Bishop Walter Hawkins, one of the greatest contributors to gospel music to ever live, has passed into his next life in Heaven.

At the age of 61, Bishop Hawkins passed yesterday at his home in Ripon, CA, after a battle with pancreatic cancer. Hawkins, the pastor of Love Center Church, leaves two children to celebrate him– Walter Hawkins, Jr. (aka Jamie Hawkins) and Trystan Hawkins.  His older brother, Edwin Hawkins, shared: “I lost my brother, my pastor, and my best friend. Bishop Hawkins suffered bravely but now he will suffer no more, and he will be greatly missed.”

With an impeccable songwriting ability and a gift to arrange vocals like few others can, the Grammy and Stellar-award winning Hawkins still stands strong as a giant in gospel music. Known for such classic songs as “Changed,” “Be Grateful,” “Goin’ Up Yonder,” “I’m Not the Same,” “Holy One,” and “Jesus Christ Is the Way,” he left an indelible mark on the sound and style of contemporary gospel music.  And introducing us to voices like that of his sister, Lynette Hawkins-Stephens, and his former wife, the incomparable Tramaine Hawkins, Walter Hawkins’ contribution to gospel music is multi-faceted.

He informed us, decades ago, of what an ensemble should sound like. And we now hear it today in the vocal arrangements and styles of gospel greats Donald Lawrence and Richard Smallwood.

He showed us, decades ago, how a man’s voice can soar limitlessly into the stratosphere, and we hear it today in the range, approach and ability of Donnie McClurkin.

Hawkins demonstrated for us, decades ago, how a church choir can record music for the Kingdom, and still be as relevant more than 30 years later. And we see it in the representation of the albums Love Alive I, Love Alive II, Love Alive III, Love Alive IV and Love Alive V. And we would have seen it in Love Alive VI, which was to be recorded live later this year.

I didn’t say anything about it yesterday, not here on the blog, nor on Twitter or Facebook, where comments and questions ran rampant. I guess I couldn’t quite bring myself to confirm it. I wanted so badly for all of us, even those who were with him at the time of his passing, to just be wrong. I wanted the message I got about it to have been a typo, or that the person who told me was simply misinformed, or perhaps joking.

But I knew that it was true. I knew it.

I grew up on the gospel music of two families in my household– the Winans family and the Hawkins family. No one has informed my understanding of gospel music more than Walter Hawkins. No one can be credited with sparking my passion for the gospel industry more than Walter Hawkins. No one’s music is as classic, as memorable, as timeless in my own life as the music of Walter Hawkins.

How can a man that I’ve spoken with only once have been used by God to contribute so greatly to the course and direction of my life? I know where he is, and that it’s better than being around here. I, admit, though, that I selfishly want him here. I want more– more music from him, and more community with him.

And then, I have to remind myself that the music will be even better later. Fellowship and community with him will be infinitely greater, later. And so, I’ll wait.

In the meantime, I’ll miss him here. I’ll miss impomptu performances by him at various musical events across the country. I’ll miss knowing he’s just over in Oakland whenever someone sings a Hawkins tune (because forever, they will be sung). I’ll miss looking forward to his next album.

All week, I’ll be posting videos of Walter Hawkins, perhaps some random thoughts and facts about him and/or the songs that he wrote. I don’t know how I’ll decide what to post– so much of what he did meant so much to me. But stick around here, if you want, and celebrate his incredible life and legacy with me.

Grammy-nominated gospel artist Sheri Jones-Moffett is seeking voter support for a new television show she hopes to launch, entitled Fuel for the Journey.

The powerhouse vocalist has created a video submission about the show as part of Oprah’s “Search for the Next TV Star” contest, in which the winner gets her own show on Oprah’s new network.

Sheri’s concept is an outpouring of her desire to see people live well.  “Everyone loves empowering words and good food.”  Fuel for the Journey will offer both, “combined in an effort to heal and inspire.”  Love it!

Click here to view Sheri’s video and to vote for her.

Guys, I’m really loving what God is doing through this new series, The Prayer List.  If you could see all of the support that it’s getting from artists, execs, and consumers– it’s a real blessing.  Click here for a refresher on what we’re doing each week.

