Benjamin "BeBe" Winans (born September 17, 1962) is an American

gospel Gospel originally meant the Christian message (" the gospel"), but in the 2nd century it came to be used also for the books in which the message was set out. In this sense a gospel can be defined as a loose-knit, episodic narrative of the words a ...

and R&B singer. He is a member of the noted Winans family, most members of which are also gospel artists. Winans has released nine albums, seven with his sister CeCe as BeBe & CeCe Winans and one with three Winans brothers.

''The PTL Club''

Winans released several

album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early 20th century as individual 78 rpm records c ...

s, first with his sister CeCe, and later as a

solo Solo or SOLO may refer to: Arts and entertainment Comics * ''Solo'' (DC Comics), a DC comics series * Solo, a 1996 mini-series from Dark Horse Comics Characters * Han Solo, a ''Star Wars'' character * Jacen Solo, a Jedi in the non-canonical ''S ...

artist An artist is a person engaged in an activity related to creating art, practicing the arts, or demonstrating an art. The common usage in both everyday speech and academic discourse refers to a practitioner in the visual arts only. However, th ...

. Jim Bakker's television show '' The PTL Club'' took interest in BeBe and his sister CeCe as background vocalists for the show. After going to

North Carolina North Carolina () is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the List of U.S. states and territories by area, 28th largest and List of states and territories of the United ...

to audition they were accepted. The siblings moved to the PTL campus in North Carolina, and were on the show for about five years. During their time on PTL, BeBe and CeCe recorded "Lord Lift Us Up" on PTL's label after popular demand on the show. Eventually the success warranted another effort: a full-length album. The album did well on the charts. BeBe and CeCe left PTL to pursue their singing career and recorded five albums together including self-titled ''BeBe & CeCe Winans'', ''Heaven'', ''Different Lifestyles'', ''First Christmas'' and ''Relationships''. In 1995, BeBe and CeCe split up to pursue solo careers. But in 2009 they did the album "Still" together. On it was the song "Close to You," which won a Dove award in 2010 in the category of Urban Recorded Song.

Solo career

In 1989, BeBe won his first Grammy for Best Soul Gospel Performance, Male for his contribution to "Abundant Life", a track on his brother Ronald's Family & Friends Choir. BeBe signed with Atlantic records in late 1996 and delivered a self-titled solo debut in 1997. The album featured the singles "In Harms' Way", "Thank You", and the international crossover hit "

I Wanna Be the Only One "I Wanna Be the Only One" is a song by British R&B girl group Eternal and American R&B/gospel singer BeBe Winans, released in May 1997 as the third single from the group's third album, '' Before the Rain'' (1997). Topping the UK Singles Chart, ...

" featuring British soul trio

Eternal Eternal(s) or The Eternal may refer to: * Eternity, an infinite amount of time, or a timeless state * Immortality or eternal life * God, the supreme being, creator deity, and principal object of faith in monotheism Comics, film and television * ...

. The song topped the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

in Eternal's native

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and ...

in May 1997. The next album released was the fruit of a new deal with Motown Records. ''Love & Freedom'' was released in 2000 and featured production from Warryn Campbell, Brian McKnight,

Masters At Work Masters at Work is the American garage house production and remix team of "Little" Louie Vega and Kenny "Dope" Gonzalez. The duo has produced music together under the names MAW, KenLou, Sole Fusion, Hardrive, and Nuyorican Soul. They have been r ...

and others. The lead single "Coming Back Home" was a slow swinging ballad featuring R&B luminaries McKnight and Joe. Another single was BeBe's remake of the

Stevie Wonder Stevland Hardaway Morris ( Judkins; May 13, 1950), known professionally as Stevie Wonder, is an American singer-songwriter, who is credited as a pioneer and influence by musicians across a range of genres that include rhythm and blues, pop, s ...

classic "Jesus Children of America" featuring his older brother Marvin ( The Winans, Winans family) and Stevie Wonder himself. Two years later, a live album ''Live & Up Close'' followed. The album was recorded live at BET studios and featured guests such as his sister Debra Winans-Lowe and

Stephanie Mills Stephanie Dorthea Mills (born March 22, 1957) is an American singer and songwriter. She rose to stardom as " Dorothy" in the original seven-time Tony Award winning Broadway run of the musical '' The Wiz'' from 1974 to 1979. The song "Home" from ...

