BeBe and CeCe Winans
Brother and sister duo, Benjamin and Priscilla Winans, better known as BeBe and CeCe, are the younger siblings of Urban Gospel pioneers, The Winans. They are credited as the first Gospel duo to reach number 1 on the Billboard Sales chart (1988) and as trendsetting pioneers who added to Gospel’s push into the mainstream.
The two came to the world’s attention as members of the PTL Singers on Jim and Tammy Fay Bakker’s popular religious PTL Club TV show back in the 1980s and recorded their first album, Lord Lift Us Up on the show’s (PTL Records).
From the late 1980s through the mid-90s, BeBe and CeCe recorded on the Sparrow/Capitol label. They became the most popular Gospel duo at the time, charting new territory for Urban Contemporary Gospel, selling in the millions with Gold and Platinum commercial success. They released six albums with over a dozen top-charting hit singles, including “Addictive Love,” “I’ll Take You There (Staples Singers’ re-make featuring Mavis Staples)” “Heaven, ” “Celebrate New Life” “Meantime,” “I O.U. Me,” “The Blood (featuring MC Hammer), “It’s Okay” and “Count It All Joy.”
Despite worldwide acceptance evidenced by their music topping the Gospel, Christian and R&B sales and radio charts throughout the 90s, the duo drew criticism from the church for making “urbanized’ “worldly” songs that carefully replaced the name “Jesus” with words like “you” and “he.”
Even with this flack, the Grammy and Dove Award-winning team blazed a trail and opened doors at mainstream radio for Urban Gospel artists to come. The two took a hiatus in 1995 an embarked on solo careers. In 2009 they came back together and recreated the magic of BeBe and CeCe with the release their latest hit CD, the Grammy Award-winning Still (B&C Records/Malaco) featuring hits “Close To You” and “Grace.”