If you already know the deal, we’re gonna keep it moving.  This week, we’re adding Bishop Hezekiah Walker to The Prayer List.

He needs no introduction, but to be clear– Bishop Walker’s always doing a lot in ministry, for which he could definitely use the prayers of his gospel community family.  The Grammy-winning artist/choir leader has been recording for decades now, but he’s also an effective and well-love pastor and bishop with a heart for his flock.  Let’s lift him up (any reference to his chart-topping hit single “Lift Him Up,” was purely coincidental… but cool).

God, thank You for the life and ministry of Bishop Hezekiah Walker. Thank You for the music ministry that You gave him decades ago, starting with the Love Fellowship Community Choir, and thank You for the pastoral spirit that You deposited as well.  Thank You for his accomplishments and all of the areas in which he’s been able to make Your name great, because of the platforms and opportunities You’ve given him.

Thank You, Lord, for the spirit of humility and kindness that You gave Hezekiah Walker. Thank You for all that You’ve created him to be– things we’ve experienced and things that have yet to be manifested on Earth.

Father, I pray that You would bless Hezekiah Walker– that You would cover him and protect him. As he ministers in song and in word, I ask that You guide his paths and use him for Your glory.  I pray that the successes he continues to experience would serve only to make Your Name great, and that he would continue to tell of Your greatness.

I pray that You would surround him with Godly men and women– people that will pray for him, hold him accountable, challenge and sharpen him.  I pray that Hezekiah Walker would be surrounded by Godly counsel and that any decisions he would need to make, as the leader of a choir and of churches, he would have clarity of thought and a direct line to hear You distinctly.

I pray against any attacks on Hezekiah Walker’s health. I pray for Your complete protection over him and his family.  I pray for Your continued grace, mercy and favor on his life.  In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

Okay, you know what to do– post your prayers in the comment section here, and take Hezekiah Walker’s name with you to prayer throughout your week, as you remember.  And please do remember!  Thanks, guys.

The National Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences (NARAS), the organization responsible for awarding the coveted GRAMMY Award, has announced that next year’s awards telecast will take place on Sunday, February 13, 2011 ad will air on CBS.

Because of the shift of the awards date from January to February, the eligibity period has been extended by a month.  The 13-month eligibity period for the 53rd annual GRAMMY Awards will be from September 1, 2009 to September 30, 2010.

The telecast will be held at the Staples Center in Los Angeles.

Anybody on here a member of NARAS?  Y’know, you don’t have to be an industry professional to join… just curious.

Many of you might not have heard much about Michelle Bonilla yet, but she’s actually not a “newcomer” to the industry.  In addition to being featured on Cross Movement’s Grammy and Dove-nominated album, Higher Definition, she released her debut album, Phenomenal, in 2006.

The Brooklyn, NY native has just released her sophomore project, In Spite Of Me, on Tuesday and there’s quite a bit of buzz about her on the world wide web.

Her first single, “I Love You,” is an urban/pop Christian tune with a nice track behind it and understated, but strong, vocals.  I’m likin’ it!

And cuz I love you guys so much, I’ve added her new single, “I Love You,” to the PunditPlayer.  Take a listen by clicking here!!!

I want you to check her out and lemme know what you think!

***BREAKING NEWS***

The 52nd annual GRAMMY Awards are being held tonight, but the winners in the gospel categories were JUST ANNOUNCED at the pre-show.

My predictions were pretty darn good, if I do say so myself.  I was 5 for 7 in the gospel categories!!!

The winners in the gospel-related categories are highlighted in GREEN below (if I was wrong in my prediction, my earlier predictions are still there in yellow).