. The set was released on both CD & DVD. The CD included the studio version of "Do You Know Him?" which served as the album's first single. Bebe Winans and President Bush

By 2003, BeBe had started his own record label, The Movement Group, and partnered with Still Waters, an inspirational and gospel imprint of Hidden Beach Recordings. The first album under this deal was 2004's largely orchestral holiday album entitled ''My Christmas Prayer'' which first appeared exclusively for sale at Starbucks coffee shops nationwide. Between releases, BeBe made his film debut with a small role in the 2004 remake (featuring

Denzel Washington Denzel Hayes Washington Jr. (born December 28, 1954) is an American actor and filmmaker. He has been described as an actor who reconfigured "the concept of classic movie stardom". Throughout his career spanning over four decades, Washington ha ...

) of '' The Manchurian Candidate''. Early the next year, BeBe released his third proper solo album ''Dream'' featuring the single "I Have A Dream". The song featured samples of the historic speech by Martin Luther King, and was released to several radio stations to coincide with King's birthday celebrations. The cover of the album features a hand painted portrait of BeBe standing in front of a Martin Luther King Jr Blvd. street sign. Also "Miracle Of Love," a duet with Angie Stone included on the album, also appeared on a soundtrack of songs inspired by the film ''The Passion Of The Christ''. Winans performed a duet with Eden Espinosa on the 2008 Alma Awards which was broadcast on ABC on September 12. 2008. Winans and Espinosa sang "I Don't Know Much" as a tribute to honoree

Linda Ronstadt Linda Maria Ronstadt (born July 15, 1946) is a retired American singer who performed and recorded in diverse genres including rock, country, light opera, the Great American Songbook, and Latin. She has earned 11 Grammy Awards, three American ...

. Bebe performed "Born for This" on the Obama/Biden Inauguration tribute Change is Now CD+DVD set. BeBe & CeCe Winans had confirmed a reunion album scheduled for early 2009. Winans hosts his own nationally syndicated

radio program A radio program, radio programme, or radio show is a segment of content intended for broadcast on radio. It may be a one-time production or part of a periodically recurring series. A single program in a series is called an episode. Radio netwo ...

, ''The BeBe Winans Radio Show''. BeBe Winans has starred in Broadway's ''

The Color Purple ''The Color Purple'' is a 1982 epistolary novel by American author Alice Walker which won the 1983 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction and the National Book Award for Fiction.

'' as Harpo as of January 9, 2008. He is starring alongside

Chaka Khan Yvette Marie Stevens (born March 23, 1953), better known by her stage name Chaka Khan (), is an American singer. Her career has spanned more than five decades, beginning in the 1970s as the lead vocalist of the funk band Rufus. Known as the " Q ...

who is playing his wife, Sofia. Winans was one of the judges for a gospel music competition show on

BET Black Entertainment Television (acronym BET) is an American basic cable channel targeting African-American audiences. It is owned by the CBS Entertainment Group unit of Paramount Global via BET Networks and has offices in New York City, Los ...

called '' Sunday Best'', along with gospel duo

Mary Mary Mary Mary is a female American urban contemporary gospel duo composed of sisters Erica Atkins-Campbell (born April 29, 1972) and Trecina Atkins-Campbell (born May 1, 1974). Formed in 1998, Mary Mary was launched into mainstream recognition f ...

. He was invited to participate in the remake of " We Are The World" to benefit

Haiti Haiti (; ht, Ayiti ; French: ), officially the Republic of Haiti (); ) and formerly known as Hayti, is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean Sea, east of Cuba and Jamaica, and s ...

after the

2010 earthquake Earthquakes in 2010 resulted in nearly 165,000 fatalities. Most of these were due to the 2010 Haiti earthquake, which caused an estimated 160,000 deaths, making it the 11th deadliest earthquake in recorded history. Other deadly quakes occurred i ...

. Bebe together with Cece and Mary Mary featuring the West Angeles Choir performed on ''

The Tonight Show with Jay Leno ''The Tonight Show with Jay Leno'' is an American late-night talk show hosted by Jay Leno that first aired from May 25, 1992, to May 29, 2009. It resumed production on March 1, 2010 and ended on February 6, 2014. The fourth incarnation of the ...

''. In 2012, Winans released ''The Whitney I Knew'', a memoir about

Whitney Houston Whitney Elizabeth Houston (August 9, 1963 – February 11, 2012) was an American singer and actress. Nicknamed "Honorific nicknames in popular music, The Voice", she is Whitney Houston albums discography, one of the bestselling music artists ...

, who had died earlier that year. Winans was a close friend of the singer, and sang at her funeral. In March 2014, Winans joined British pop/R&B group

at the

Hammersmith Apollo The Hammersmith Apollo, currently called the Eventim Apollo for sponsorship reasons, and formerly known as the Hammersmith Odeon, is a live entertainment performance venue, originally built as a cinema called the Gaumont Palace. Located in Ha ...

in London, to perform the number one hit "I Wanna Be the Only One", as part of '' The Big Reunion'' live shows.

