Vickie Winans

Award-winning singer Vickie Winans comes from a large family of impressive gospel singers. She began her career when she was a small child, performing with family. All grown up, she completed her debut solo album, Be Encouraged, in 1985. It was the first of a long line of recordings that would bring her a number of hits and music awards. Born the seventh child of a still-growing family, Winans was raised in Detroit, MI. Her entire family was a musical one, and deeply religious as well. She was only about eight years old when she began singing at the family church, astounding the audience with her vocal ability. Her love for the Gospel and music was the perfect combination. She's shared success with the famous Winans family, for she married Marvin Winans and eventually joined forces with the gospel group. Vickie's first solo album carries a track that became her signature song, "We Shall Behold Him." The debut full-length offering also earned her a Grammy nomination for Best Female Contemporary Soul Gospel Album, a Stellar Award for Album of the Year, and an Excellence Award for Best Female Contemporary Artist. It was a foretelling of what was to come. Through the latter half of the '80s into the next decade, Winans recorded several award-winning albums. When not in the recording studio, she spent much of her time performing more than 200 nights most years. She has also made numerous television appearances on shows like Oprah, the Grammy Awards, Arsenio Hall, Queen Latifah, and The Pat Sajak Show and starred in Broadway musicals like Don't Get God Started. Winans' music can be deeply gospel, contemporary Christian, or any mixture in between. Her most famous songs include "We Shall Behold Him," "Daddy Can't Sing," "First Trumpet Sound," "The Diet Medley," "Boyfriends," "Its Yo Thang," "Give It One More Try," "Sweeter Than the Honeycomb," and "Little Timmy." In 2002 she released Woman's Journey, followed the next year by Bringing It All Together and, in 2006, Woman to Woman: Songs of Life, a 33-track live and studio album that was ten years in the making. ~ Charlotte Dillon, Rovi