CeCe Winans Christmas will take the stage Wednesday at 8 p.m. at the Santander Performing Arts Center in Reading. Winans is a 15-time Grammy Award winner who is excited to bring her brand new Christmas tour to Reading.
Winans is looking forward to celebrating the true meaning of the season with audiences across the country. The concert will feature some of her biggest hits and Christmas classics.
The best-selling and most-awarded female gospel artist of all time, Winans has long since cemented her status as one of the most accomplished and celebrated women in music history.
Priscilla Marie Winans was born in Detroit to Delores and David Winans of the famed Winans Family Gospel group on Oct. 8, 1964. She is one of 10 children. Her parents were part of the Church of God in Christ and would only listen to gospel music. She sang her first solo at age 8.
Winans began her solo career with the album “Alone in His Presence,” released in 1995. It was only the third album by a gospel artist to sell more than 1 million units. CeCe, along with her brother BeBe, also hold the honor of having the first gospel album to reach platinum by a gospel artist.
“Alone In His Presence” earned her a Grammy Award and two Dove Awards, including the Female Vocalist of the Year. Winans’ next release, the gold-certified “Everlasting Love,” was released in 1998 and featured Winans’ highest-charting solo singles, “Well Alright” and “Slippin.” The song “On That Day” from the album was written and produced by R&B singer Lauryn Hill. Later that year, Winans released “His Gift.”
In 1999, Winans started her own recording company, PureSprings Gospel. Her first album on the label was “Alabaster Box” in 1999. Some production of the disc was done by Gospel singer and musician Fred Hammond. It included a guest appearance by Take 6.
In 2000, Winans released a concert VHS “Live at the Lambs Theater in New York.” The concert contained songs from her previous albums. Winans released her next album, the self-titled “CeCe Winans,” in 2001. The single “Anybody Wanna Pray” included a guest appearance by GRITS. The second single, “Say A Prayer,” crossed over into the Contemporary Christian music market.
Winans took a two-year break from releasing albums and returned in 2003 with “Throne Room.” The first 1,000 copies were issued with a bonus CD that contained exclusive interviews with the artist, the making of the CD, some touring footage and the music video “More Than What I Wanted,” which came from the 2001 release.
In 2004, the 25-city tour Throne Room with the group Anointed featured free admission and was followed with a DVD release of the concert recorded in Tennessee. “Live in the Throne Room” contained tracks from all of Winans’ albums. Around September 2004, Winans experienced what she thought was flu but turned out to be a serious stomach infection and was hospitalized immediately for surgery. Due to the extended recovery time, the second half of the Throne Room Tour was postponed to early 2005.
Winans’s seventh album, “Purified,” was released in 2005. Her nephew Mario Winans was one of four producers. Her son Alvin III co-wrote several songs on the album, and her younger sisters Angie and Debbie performed.
Winans’ collection of Top Ten R&B radio hits includes “Count On Me,” her duet with Whitney Houston, from the “Waiting to Exhale” soundtrack. The single was certified gold in the U.S. and reached No. 8 on the Billboard Hot 100, No. 4 on the Adult Contemporary chart and No. 8 on the Billboard R&B Singles chart.
Winans released her eighth album, “Thy Kingdom Come,” on April 1, 2008, featuring the single “Waging War.” On Oct. 6, 2009, a BeBe & CeCe reunion album named “Still” was released by Malaco Records, featuring collaborations with Marvin Winans and contemporary gospel sister duo Mary Mary.
In 2017, Winans released a 10th album, “Let Them Fall in Love,” for which she won two Grammy Awards for Best Gospel Performance/Song and Best Gospel Album. In 2021, Winans released her first live worship album, “Believe for It,” which won her three additional Grammy Awards in April 2022.
On April 26, Winans released her most anticipated second live album “More Than This,” which went straight to No. 1 on Billboard Top Gospel Album charts, Top Christian Album charts, while the single “That’s My King” shot to No. 1 on the Hot Gospel charts.
For ticket information, go to santander-arena.com.