Legal issues

In November 2007, Winans filed suit in

Davidson County, Tennessee Davidson County is a county in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is located in the heart of Middle Tennessee. As of the 2020 census, the population was 715,884, making it the second most populous county in Tennessee. Its county seat is Nashville ...

against Eric Peterson, who had managed him between 2002 and 2007. Winans's claims included breach of a managerial contract and of fiduciary duties, as well as fraud. Winans asserted that Peterson stole from him and took advantage of his trust, stating that in February 2002, "Mr. Peterson induced Mr. Winans to execute a power of attorney, representing that it was required to permit Mr. Peterson to perform his services. In fact, on December 31, 2004, Mr. Peterson used the power of attorney to execute a promissory note purporting to obligate Mr. Winans to pay Mr. Peterson himself the sum of $150,000." Winans was arrested March 11, 2009 on charges of domestic assault for allegedly pushing his ex-wife to the ground in front of their children during an argument. According to a court filing, Winans and his former spouse got into a "verbal altercation" on February 13 about "custody issues dealing with their children." On December 4, 2009, the domestic assault criminal charges against Winans were dismissed. An AP news report indicates the court action resulted from a pre-trial diversion deal offered by the prosecution, calling for Winans to attend domestic violence counseling in exchange for dismissal of the charges.

Discography

Solo albums

*1997: ''BeBe Winans'' (Atlantic) *2000: ''Love & Freedom'' (Motown) *2002: ''Live and Up Close'' (Motown) *2004: ''My Christmas Prayer'' (The Movement Group / Hidden Beach / Epic) *2005: ''Dream'' (The Movement Group / Still Waters / Hidden Beach) *2007: ''Cherch'' (The Movement Group / Koch) *2012: ''America, America'' (My Destiny /

Razor & Tie Razor & Tie was an American entertainment company that consisted of a record label and a music publishing company. It was established in 1990 by Craig Balsam and Cliff Chenfeld. Based in New York City (with additional offices in Los Angeles a ...

) *2019: ''Need You''

As BeBe & CeCe Winans

*1984: '' Lord Lift Us Up'' (PTL) *1987: ''BeBe & CeCe Winans'' (Sparrow / Capitol) *1988: ''

Heaven Heaven or the heavens, is a common religious cosmological or transcendent supernatural place where beings such as deities, angels, souls, saints, or venerated ancestors are said to originate, be enthroned, or reside. According to the belie ...

'' (Sparrow / Capitol) *1991: '' Different Lifestyles'' (Sparrow / Capitol) *1993: ''First Christmas'' (Sparrow / Capitol) *1994: ''Relationships'' (Sparrow / Capitol) *1996: ''Greatest Hits'' (Sparrow / EMI) *2006: ''The Best of BeBe and CeCe'' (Sparrow) *2009: '' Still'' (B&C / Malaco)

Singles

*1996: "All of Me" (Myrrh) *1997: "In Harm's Way" (Atlantic) *1997: "Thank You" (Atlantic) *1997: "

" (with

) (EMI) *1997: "Stay" (Atlantic) *2000: "Coming Back Home" (Motown) *2000: "Jesus Children of America" (Motown) *2000: "Tonight Tonight" (Motown) *2002: "Do You Know Him" (Motown) *2005: "I Have a Dream" (TMG/Still Waters) *2005: "Safe from Harm" (TMG/Still Waters) *2005: "Love Me Anyway" (TMG/Still Waters) *2017: "He Promised Me" (Regimen/Malaco) *2018: "Laughter" (Regimen/Malaco) *2019: "Free Free" (Regimen/Malaco) *2020: "In Jesus Name" (Regimen/Malaco) *2020: "Black Lives Matter" (Hidden Beach)

Other appearances

*1984: "Give Him Thanks" from ''Face to Face'' (Light) with The Winans *1984: "Golden Opportunity" from ''Tomorrow'' (Light) with The Winans *1984: ''Jesus Commands Us to Go!'', Keith Green (background) *1986: "Its Only Natural" and "Arms of Love" from ''Kaleidoscope'' (Dayspring) with Keith Thomas *1987: "Abundant Life" from ''Ron Winans Family & Friends Choir Vol. I'' (Selah) *1987: "Love Is You" from ''Daniel Winans & Second Half'' (A&M) duet with Marvin Winans *1988: ''Live: Radically Saved'',

Carman In Celtic mythology, Carman or Carmun was a warrior and sorceress from Athens who tried to invade Ireland in the days of the Tuatha Dé Danann, along with her three sons, Dub ("black"), Dother ("evil") and Dian ("violence"). She used her magica ...