The winners are…

 Best Gospel Performance

“Free To Be Me” by Francesca Battistelli
Track from: Free To Be Me

“Jesus Is Love” by Heather Headley feat. Smokie Norful
Track from: Audience Of One

“I Believe” by Jonny Lang w/ Fisk Jubilee Singers
Track from: Oh Happy Day

“Wait On The Lord” by Donnie McClurkin feat. Karen Clark Sheard
Track from: We All Are One

“Born Again” by Third Day
Track from: Revelation

 Best Gospel Song

“Born Again” - Tai Anderson, David Carr, Mark Lee & Mac Powell, songwriters (Third Day)

“City On Our Knees” – Cary Barlowe, Toby McKeehan & Jaime Moore, songwriters (TobyMac)

“Every Prayer” – Dayna Caddell, Israel Houghton, Aaron Lindsey & Ricardo Sanchez, songwriters (Israel Houghton & Mary Mary)

“God In Me” – Erica Campbell, Tina Campbell & Warryn Campbell, songwriters (Mary Mary)

“The Motions” – Jason Houser, Sam Mizell & Matthew West, songwriters (Matthew West)

Best Rock Or Rap Gospel Album

The Big Picture - Da’ T.R.U.T.H.

Crash - Decyfer Down

Innocence & Instinct - Red

Live Revelations - Third Day

The Dash – John Wells-The Tonic

Best Pop/Contemporary Gospel Album

Speaking Louder Than Before - Jeremy Camp

The Power Of One - Israel Houghton

The Long Fall Back To Earth - Jars Of Clay

Love Is On The Move - Leeland

Freedom - Mandisa

Best Southern, Country, Or Bluegrass Gospel Album

Jason Crabb - Jason Crabb

Dream On - Ernie Haase & Signature Sound

The Rock - Tracy Lawrence

In God’s Time - Barry Scott & Second Wind

Everyday - Triumphant Quest

Best Traditional Gospel Album

God Don’t Never Change - Ashley Cleveland

The Law Of Confession, Pt. 1 - Donald Lawrence & Co.

Oh Happy Day - Various Artists

The Journey Continues - The Williams Brothers

How I Got Over - Vickie Winans

Best Contemporary R&B Gospel Album

Audience Of One - Heather Headley

Renewed - Sheri Jones-Moffett

Just James - J Moss

Smokie Norful LIVE - Smokie Norful

Bold Right Life - Kierra Sheard

Congrats to all of ya!

Aaaaand, just FYI– in a poll asking who YOU wanted to win for Best Contemporary R&B Gospel Album, you guys picked Kierra Sheard.  The full break-down:

Kierra Sheard – 41% (90 votes)
J Moss – 23% (51 votes)
Smokie Norful – 20% (44 votes)
Sheri Jones-Moffett – 10% (21 votes)
Heather Headley – 7% (15 votes)

Gospel Artists Nominated In Non-Gospel Categories:

I was 3 for 3 in these predictions!!!

Tonex was nominated for Best Urban/Alternative Performance for his single “Blend” (Unspoken), but as I predicted, it went to India.Arie.

Ann Nesby’s “Sow Love” (The Lula Lee Project) was nominated in Best Traditional R&B Vocal Performance.  As I predicted, it went to Beyonce for “At Last.”

Robert Randolph & The Clark Sisters were nominated in the Best R&B Performance By Group/Duo with Vocals category for their performance of “Higher Ground” (Oh Happy Day), as were Ann Nesby & Calvin Richardson, but as I predicted, it went to Jamie Foxx and T-Pain for “Blame It.”

That’s the full deal, folks!  What do you think of the winners list???

Don’t forget to check out the GRAMMY Awards this Sunday, January 31st at 8pm ET/PT.

The gospel-related categories are not televised– they’ll be distributed at the pre-show, which will be streaming live at http://www.grammy.com at 1pm PT.

If you wanna review my predictions for who’s gonna win, click here.

I’ll send the winners via Twitter, so make sure you follow me if you don’t wanna watch the whole deal.

Okay, buddies, it’s that time of year again.  The GRAMMY Awards telecast is this Sunday, January 31st at 8pm ET/PT on CBS.

With that, it’s time for my predictions.  These were REALLY tough and I changed ‘em numerous times over the course of the past two weeks.  I’m finally at peace about them (for today), so I’m posting them before I change my mind again. LOL

Before I give ‘em, I wanna make two disclaimers–

(1) My predictions do NOT necessarily reflect my preferences, nor do they reflect who I ACTUALLY voted for on the GRAMMY ballot this year.  They’re predictions… and nothing more.

