For King and Country and writer and producer Jeff Pardo won three times, while CeCe Winans and Anne Wilson won twice during a historic night at the 53rd annual Dove Awards broadcast on TBN Friday.
Winans became the first Black female solo artist to win Artist of the Year, although it was far from her first Dove Award. Winans, who also won a Dove as co-writer for her hit single Believe For It (Song of the Year), has won 25 Dove Awards during her iconic career. She and her brother BeBe Winans won the first New Artist of the Year award in 1988.
When accepting her award for Artist of the Year, she sang To God Be the Glory.
Believe For It was the final song added to her new album, also titled Believe For It, she told media members after the show.
"We were about to end the record, as far as the songs, and [producer Kyle Lee] felt like … we still needed one more. But especially Kyle – I have to give him the credit," she said. "... I'm pretty honored and humbled to be a part of this song, to be part-writer of the song, just to be able to deliver it in a way that would re-energize the faith of God's people."
Believe For It, she said, includes a much-needed message for Christians.
"I felt like especially coming out of the pandemic, that we had to encourage people to keep believing and not to give up," she said. "People had experienced so much pain, had experienced so much loss. And so we wanted to challenge the church to continue to believe in God's Word, because if God said it, and we believe, it is done."
Wilson won New Artist of the Year and Pop/Contemporary Recorded Song of the Year. For King and Country won Pop/Contemporary Album of the Year, Short Form Music Video of the Year (Concept) and Long Form Video of the Year. Pardon won three awards, including Producer of the Year.
The complete list of winners follows:
ARTIST OF THE YEAR: CeCe Winans
NEW ARTIST OF THE YEAR: Anne Wilson
SONGWRITER OF THE YEAR (Non-Artist): Jason Ingram
SONGWRITER OF THE YEAR (Artist): Phil Wickham
SONG OF THE YEAR: Believe For It
PRODUCER OF THE YEAR: Jeff Pardo
RAP/HIP-HOP RECORDED SONG OF THE YEAR: King Jesus, KB, nobigdyl.
WORSHIP ALBUM OF THE YEAR: Hymn Of Heaven - Phil Wickham
INSPIRATIONAL RECORDED SONG OF THE YEAR: God is Good - Francesca Battistelli
SOUTHERN GOSPEL RECORDED SONG OF THE YEAR: My Feet Are On The Rock - Gaither Vocal Band
BLUEGRASS/COUNTRY/ROOTS RECORDED SONG OF THE YEAR: In The Sweet By and By - Dolly Parton, ft. Larry Cordle, Carl Jackson, Jerry Salley, Bradley Walker
TRADITIONAL GOSPEL RECORDED SONG OF THE YEAR: My Portion - Jekalyn Carr
SPANISH LANGUAGE RECORDED SONG OF THE YEAR: Danzando - Gateway Worship Español, ft. Daniel Calveti, Becky Collazos, Christine D'Clario, Travy Joe, Josh Morales
BLUEGRASS/COUNTRY/ROOTS ALBUM OF THE YEAR: God Is Real - The Sound
ROCK/CONTEMPORARY RECORDED SONG OF THE YEAR: Higher Power - CROWDER, ft. Hulvey
GOSPEL WORSHIP RECORDED SONG OF THE YEAR: Breathe - Maverick City Music, ft. DOE, Jonathan McReynolds, Chandler Moore
POP/CONTEMPORARY RECORDED SONG OF THE YEAR: My Jesus - Anne Wilson
CONTEMPORARY GOSPEL RECORDED SONG OF THE YEAR: Gotta Believe - Tasha Cobbs Leonard
WORSHIP RECORDED SONG OF THE YEAR: Hymn of Heavens - Phil Wickham
RAP/HIP-HOP ALBUM OF THE YEAR: No Church In A While - Lecrae, 1K Phew
ROCK/CONTEMPORARY ALBUM OF THE YEAR: Into The Mystery – NEEDTOBREATHE
POP/CONTEMPORARY ALBUM OF THE YEAR: What Are We Waiting For - for KING & COUNTRY
INSPIRATIONAL ALBUM OF THE YEAR: Be Still & Know - Jordan Smith
SOUTHERN GOSPEL ALBUM OF THE YEAR: Keeping On - Ernie Haase & Signature Sound
CONTEMPORARY GOSPEL ALBUM OF THE YEAR: Clarity – DOE
TRADITIONAL GOSPEL ALBUM OF THE YEAR: Breakthrough: The Exodus (Live) - Ricky Dillard
GOSPEL WORSHIP ALBUM OF THE YEAR: Tribl Nights Atlanta - Tribl, Maverick City Music
SPANISH LANGUAGE ALBUM OF THE YEAR: Viviré - Marcos Witt
CHILDREN'S ALBUM OF THE YEAR: Getty Kids Hymnal - Hymns from Home - Keith & Kristyn Getty, ft. The Getty Girls
CHRISTMAS/SPECIAL EVENT ALBUM OF THE YEAR: Emmanuel: Christmas Songs Of Worship (Live) - Chris Tomlin
MUSICAL/CHORAL COLLECTION OF THE YEAR: Give Me Jesus
RECORDED MUSIC PACKAGING OF THE YEAR: Canyon - Ellie Holcomb
SHORT FORM MUSIC VIDEO OF THE YEAR (Concept): RELATE - for KING & COUNTRY
SHORT FORM MUSIC VIDEO OF THE YEAR (PERFORMANCE): Fake It - Tauren Wells, ft. Aaron Cole
LONG FORM VIDEO OF THE YEAR: What Are We Waiting For? / The Worldwide Special - for KING & COUNTRY
INSPIRATIONAL FILM/SERIES OF THE YEAR: The Chosen
Photo courtesy: ©Blue Amber/Dove Awards
Michael Foust has covered the intersection of faith and news for 20 years. His stories have appeared in Baptist Press, Christianity Today, The Christian Post, the Leaf-Chronicle, the Toronto Star and the Knoxville News-Sentinel.
