By Robert Stitt
You may know the name BeBe Winans from the music duo BeBe & CeCe Winans or from their R & B, Christian, and Gospel hits including “I.O.U. Me”, “Heaven”, “Addictive Love”, and “I’ll Take You There”. Or, you may recognize the name from collaborations with big-name artists like Whitney Houston and Aretha Franklin. If it sounds like BeBe’s name is being used in the past tense – apologies. BeBe Winans still has a lot more music left in him.
While Winans says his roots have always been in Gospel, he has not been afraid to chart new waters. This includes singing songs that are not “Christian” or working with artists who don’t share his beliefs. “I was never afraid — and to this day, I’m never afraid to try something new or to go where I believe I need to go. I’ve never been afraid of what people thought. I’ve never been driven by success. I enjoy it, but that’s not my driving force. I need to tell the story of where I am,” he said.
In the near future, BeBe may cause another stir in the pews as he releases what EurWeb calls “an album of standards from the Great American Songbook.” On his album will be such famed songs as “My Way,” “Moon River,” and “Mona Lisa.” He actually got “permission” from Natalie Cole to record the song. “Just a few months before Natalie Cole passed, she found out I did “Mona Lisa” and she said ‘You know what? You’re probably one of the only people who could do my dad’s song. I can’t wait to hear it. You’re gonna nail that’.”
Winans is also planning to release a song that may strike a political chord. The song is entitled, ‘Black Lives Matter.’ He said it was inspired by his 17-year-old son. “When my son turned 17, it hit me like a brick: my son was a candidate for catastrophe, and I could go through what other parents had gone through and experienced. I went back into the piano room and I wrote this song entitled And man, I wept.”
There’s no doubt Winans has the pipes, and he has the following. Will the “church” forgive him for going down a secular path? Winans doesn’t care. He said he just sings what God puts in his heart.
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