(2) The winner is often based on popularity.  Plain and simple.  Now, NARAS (the voting body) has gotten much better about this, even making all of the nominated music available for online listening so that we can make educated votes, but it’s still an uphill climb.  My predictions are based on how I believe the majority voted and that requires consideration of who’s most popular within the entire music biz.

Without further delay, here goes…

 Best Gospel Performance

“Free To Be Me” by Francesca Battistelli
Track from: Free To Be Me

“Jesus Is Love” by Heather Headley feat. Smokie Norful
Track from: Audience Of One

“I Believe” by Jonny Lang w/ Fisk Jubilee Singers
Track from: Oh Happy Day

“Wait On The Lord” by Donnie McClurkin feat. Karen Clark Sheard
Track from: We All Are One

“Born Again” by Third Day
Track from: Revelation

This is a tough one, fresh out of the gate.  I’m thinking it’s gonna go to Heather Headley and Smokie Norful for a couple of reasons– folks adore “Jesus Is Love” and the song has carried mainstream significance for decades.  Similarly, Heather Headley carries mainstream voting power with her, despite the fact that it was a gospel project.  And, all that aside, their duet was quite good.

 Best Gospel Song

“Born Again” - Tai Anderson, David Carr, Mark Lee & Mac Powell, songwriters (Third Day)

“City On Our Knees” – Cary Barlowe, Toby McKeehan & Jaime Moore, songwriters (TobyMac)

“Every Prayer” – Dayna Caddell, Israel Houghton, Aaron Lindsey & Ricardo Sanchez, songwriters (Israel Houghton & Mary Mary)

“God In Me” – Erica Campbell, Tina Campbell & Warryn Campbell, songwriters (Mary Mary)

“The Motions” – Jason Houser, Sam Mizell & Matthew West, songwriters (Matthew West)

I’m betting on The Marys for this one.  The success and popularity of “God In Me” was like a runaway train– it was played everywhere, performed everywhere, talked about everywhere… and with good reason.  I expect this GRAMMY to be the culmination of over a year’s worth of rather deserved acclaim.

Best Rock Or Rap Gospel Album

The Big Picture - Da’ T.R.U.T.H.

Crash - Decyfer Down

Innocence & Instinct - Red

Live Revelations - Third Day

The Dash – John Wells-The Tonic

As much as I enjoy Da’ T.R.U.T.H.’s project, I don’t think he’ll nab this one.  I’m actually torn on this, between Third Day and Decyfer Down… ultimately, I chose Third Day cuz they’re more of a household name.

Best Pop/Contemporary Gospel Album

Speaking Louder Than Before - Jeremy Camp

The Power Of One - Israel Houghton

The Long Fall Back To Earth - Jars Of Clay

Love Is On The Move - Leeland

Freedom - Mandisa

Another REALLY hard one for me… Jars Of Clay, Jeremy Camp and Israel are established artists with great music and big followings.  Mandisa and Leeland are newer, but just as popular in many circles, and also making some great music.  I have NO PEACE about this, but I’m predicting Mandisa.  She has a good project and her widespread exposure (added to her lingering American Idol popularity) may tip the scales in her favor here.

Best Southern, Country, Or Bluegrass Gospel Album

Jason Crabb - Jason Crabb

Dream On - Ernie Haase & Signature Sound

The Rock - Tracy Lawrence

In God’s Time - Barry Scott & Second Wind

Everyday - Triumphant Quest

I never have ANY clue when it comes to this category, cuz it’s just not my thing.  That said, I do know that Jason Crabb is one to watch right now, and I believe it’s because of this project.  That said, my money’s on Jason Crabb.

Best Traditional Gospel Album

God Don’t Never Change - Ashley Cleveland

The Law Of Confession, Pt. 1 - Donald Lawrence & Co.

Oh Happy Day - Various Artists

The Journey Continues - The Williams Brothers

How I Got Over - Vickie Winans

This is another tough call.  Donald Lawrence is simply incredible and he definitely deserves an award, in my opinion, but I fear that voters may not have agreed with his placement in the “traditional gospel” category… on that grounds, is it the best traditional project?  Maybe not… I predict the Oh Happy Day compilation.  It successfully brought together heavyweights in gospel and mainstream music to commemorate one of the most popular gospel songs in history.  It’s hard to ignore that.

