Bebe Winans

BeBe Winans has built a prominent career both as a leading solo performer and in tandem with his sister CeCe, carving out success across contemporary gospel and R&B through his resonant vocals and heartfelt, soul-enriched approach. Their debut joint project, Lord Lift Us Up, arrived in 1984 on PTL Records, after which the duo delivered consecutive gospel chart-toppers with 1989’s Heaven and 1991’s Different Lifestyles. Stepping out alone, BeBe entered the Hot 100 via the 1997 track “In Harm’s Way,” taken from his self-titled Atlantic debut. The follow-up, Motown’s 2000 release Love & Freedom, climbed to number 30 on the Billboard 200. Additional crossover traction came through projects such as 2005’s Dream, the 2009 BeBe & CeCe reunion album Still, and the 2012 solo effort America America. In 2019 he co-produced the Top 30 R&B single “One Last Time [44 Remix],” a Lin-Manuel Miranda Hamilton remix featuring former president Barack Obama alongside actor Christopher Jackson, while his own Need You LP that year reached the Billboard gospel Top Three. Subsequent solo offerings stretched from the 2020 single “Black Lives Matter” to the seasonal track “Wishing You a Merry Christmas.”

Benjamin “BeBe” Winans entered the world in Detroit in 1962 as the youngest of ten siblings and the seventh child of recording artists Mom & Pop Winans, Delores and David Winans. Four older brothers have performed together as the gospel vocal group the Winans. Although BeBe supplied background vocals on several of their recordings, his first official appearance came in 1984 as half of BeBe & CeCe Winans alongside his younger sister Priscilla; the PTL Records album Lord Lift Us Up peaked at number 20 on the Billboard Top Gospel Albums chart.

The siblings moved to Sparrow Records for the 1987 self-titled set BeBe & CeCe Winans, which rose to number seven on the gospel chart and preceded their initial number-one gospel album, 1989’s Heaven. Two years later Different Lifestyles returned them to the top gospel position and marked their only number-one R&B/hip-hop release. Two further joint projects followed—1993’s First Christmas and 1994’s Relationships—both of which landed in the gospel Top Ten, before the pair embarked on separate solo paths; Sparrow later issued their Greatest Hits collection in 1996.

BeBe presented his first solo album, BeBe Winans, on Atlantic in October 1997. Bolstered by the Hot 100 single “In Harm’s Way,” the project reached the Top Five on both the gospel and Christian album charts and peaked at number 125 on the Billboard 200. He attained number 30 on the Billboard 200 with 2000’s Love & Freedom, which also topped the gospel chart. The concert recording Live and Up Close appeared in 2002, followed in 2003 by the holiday set My Christmas Prayer; both entries landed inside the gospel Top Five. My Christmas Prayer marked the inaugural release on Winans’ own Movement Group imprint, an affiliate of Still Waters that itself stemmed from Hidden Beach Recordings.

Remaining with Movement Group, he issued the number-two gospel album Dream in 2005. Two years later the live set Cherch surfaced via Koch Records and climbed to number seven on the gospel chart. In 2009 BeBe & CeCe Winans reunited after a fifteen-year hiatus to deliver Still, a gospel chart-topper that reached number 12 on the Billboard 200.

The 2012 patriotic collection America America, released on Razor & Tie, spent one week at number 186 on the Billboard 200 yet attained number two on the gospel chart. The 2014 compilation Icon: BeBe & CeCe Winans entered the gospel Top 30, while BeBe joined Dave Koz & Friends on the Smooth Jazz Songs chart entry “All You Need Is Love,” which also featured Stevie Wonder, Johnny Mathis, and Gloria Estefan.

During the ensuing five years Winans appeared on recordings by VaShawn Mitchell, Kirk Whalum, and Ricky Dillard & New G, and contributed to Greenleaf: The Gospel Companion Soundtrack, Vol. 1. In 2019 he co-produced “One Last Time [44 Remix]” from Lin-Manuel Miranda’s Hamildrop series alongside Alex Lacamoire; the track, featuring Barack Obama, reached the R&B Top 30. That same year he released Need You, his first solo album in seven years, which charted inside the Billboard Independent Albums Top 30 and the gospel Top Three.

Opening the following decade, Winans issued the single “Black Lives Matter” in mid-2020. In late October 2021 he teamed with Rob Thomas—who had previously contributed to My Christmas Prayer—on “That Spirit of Christmas” from the Thomas album Something About Christmas Time. April 2024 brought the single “Father in Heaven (Right Now),” featuring Gerald Albright, followed in November by the seasonal track “Wishing You a Merry Christmas.”