(background) *1989: "Do You Feel Their Pain?" from ''Justice'' (Sparrow) duet with Steve Camp *1991: "A Song of Consecration" from ''Ron Winans Family & Friends Choir Vol. III'' (Selah) *1992: "I'm Going Up" from ''White Men Can't Jump'' (soundtrack) (EMI) with CeCe *1992: "Still Called Today" from '' The Great Adventure'' (Sparrow) with Steven Curtis Chapman *1993: "For Unto Us a Child Is Born" from ''The New Young Messiah'' (Sparrow) with CeCe *1994: "He's on Your Side", duet with Monique Walker on the Hezekiah Walker & The Love Fellowship Choir album, '' Live in Atlanta at Morehouse College'' (Benson) *1995: "You've Got a Friend" from ''Tapestry Revisited: A Tribute to

Carole King Carole King Klein (born Carol Joan Klein; February 9, 1942) is an American singer, songwriter, and musician who has been active since 1958, initially as one of the staff songwriters at 1650 Broadway and later as a solo artist. Regarded as one ...

'' (Atlantic) with CeCe and

Aretha Franklin Aretha Louise Franklin ( ; March 25, 1942 – August 16, 2018) was an American singer, songwriter and pianist. Referred to as the " Queen of Soul", she has twice been placed ninth in '' Rolling Stone''s "100 Greatest Artists of All Time". Wit ...

*1996: "All of Me" from ''My Utmost for His Highest: The Covenant'' (Myrrh) *1996: "But God" from ''Ron Winans Family & Friends Choir Vol. IV'' (Selah) *1997: "I Wanna Be the Only One" with Eternal from '' Before the Rain'' (Atlantic/EMI) *1998: "He's Coming Soon" from ''The Apocalypse'' (soundtrack) (Straightway) *1998: "River Jordan" from ''Civil War: The Nashville Sessions'' (Atlantic) *1998: "One Voice" from '' Never Say Never'' (

Brandy Brandy is a liquor produced by distilling wine. Brandy generally contains 35–60% alcohol by volume (70–120 US proof) and is typically consumed as an after-dinner digestif. Some brandies are aged in wooden casks. Others are coloured with ...

) (Atlantic) *1998: "Stay with Me" from ''

The Prince of Egypt ''The Prince of Egypt'' is a 1998 American animated musical drama film produced by DreamWorks Animation and released by DreamWorks Pictures. The first feature film from DreamWorks to be traditionally animated, it is an adaptation of the B ...

: Inspirational'' (DreamWorks) *1999: "He Watches Over You", duet with Sandi Patty from ''Songs from the Book'' (Word) *1999: "I Will Follow Christ", as a trio with

Bob Carlisle Robert Mason "Bob" Carlisle (born September 29, 1956) is an American Contemporary Christian singer and songwriter. He performed with several bands, most notably Allies and Billy Thermal, before launching a solo career where he received a Grammy ...

and

Clay Crosse Clay Crosse (born Walter Clayton Crossnoe, February 11, 1967) is a contemporary Christian music artist. He has won four GMA Dove Awards, and is probably best known for the single "I Surrender All." Music career Clay Crosse grew up in Memphis, Te ...

*2001: "Jesus Children of America" with Marvin Winans and

from ''Boycott'' (HBO Film soundtrack) *2006: "Broken Bridges" (CMT film) with

Willie Nelson Willie Hugh Nelson (born April 29, 1933) is an American country musician. The critical success of the album ''Shotgun Willie'' (1973), combined with the critical and commercial success of ''Red Headed Stranger'' (1975) and ''Stardust'' (1978 ...

and

Toby Keith Toby Keith Covel (born July 8, 1961), known professionally as Toby Keith, is an American country music singer, songwriter, actor, and record producer. He released his first four studio albums—1993's '' Toby Keith'', 1994's ''Boomtown'', 19 ...

*2007: "I Don't Want to Be Wrong Today" from ''We Are Family 2007: Artists & Friends for Hurricane Relief'' (Point of Light Foundation) *2010: " We Are the World 25 for Haiti"

Books

''The Whitney I Knew'', Worthy Publishing, July 2012

References

External links

www.bebewinans.net
- The official BeBe Winans Website {{DEFAULTSORT:Winans, Bebe 1962 births Living people 20th-century American singers 21st-century American singers 20th-century African-American male singers American gospel singers American radio personalities Singers from Detroit Grammy Award winners Motown artists Pentecostals from Michigan Performers of Christian contemporary R&B music Urban contemporary gospel musicians Winans family 20th-century American male singers 21st-century American male singers 21st-century African-American male singers