Best Contemporary R&B Gospel Album

Audience Of One - Heather Headley

Renewed - Sheri Jones-Moffett

Just James - J Moss

Smokie Norful LIVE - Smokie Norful

Bold Right Life - Kierra Sheard

First of all, shout-out to EMI Gospel for having 4 of 5 the artists in this category.  That said, I’m QUITE unsettled about this one.  Ultimately, I predict that Heather Headley will grab it– she has a nice voice, an album that lots of folks enjoyed, and popularity in the mainstream.  In my opinion, her album was not the best out of this group and I didn’t know that so many people would vote for it.  But I’m inclined to believe that if she got enough votes to get a nomination, she just may have gotten enough to get the win.

Gospel Artists Nominated In Non-Gospel Categories:

Tonex was nominated for Best Urban/Alternative Performance for his single “Blend” (Unspoken), and he might win that, but I also see an India.Arie nod in the same category and she will probably nab the award.

Ann Nesby’s “Sow Love” (The Lula Lee Project) is nominated in Best Traditional R&B Vocal Performance (dunno why), but I’m fairly certain that Beyonce’s rendition of “At Last” will win in that category.

Robert Randolph & The Clark Sisters are nominated in the Best R&B Performance By Group/Duo with Vocals category for their performance of “Higher Ground” (Oh Happy Day), as is Ann Nesby for a Bobby Womack collabo, but I kinda expect the win to go to Jamie Foxx and T-Pain for “Blame It”.

OKAY.  Those are my predictions for the 2010 GRAMMY Awards.  For the full list of nominees in all categories, visit the GRAMMY website here.

What do you think???

Immediately following the taping of the 25th Annual Stellar Awards, social networking sites were flooded with praises, lauding THIS show as the best Stellar Awards EVER.  And I agree.

I’ve attended numerous times and I’ve watched the show since I was kid growing up in Chicago– the performances on this show were innovative and you’ll be hard-pressed to find more memorable and captivating performances right now.

!!!SPOILER ALERT!!!

During the taping, I sent tweets via Twitter about who was on stage, but intentionally left off the songs that were being performed.  Here, I’m recapping the ENTIRE taping, so if you wanna leave anything to your imagination, don’t read any further.

If you wanna know the juicy details, do proceed…

As you probably know, the show was hosted by Donnie McClurkin, Vickie Winans and Kirk Franklin.  They did a great job, especially Vickie, who served as comic relief for much of the night.  There was no hype man between set changes this year, so we could’ve gotten really restless but for Vickie’s jokes about herself.

For the first time, the Stellar Awards featured a live house band, which was led by producer Percy Bady.  This made a WORLD of difference because the sound was tighter than ever, the performances came to life, and we weren’t bound by the restrictions of each artist’s performance track.  EXCELLENT decision.

If you follow my tweets, you know that I said that the theme for this year’s show would be COLLABORATIONS.  Almost all of the performances on the show are medleys between artists that have made significant contributions to gospel music over the past 25 years.  The others were performances from artists that left a great impression on the industry in the past year.

The show opened with a collabo between Ricky Dillard & New G and Hezekiah Walker & LFC.  If you love choirs, you’ll get a glimpse of Heaven within the first coupla minutes of the program!

Ricky Dillard & New G performed “Search Me” before transitioning into the classic vamp of “More Abundantly”… you know, the part where the sopranos, altos and tenors break down into parts, singing “JOYYYYY!”  During this time, the Love Fellowship Choir had joined them on stage, just in time for Bishop Hezekiah Walker to lead them in their hits “I Need You To Survive” and “Souled Out.”  It was electrifying.

The next performances came from the legendary Vanessa Bell Armstrong, performing her hit single “Good News.”  She looked incredible and sounded even better.

