BeBe & CeCe Winans, Switchfoot Nab Grammy Awards
Brother and sister duo BeBe and CeCe Winans took home two Grammy awards on Sunday, adding to their already wide collection of gold statues.
The two won for Best Gospel Performance and Best Contemporary R&B Gospel Album during the 53rd Annual Grammy Awards ceremony.
Other winners in the Gospel category included Switchfoot, Jerry Peters and Kirk Whalum, Diamond Rio, Patty Griffin, and Israel Houghton.
"Grammy!!? Wow... Thankful," Switchfoot frontman Jon Foreman tweeted. This is the alternative rock band's first Grammy.
"Thank you to everyone for all of your support through Hello Hurricane. This has been an amazing experience for us and we are so thankful for our family, friends and fans," the five-member band said in a statement.
The Southern California band was up against David Crowder Band, Fireflight, Gungor and Lecrae for Best Rock or Rap Gospel Album.
Peters and Whalum nabbed the award for Best Gospel Song ("It's What I Do") while Houghton beat out fellow Christian music heavyweights Steven Curtis Chapman, Sanctus Real, Ricky Skaggs, and TobyMac for Best Pop/Contemporary Gospel Album.
The worship leader tweeted, "So grateful. Just won Grammy #4 for LOVE GOD LOVE PEOPLE. Thanks to everyone for the love and supportive congrats we've gotten. Love u."
The ceremony on Sunday, held at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, featured a tribute to the Queen of Soul, Aretha Franklin, who is recovering from surgery. Yolanda Adams, Christina Aguilera, Jennifer Hudson, Martina McBride and Florence Welch saluted Franklin with a special performance.
Other performers included Lady Gaga, Barbara Streisand, Mick Jagger, Gwyneth Paltrow, Justin Bieber, Usher, and country band Lady Antebellum – the big winners of the night.
A day before the ceremony, gospel legend George Beverly Shea, 102, received the Lifetime Achievement Grammy award.
