Stellar Awards 2025: BeBe & CeCe Winans to Host 40th Anniversary Celebration
Gospel icons BeBe and CeCe Winans—the celebrated sibling duo of Benjamin and Priscilla Winans—are set to host the 40th Stellar Gospel Music Awards in Nashville, Tennessee, on August 16, 2025.
Written By Lauren Washington // EEW Magazine Online
The 40th annual Stellar Gospel Music Awards will take place Saturday, August 16, 2025, at Nashville’s Schermerhorn Symphony Center, marking a major milestone for the show widely regarded as gospel music’s biggest night.
This year’s theme, “Our Music, Our Voice, Our Culture,” reflects four decades of honoring the artistry, legacy, and impact of gospel music.
GRAMMY Award-winning siblings BeBe and CeCe Winans will host the evening. Known for blending gospel with R&B and soul, the duo emerged in the 1980s with a self-titled debut album that helped redefine contemporary gospel. Songs like “Addictive Love” and “Close to You” brought them mainstream acclaim, and together they’ve amassed numerous honors including GRAMMY, Dove, Stellar, and Soul Train Awards. Their return to co-hosting signals a full-circle moment for the family that helped shape modern gospel.
BeBe and CeCe Winans accept an award onstage at the 2018 Black Music Honors, held at the Tennessee Performing Arts Center in Nashville on August 16, 2018. (Credit: Jason Kempin/Getty Images)
The Stellar Awards will feature performances from a wide range of artists across generations. Scheduled to appear are Adia, Donnie McClurkin, Dottie Peoples, Jekalyn Carr, Jason Nelson, Lisa Page Brooks, MAJOR., Melvin Crispell III, Pastor Mike Jr., Pastor Mike Todd & Transformation Worship, Tasha Cobbs Leonard, Tasha Page-Lockhart, Tramaine Hawkins, and William Murphy.
The celebration extends beyond the main event with the return of the Stellar Plus Experience, a two-day slate of fan and industry events happening August 14–15 in Nashville.
Credit: StellarExperience.com/Prince Williams/ATLPics.net
One of the highlights is the invitation-only Stellar Nominee Pre-Show Dinner and Awards at the National Museum of African American Music, hosted by gospel mainstays Dorinda Clark-Cole and Vincent Bohanan. The event honors 2025 nominees in an intimate setting, with additional performers and honorees expected to be announced in the weeks ahead.
Pastor Mike Jr. and Jason Nelson lead this year’s nominations with nine each, followed closely by CeCe Winans with eight, including nods for Artist of the Year and Album of the Year for “More Than This.” According to Central City Productions Chairman and Stellar Awards Founder Don Jackson, the ceremony will honor “40 remarkable years” of elevating gospel music and its most influential voices.
Behind the scenes, the production team includes Don Jackson as executive producer, Jennifer J. Jackson as producer and executive in charge of production, Michael A. Johnson as producer and director, Erin Johnson as talent producer, and Daniel Moore as music director.
This year’s show is presented by Procter & Gamble, with sponsorship from General Motors, State Farm, AT&T, Walmart, Aflac, McDonald’s, and AARP. Tickets for the live taping are available now through the official Stellar Awards website.
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