In a traditional female vocalist collaboration, we were super blessed to witness Lady Tramaine Hawkins sing “Changed” (it doesn’t matter how many years have passed– her voice DOES NOT CHANGE) before Dottie Peoples came on stage to sing “On Time God” like you wouldn’t believe.  As if that wasn’t enough, Pastor Shirley Caesar came to the stage to tell us about ol’ Shoutin’ John in “Hold My Mule”  Y’all remember that song?!  It was a classic performance.

The next collabo came from Richard Smallwood and Smokie Norful.  This was absolutely one of the best performances.  Fortunately, I had seen it during some rehearsals, because I could’ve missed the whole thing.  An usher at the Grand Ole Opry House used this time to SCREAM in my area, talkin’ about “are there any SEAT FILLERS over here?!”  Fortunately, my wife told her to “shhhhh!!!” and we still caught some of it.  Don’t mess with Janice Gaines, y’hear?

Picture it– Smallwood and Norful, both in tuxedos (with tails), each at a black grand piano, tickling the ivories like nobody’s business.  Richard Smallwood started by playing Smokie’s “I Need You Now,” then Smokie followed by playing Richard’s “Center Of My Joy.”  Smokie then played and sang “Dear God” (from his latest project) and Richard Smallwood capped the performance off with his classic anthem, “Total Praise.”

New Artist Of The Year Crystal Aikin came to the stage next with her hit single “I Desire More,” and left the entire room desiring more… I could’ve heard her on that vamp all day.  Her voice soars, effortlessly, and she’s got such control and sincerity… a true treasure.

Another stand-out performance came from our favorite bro & sis– BeBe & CeCe Winans, singing their latest single “Grace.”  They looked like a million bucks and they sounded like they never took a 15-year break.  They’re just pros who don’t miss a beat.

Up next was another classic performance– Kirk Franklin performed with his singers– new and old– a medley of his greatest hits, including “Silver & Gold,” “Why We Sing,” and a bunch of others I’m forgetting.  The best part of the performance was probably when Tamela Mann and Dalon Collins joined them to sing “Now Behold The Lamb.”  That auditorium went UP and IN.  CLASSIC!

Up next was the popular single “I Trust You” from James Fortune & FIYA.  They gave a great performance and reminded everyone why he had such great success at radio– it’s a singable anthem that encourages souls… great stuff.

The next performance is one that you’d BETTER watch for on the broadcast.  Don’t take bathroom breaks even remotely close to this segment.  I’m talking about the all-male vocalist collaboration between Donnie McClurkin, Byron Cage and Marvin Sapp.  There are hardly words to describe it.  The song list was great–  ”Never Would Have Made It,” “The Presence Of The Lord Is Here,” “Faithful To Believe,” “Marvelous” (by Walter Hawkins), and “Stand.”

Each of the three guys took turns singing on “Never Would Have Made It” and “Stand.”  By the end of their set, the ENTIRE room was on its feet worshipping.  They came back in on “Stand” and the taping had to take a break.  I’ve NEVER heard Byron Cage sing the way he did, Donnie’s range was limitless and powerful (as always) and Marvin Sapp was simply incredible.

At this point, Kirk came out and shared some of what’s been on his heart.  One thing that stood out was a quick phrase he gave– “IN ADVANCE.”  He shared that, as we sleep, as we doubt, while we’re not knowing what is going to happen, GOD has thoughtfully already worked everything out for us, in advance.  Our response to THAT should be that we praise Him, in advance.  It was a very powerful moment– I know I’m not typing it well enough to convey that, but… you’re gonna have to trust me.

The fire was kept burning by the next performance, which came from Israel Houghton and Mary Mary.  Israel performed via satellite from London, while Erica & Tina Campbell looked and sounded great on stage as they sang the Grammy-nominated “Every Prayer.”  I loved the concept of it and the execution.  Great job.

The finale of the show came sooner than I had prepared for– I guess I wanted to go until midnight or something– but when it came, it was great.

Donald Lawrence & The Co. (and you guys KNOW I love me some Co.!) sang “Back II Eden” with the Atlanta West Pentecostal Church Choir, winners of How Sweet The Sound (HSTS), behind them.  It was a great concept to include the choir because HSTS was such a great and popular part of the gospel industry this year.  And when Floyd Wilkinson came up to do his vamp… I’m sayin’… I could listen to that vamp 10 times in a row and never got tired of it.

