The 53rd Annual Grammy Awards were televised on Sunday, February 13, 2011. The Gospel winners were announced during the pre-telecast ceremony in Los Angeles.
Each year the Grammy Awards shifts the live presentation portion of their categories. This year Gospel was one of the categories announced off camera. This year’s winners were as follows:
The complete list of winners in the Gospel category are as follows:
Best Gospel Song-“It’s What I Do” by Jerry Peters & Kirk Whalum, songwriters (Kirk Whalum & Lalah Hathaway)/The Gospel According To Jazz Chapter III
Best Gospel Performance-“Grace” by BeBe and CeCe Winans/Still
Best Rock or Rap Gospel Album-Hello Huricane/Switchfoot
Pop/Contemporary Gospel Album-Love God, Love People/Israel Houghton
Southern/Country/Bluegrass Gospel-The Reason/Diamond Rio
Contemporary R&B Gospel Album-Still/BeBe and CeCe Winans
Traditional Gospel Album-Downtown Church/Patty Griffin
This year’s Grammy Awards was also unique in that a the Soweto Gospel Choir was included in nominations. The song they were nominated and won for Best Instrumental Arrangement Accompanying Vocalists.
This nomination is special for gamers as it was the first time music from a videogame had ever cracked the nod for such recognition. The song ‘Baba Yetu,’ composed by musician Christopher Tin, features the mighty vocal performances of South Africa’s Soweto Gospel Choir.
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