charts. She has been honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and a star on the Music City Walk of Fame in Nashville, and she is one of the inaugural inductees into the Black Music & Entertainment Walk of Fame in Atlanta.

CeCe Winans Award Nominations

CeCe Winans has received numerous award nominations across gospel, Christian, and mainstream music categories. Her nominations reflect a career that has consistently been recognized by the Recording Academy, the Gospel Music Association, the Stellar Awards, and other organizations. Both as part of the duo BeBe & CeCe Winans and as a solo artist, she has been a frequent nominee in performance, album, and song categories.

CeCe Winans Awards Won

CeCe Winans is one of the most decorated figures in gospel music, with verified wins including 18 Grammy Awards, 36 GMA Dove Awards, 28 Stellar Awards, 7 NAACP Image Awards, and 6 Billboard Music Awards. She has also been inducted into the GMA Dove Gospel Music Hall of Fame and has received the Aretha Franklin Icon Award at the Stellar Awards. Her trophy collection includes honors on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, the Music City Walk of Fame in Nashville, and the Black Music & Entertainment Walk of Fame in Atlanta.

CeCe Winans Family

CeCe Winans was born into the celebrated Winans family of Detroit, one of the most influential dynasties in American gospel music. She is one of ten children raised by her parents, Delores Winans and David Winans, both of whom were part of the Winans Family gospel group. Her older brother BeBe Winans became her longtime musical partner, and other siblings, including Angie and Debbie Winans, have also performed with her on various recordings. Her nephew Mario Winans worked as a producer on her 2005 album Purified.

Personal Life

CeCe Winans lives in Brentwood, Tennessee, a suburb of Nashville, with her husband Alvin Love II. The couple has two children, a son and a daughter. Her son, Alvin III, co-wrote several songs on the album Purified. Winans was a close friend of the late singer Whitney Houston and served as the godmother of Houston’s daughter, Bobbi Kristina Brown. In 2012, she performed at Whitney Houston’s funeral at New Hope Baptist Church in Newark, New Jersey, singing Don’t Cry for Me and Jesus Loves Me.