What I think you WON’T see on camera is Vickie Winans clownin’… she won Female Vocalist Of The Year and the award was presented by Shirley Caesar, Dorothy Norwood and Albertina Walker.  When she won, she was so overwhelmed and blown away that she went to the podium and said to Albertina (who sat with an oxygen tank next to her), “girl, gimme some of this [oxygen].”  I NEED them to not edit that out! LOL

Also, you probably won’t see Tina Campbell with her gorgeous new lil’ baby, TJ.  She walked to her seat with him at one point, and the whole audience awww’ed and oooo’ed cuz it was just priceless.

Even without those moments, you’re gonna get all the rest… and that’ll be one of the best set of televised gospel performances you’ve ever witnessed.

I commend Don Jackson, Central City Productions, Barbara Wilson, and the entire Stellar Awards production crew for an incredible show– definitely my favorite over the past decade, and probably EVER.  Elegant, professional, classic… it was more than just a celebration of 25 years of the Stellars… it was a celebration of gospel music.  Perfect!

Soooooooooooo… sound good to anyone else?  Anyone attend and wanna chime in?  Did I miss anything???

In the gospel music industry, collaborations are BIG.  You wanna create a crazy buzz about your project before it hits the stores?  Tell folks you’ve got an exciting collabo on it.  You wanna kick up your television performance a notch?  Perform a collabo.

This year was a great year for collaborative work.  But I’ve decided to narrow the list down to my 5 favorite collabos.  In order, they are:

5.  “You Bring Out The Best In Me” – Vanessa Bell Armstrong feat. Rance Allen (from Vanessa Bell Armstrong’s The Experience)

When Vanessa Bell Armstrong decided to remake her own 80′s hit on her latest album, she prolly could’ve just done it herself and knocked it out of the ballpark.  But she’s a kind and gracious woman, apparently, because she gave us the gift of some classic Rance Allen moaning and groaning that took this live performance to a whole… ‘notha… level.  Their two voices grooving over some Donald Lawrence-produced background vocals– you kinda don’t want the track to end.

4.  “The Joy Of The Lord” – Coko feat. Israel Houghton (from Coko’s The Winner In Me)

Coko is a masterful collaborator in gospel.  It’s like she reads our minds and gives the mic to the VERY folks we’re aching to hear.  On her debut album, she featured everyone from Faith Evans to her mama (Lady Tibba).  This time around, she kept her mama, plus grabbed Kelly Price and Canton Jones.  My fave collabo on the album, though (and, thus, one of my faves of the entire year), was with Israel.  It’s a feel-good track with great vocal performances from both of ‘em… a true treat.

3.  “Available To You” – Melinda Watts feat. J Moss (from Melinda Watts’ People Get Ready)

After a much buzzed-about debut album, Melinda Watts entered the gospel scene with a project that had a little something for everyone.  Perhaps one of her strongest tracks was this duet with J Moss.  Kudos for taking a song that is performed too much at midnight musicals and making it fresh for us again, and double kudos for enlisting the vocal assistance (not that Melinda was at all in need) of one of the best male vocalists in the game.

2.  ”Every Prayer” – Israel Houghton feat. Mary Mary (from Israel Houghton’s The Power Of One)

When I saw that the Marys did a song with Israel, the last thing I thought I’d hear was a jazzy contemporary gospel track.  But they mastered the performance like the pros that they are and it quickly became one of my favorite songs on his album, if not of the entire year.  And there’s a GRAMMY nod to show for it.

1.  “Wait On The Lord” Donnie McClurkin feat. Karen Clark Sheard (from Donnie McClurkin’s We All Are One)

I hear that Karen Clark Sheard wasn’t actually the original choice for this song– it was gonna be Tramaine Hawkins.  That, too, would’ve been an incredible performance, but God does all things well and He knew that this duet was gonna dominate the charts and our iPods.  On this song, Donnie stays true to his strengths– his a classic vocalist who can render a soaring ballad like few others– while Karen gives, arguably, one of her greatest performances in years.

Which collabos were among YOUR faves this year???