Central City Productions has announced the nominees for the 37^th Stellar Gospel Music Awards, the annual celebration honoring excellence in Gospel music. The Stellar Awards will return to Atlanta for the live-taped ceremony on Saturday, July 16, at the Cobb Energy Performing Arts Centre, as part of an illustrious weekend of events that will include a special announcement about the upcoming launch of the Stellar TV Network. Stellar Award-winning artists Jekalyn Carr and Kierra Sheard will co-host this year’s event, which will air on BET, BET HER, and BET International in August, and will be syndicated in various local markets across the country between August 13 and September 11.

Leading this year’s nominations is Gospel music legend CeCe Winans, widely considered the best-selling female Gospel artist of all time. Winans has 9 total nominations including Artist of the Year, Album of the Year, Song of the Year, and Albertina Walker Female Artist of the Year, all stemming from her critically acclaimed album, “Believe For It.”

Pastor Mike, Jr., the 2021 Stellar Award winner for Artist of the Year, received 8 total nominations, including Producer of the Year, Artist of the Year, Male Artist of the Year, Album of the Year, and Song of the Year, tied to “I Got It: Single’s Ministry Vol 1.” 2018 James Cleveland Lifetime Achievement Award honoree Tamela Mann, Jonathan McReynolds & Mali Music, and Todd Dulaney all received 6 nominations, with Mali Music receiving an additional nomination for a feature on a separate project. Kelontae Gavin received 5 nominations. Other artists with several nominations for this year’s Stellar Awards include Maverick City Music, Israel Houghton, Ricky Dillard, E. Dewey Smith, and Jason Clayborn, all of whom received 4 nominations each.

The 37^th Stellar Gospel Music Awards will feature performances by Tye Tribbett, Marvin Sapp, Maranda Curtis, Ricky Dillard, Kelontae Gavin, Rudy Currence, Chrisette Michele, DOE, James Fortune, Jason Nelson, Travis Greene, Darrel Walls, and Jor’Dan Armstrong.

“Gospel music has encouraged millions of people through more than two unrelenting years of the pandemic, and the Stellar Awards will, again, deliver in bringing the praise and recognizing the artists who bless us with their inspirational sounds,” said Don Jackson, Chairman and CEO of Central City Productions, which established the Stellar Awards. “Those who love Black, faith, and family-centric programs can look forward to both the Stellar Awards and to all that our Stellar TV Network has to offer when it premieres in September.”

The Stellar Gospel Music Awards also bestows special honors to industry titans who continue creating a legacy of excellence that reaches and influences the masses, both within and outside of the Gospel genre. Six-time Grammy Award-winning hitmaker and producer Aaron Lindsey will receive the Aretha Franklin Icon Award presented by Aflac, and renowned choir leader and recording artist Ricky Dillard will receive the James Cleveland Lifetime Achievement Award presented by Toyota. The Ambassador Dr. Bobby Jones Legends Award is presented to Candi Staton, a music pioneer who, for nearly seven decades, has been a captivating Gospel music artist.

The Stellar Gospel Music Awards is proud to be presented this year by AT&T Dream in Black. This year’s sponsors also include Proctor & Gamble (P&G), Walmart, State Farm, Toyota, McDonald’s – Black & Positively Golden, and Aflac. The Stellar Gospel Music Awards are also proud to partner with St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital and Spotify.

For a full list of nominees and for additional updates, follow The Stellar Awards on social media — @thestellars on Instagram and Twitter and Stellar Gospel Music Awards on Facebook — and check out the Stellar Awards website.

The Stellar Gospel Music Awards celebrated its 36th year honoring excellence in Gospel music, featuring soul-stirring performances that will awe audiences who love sounds of inspiration. Hosted by Gospel chart-toppers Jekalyn Carr and Tye Tribbett, this year’s ceremony showcased an eclectic mix of Gospel legends and industry standard-bearers along with the unstoppable force of young, contemporary artists who are spreading the good news in new ways. The annual celebration, set to premiere Sunday, August 1st at 8PM ET/PT on BET, underscored the power of artists who boldly proclaim a Christ-centered identity, represent the unique sounds of their region, and display the rich diversity filling Gospel music with a healing and uplifting energy that reaches the masses.

A new generation of Gospel artists showed up and showed out during the celebration as a testament to the genre’s staying power. Among them, Pastor Mike Jr., nominated for multiple Stellar Awards this year, performed “Big,” and host Jekalyn Carr belted her songs, “Change Your Story” and “Jehovah Jireh.” Maverick City Music treated audiences to the harmonious sound of “Jireh,” and various emerging artists such as Jokia, Terrian, and Nia Allen were spotlighted as up-and-coming Gospel talent.

Big winners at the 36th Stellar Gospel Music Awards include Pastor Mike Jr., who was named Artist of the Year and won Rap/Hip Hop Gospel Album of the Year and Urban/Inspirational Single or Performance of the Year. Kierra Sheard was feted during the ceremony with Song of the Year and Contemporary Album of the Year, and Maverick City Music won both New Artist of the Year and Album of the Year. Other multiple Stellar Awards winners include Jonathan McReynolds, who was named Male Vocalist of the Year, Contemporary Male Vocalist of the Year, and as part of a group that won Producer of the Year; and Tasha Cobbs Leonard, whose wins included Albertina Walker Female Vocalist of the Year, Praise and Worship Album of the Year, and Contemporary Female Vocalist of the Year.

Select categories and winners are featured on Instagram @TheStellars. Social media lit up during the event, generating more than two million impressions with posts featuring performances, winners, and other notable moments. The audience and performers were pleased to return to an in-person ceremony after the Stellar Awards went virtual last year due to pandemic lockdowns. COVID-19 safety protocols were enacted as part of the in-person event.

Among many highlights from “The Greatest Night in Gospel Music,” Yolanda Adams, Tamela Mann, and Avery*Sunshine joined together to deliver a powerful tribute to Lady Tramaine Hawkins, who was honored with the Aretha Franklin Icon Award presented by Toyota. The trio performed a medley including widely-known Hawkins’ songs such as “Holy One,” “Changed,” and “Going Up Yonder.” The Clark Sisters, who received the James Cleveland Lifetime Achievement Award presented by AT&T, also performed rousing renditions of “Is My Living In Vain,” “Blessed & Highly Favored,” “You Brought The Sunshine,” and “His Love.” The legendary group received three nominations for this year’s Stellar Awards.

Kierra Sheard gave a spirited offering of “Something Has To Break,” and Sheléa and Christina Bell sang The Clark Sisters’ classic hit “You Brought The Sunshine.” Leading nominee Jonathan McReynolds lifted his voice to the sounds of “Grace” and “Movin’ On,” joined by Mali Music, and CeCe Winans burst into song with “Never Lost” and “Believe For It.”

Viewers worldwide can expect to witness these dynamic performances and find out who won across all categories when the Stellar Awards airs Sunday, August 1, on BET, BET Her, and BET Gospel at 8 p.m. ET / PT. The show will also air August 2 on BET International. The ceremony, held at the Schermerhorn Symphony Center in Nashville, TN, on Saturday, July 10, will also be carried in various markets for national broadcast syndication from August 7 through September 5.

VISIT:  WWW.STELLARAWARDS.COM