Gladys Knight, 3 Winans Brothers Honored at NAACP Image Awards for Gospel Music
Gladys Knight and 3 Winans Brothers won big for gospel music at the 46th annual NAACP Image Award ceremony.
The NAACP Image Awards celebrate multi-cultural achievements and performances in television, recording, literature, motion picture, writing and directing along with people promoting social justice in creative ways. This year Knight, the 70-year-old singer and songwriter, took home the award for Outstanding Gospel Album titled "Where My Heart Belongs."
"I am truly honored to have won the 46th NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Gospel Album! #WhereMyHeartBelongs," Knight tweeted after receiving the honor.
This year, gospel music artists stood out with a win in more than just the Outstanding Gospel Album Category. The gospel music supergroup 3 Winans Brothers won the "Outstanding New Artist" category alongside mainstream singers like Aloe Blacc, Jhene Aiko and Liv Warfield.
While the 3 Winans Brothers consists of Marvin, Bebe and Carvin who have separately been in the music industry for decades, this year marked the first time the trio came together as one for their debut album "Foreign Land." With over 17 Grammy Awards among them, the Winans took to Twitter to express their gratitude for the recognition.
"Thank you so much for the honor of receiving #OutstandingNewArtist #NAACP #ImageAwards," a tweet from the supergroup website read. "We are truly humbled and grateful. Congrats to All!"
Before the world officially heard music from 3 Winans Brothers, singer BeBe Winans spoke to Essence about keeping the group's sound current.
"Bringing on producers Daniel Weatherspoon (who works with Marvin Winans, Vashawn Mitchell) Rodney Jerkins (whose clients include Lady Gaga, Ciara) will help to keep the project current. The theme of the album is hope," BeBe told Essence magazine in 2013. "The style consists of a combination of The Winans' style and BeBe & CeCe's style of music."