BeBe & CeCe Winans

BeBe & CeCe Winans
Origin Detroit, Michigan, United States
Genres Contemporary Gospel, contemporary Christian, R&B
Occupations Singers
Instruments Vocals
Years active 1982–1996, 2009 (reunion)
Labels Sparrow, Capitol, EMI
Associated acts CeCe Winans, BeBe Winans, The Winans, Winans family
Members
Benjamin "BeBe" Winans
Priscilla "CeCe" Winans-Love

BeBe & CeCe Winans are an American Gospel music brother and sister duo. BeBe (Benjamin) and CeCe (Priscilla) Winans are the seventh and eighth of "Mom" and "Pop" Winans' ten children, most of whom have had successful Gospel music careers.

Contents

Musical career

While BeBe and CeCe were in high school, four of their elder brothers formed the successful Gospel music group The Winans. Initially known as The Winans Part II, BeBe and CeCe first appeared in the public eye when they debuted in 1982 as part of the singing group The PTL Singers on the Christian television show The PTL Club. They were introduced by Jim Bakker, and recorded their first album Lord Lift Us Up as a duo for PTL Records.

Self-titled debut

BeBe and CeCe left the PTL Singers in 1987 to pursue a musical career and that same year, Sparrow Records offered the two siblings a Gospel recording contract. Their mainstream debut release was the self-titled album BeBe & CeCe Winans. It was produced by Keith Thomas, who had at that time also produced Amy Grant and Vanessa L. Williams. The debut record gave them their first R&B hit, "I.O.U. Me," which topped R&B and inspirational charts and generated Grammy nominations, and Dove and Stellar Awards. CeCe also earned a Grammy for "Best Soul Gospel Performance, Female" for the song "For Always."

They were one of the first African American artists to receive significant airplay on contemporary Christian music radio stations and the second African American artists to receive the Dove Award in the Group of the Year category.

Heaven

With the release of their second LP Heaven, they remained steadily popular with R&B audiences, spawning 12 R&B hit singles including two No. 1 singles. The pair became the first Gospel artists to see their album reach No. 1 on the Billboard sales charts in 1988. The title track also reached No. 12 on the Billboard R&B singles chart.[1]

Other hits from the album included "Lost Without You" and "Celebrate New Life."[2]

The album reached the R&B Top Ten, went to No. 95 on the Pop Charts and was certified Gold.[3]

Different Lifestyles

The release of their 1991 album Different Lifestyles brought their biggest success to date. It featured the singles "Addictive Love" and a cover of The Staple Singers' "I'll Take You There" featuring Mavis Staples. Both singles topped the R&B chart.[4] Rapper MC Hammer also made an appearance on the single "The Blood" at the height of his career.

First Christmas

A holiday release titled First Christmas followed in 1993. This album showcased BeBe's production skills and led to him doing production work with Whitney Houston on the soundtrack for the movie The Bodyguard as well as production and writing music for artists such as Gladys Knight, Bobby Brown, The Clark Sisters and his younger sisters Angie and Debbie Winans.

Relationships

1994 saw the release of their studio album Relationships, featuring the notable singles "If Anything Ever Happened To You," "Love Of My Life," and "Stay With Me." This album conveyed a more personal approach, in CeCe's words: "A lot of people think we're supposed to be perfect, but we're people too, we go through hurt [and] pain. We get songs through experiences and as we reveal these things, people are touched."

Still

In 2009, Still was BeBe & CeCe's first album in more than 15 years and brought the reunion that has been on the lips of fans around the world since it was announced.[5] Premiering 12 new songs, the album's lead single is "Close to You".[6] The album won two Grammy Awards: Best Gospel Performance (the song "Grace") and Best Gospel R&B Album.

Awards and honors

As a duo, BeBe and CeCe Winans' accolades include three Grammy Awards, nine Dove Awards, two NAACP Image awards, two Soul Train Music Awards, numerous Stellar Awards, three Gold albums, and one Platinum album.

Grammy Awards

GMA Dove Awards

NAACP Image awards

Soul Train Music Awards

The Walk of Fame Committee of the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce has announced that BeBe & CeCe Winans names will be added to the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2011.

Discography

Year Album Peak chart positions Label
US Gospel Top R&B Top Pop
1984 Lord Lift Us Up 20 PTL Records
1987 BeBe & CeCe Winans 12 49 Sparrow/Capitol
1988 Heaven 1 10 95
1991 Different Lifestyles 1 1 74
1993 First Christmas 23 17 163
1994 Relationships 4 19 111
1996 Greatest Hits 3 93 Sparrow
2006 The Best Of BeBe & CeCe Winans
2009 Still 1 2 12 B&C/Malaco

Singles

Year Song Peak chart positions Album
Christian US Gospel R&B
1984 Up Where We Belong 27 Lord Lift Us Up
1987 I.O.U. Me 2 BeBe & CeCe Winans
Love Said Not So 11
1988 Change Your Nature 8
1989 Heaven 3 12 Heaven
Celebrate New Life 4
Lost Without You 1 8
1990 Meantime 15
You 24
1991 Addictive Love 1 1 Different Lifestyles
I'll Take You There (feat. Mavis Staples) 1 1
It's O.K. 7 6
1992 The Blood (with MC Hammer) 8
Depend On You 2
1993 Can’t Take This Away 13
Jingle Bells First Christmas
1994 If Anything Ever Happened To You 16 Relationships
Love Of My Life 35
1995 Count It All Joy 7
Stay With Me 62
2009 Close To You 1 21 Still
Grace 6
2010 Found Love (Cindy's Song) 11

Music Videos

Popular culture influence

Solo careers

In 1995, they officially parted ways to work on their solo careers and other areas of interest. Both artists have gone on to have successful solo careers, receiving numerous awards and accolades. To date, BeBe has released six solo albums, while CeCe has released eight.

BeBe and CeCe Winans recorded twice during their hiatus as duo—before the recording of the 2009 album "Still"—including: "What A Child", a duet on CeCe's Christmas album His Gift, and on "Tonight Tonight", a duet on BeBe's 2000 album Love & Freedom.

References

External links