BMI celebrated the best in gospel music on Wednesday (April 3) at the 2025 BMI Trailblazers of Gospel Music Awards held at Flourish in Atlanta. Gospel music pioneer and pastor John P. Kee was honored as a Trailblazer of Gospel Music in recognition of his artistry and influence on the genre throughout his career spanning more than 40 years.
The private was ceremony hosted by Mike O’Neill, BMI’s president & CEO, and Catherine Brewton, vp, creative, Atlanta.
Throughout the afternoon, BMI saluted the 25 most-performed gospel songs of the previous year, leading up to the presentation of the BMI Gospel Song of the Year award, which went to “Goodness of God” written by Ed Cash, Ben Fielding (APRA) and Jason Ingram. Performed by CeCe Winans, the hit logged four weeks at No. 1 on Billboard’s Gospel Airplay chart and reached No. 2 on Hot Gospel Songs. The soulful ballad was Winans’ fourth No. 1 on the Gospel Airplay chart.
Kirk Franklin and Charles Jenkins tied as BMI’s Gospel Songwriter of the Year for each writing two of the most-performed gospel songs of the previous year. Franklin was honored for “All Things” and “Try Love,” giving him his fourth Songwriter of the Year award – three for gospel and one for Christian. Jenkins was recognized for his songs “God Be Praised” and “Look at God,” marking the first time he’s received this title. This brings his total of BMI Awards to eight.
BMI’s Gospel Publisher of the Year went to Capitol CMG for having the highest publisher share percentage of the top 25 songs, including BMI’s Gospel Song of the Year, “Goodness of God.”
As a Trailblazer of Gospel Music, Kee was honored for his signature blend of traditional and contemporary gospel music. O’Neill presented Kee with the honor, saluting his “extraordinary contributions that have greatly influenced the gospel genre and deeply touched the community.”
The musical tributes to Kee kicked off with Lena Byrd Miles performing “Yes Lord,” followed by Chrystal Rucker’s performance of “The Anointing.” The tributes continued with Kelontae Gavin singing “Never Shall Forget” and Jekalyn Carr performing “Standing in the Need.” Lisa Knowles-Smith and her children KJ and Ndia paid homage to Kee with renditions of “Lily in the Valley” and “He’ll Welcome Me.” Vanessa Bell Armstrong followed with “Wave It Away,” featuring Donald Lawrence and The Company. Zacardi Cortez ended the tribute with an uplifting performance of “Jesus is Real.”
Upon receiving the honor, Kee, known as the “Prince of Gospel,” thanked his family and friends, many of whom were in the room, for their love and support. “Every time you win an award, I win an award,” he said. “I’m just a proud Uncle John.” He went on to say that he was going to “flip the moment” by presenting BMI’s Brewton with a Lifetime Achievement Award for her “vision and determination that have paved the way for future generations of women in business.”
The ceremony concluded with Kee singing the opening line to his hit, “New Life” and he was joined with an impromptu celebration from many of the gospel greats in the room, including Isaac Carree, Zacardi Cortez, Eric Dawkins, Kirk Franklin, Jonathan McReynolds, Tasha Page-Lockhart, Lisa Page Brooks and Marvin Sapp.
Visit BMI’s website to see a full list of BMI’s Trailblazers of Gospel Music Award honorees.
