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WINNERS & HIGHLIGHTS ANNOUNCED FROM THE 56TH ANNUAL GMA DOVE AWARDS
Brandon Lake Takes Home Five Honors Including Song of the Year for “Hard Fought Hallelujah” As The GMA Dove Awards Return To Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena
Surprise Guest Performances From Carrie Underwood, Jelly Roll and Jon Batiste Delighted The Crowd Along With A Special Opry 100 Performance From Opry MembersSteven Curtis Chapman, Lady A, and Vince Gill
Host Tauren Wells Sets The Tone For The Night With A Rousing Proclamation That Jesus Is The Center Of The Show
The Broadcast Aired Exclusively On TBN And The TBN+ App And Was Simulcast On SiriusXM The Message. The Broadcast Will Re-Air Friday, October 17th, 2025, At 7:30pm and 10:00pm ET On TBN, The TBN+ App, And TBN YouTube
Click Here to Download Hires Images of Arrivals & Show
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (October 10th, 2025) - The 56th Annual GMA Dove Awards were handed out Tuesday night, October 7th, 2025, to a live audience at Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena. Brandon Lake was most awarded with five wins including Songwriter of the Year (Artist) and Song of the Year for “Hard Fought Hallelujah” honoring songwriters Lake, Jelly Roll, Steven Furtick, Chris Brown, and Benjamin William Hastings. Artist of the Year went to Forrest Frank and New Artist of the Year went to Leanna Crawford. CeCe Winans took home two awards including Gospel Worship Recorded Song of the Year for “Come Jesus Come” with Shirley Caesar. Spanish Language Recorded Song of the Year went to Israel & New Breed, Unified Sound (ft. Israel & New Breed, Unified Sound (ft. Adrienne Bailon-Houghton, Nate Diaz, Aaron Moses, Lucia Parker) for “Coritos de Fuego.”
The broadcast aired exclusively on TBN and the TBN+ app and was simulcast on SiriusXM The Message. The broadcast will re-air Friday, October 17th, 2025, At 7:30pm and 10:00pm ET on TBN, the TBN+ app, and TBN YouTube.
Tauren Wells hosting 56th Annual GMA Dove Awards Credit: Blue Amber
for KING + COUNTRY with Taylor Hill performing “World On Fire.” Photo Credit: Terry Wyatt
Unforgettable performances ruled the night as for KING + COUNTRY, with guest Taylor Hill, opened the show with a stunning performance of “World On Fire.” In a crowd-pleasing surprise, Ben Fuller welcomed 8-time Grammy Award winner Carrie Underwood to the stage to sing their nominated song, “If It Was Up To Me.” Newly minted Opry Member Steven Curtis Chapman was joined on stage for a special Opry 100 performance with fellow Opry members Lady A and Vince Gill. Israel & New Breed and Unified Sound welcomed friends Aaron Moses, Adrienne Bailon-Houghton, Alex Campos, Christine D’Clario, Josh and Waleska Morales, Ingrid Rosario, Janina Rosado, Lucia Parker, and Nate Diaz for a one-of-a-kind Latin performance. Tauren Wells with gio. brought the energy on “Let The Church Sing.” CeCe Winans led the arena in a poignant, acoustic version of “Come Jesus Come,” and Brandon Lake and Jelly Roll, with special guest Jon Batiste, closed out the night with a rain-soaked version of “Hard Fought Hallelujah.”
Ben Fuller and Carrie Underwood performing “If It Was Up To Me.” Photo Credit: Blue Amber
Opry Members Steven Curtis Chapman, Lady A, and Vince Gill perform a special tribute to Opry 100. Photo Credit: Blue Amber
Israel & New Breed and Unified Sound with Aaron Moses, Adrienne Bailon-Houghton, Alex Campos, Christine D’Clario, Josh and Waleska Morales, Ingrid Rosario, Janina Rosado, Lucia Parker, and Nate Diaz performing “Coritos de Fuego.” Photo Credit: Blue Amber
CeCe Winans performing “Come Jesus Come.” Photo Credit: Tessa Voccola
Tauren Wells with gio. performing “Let The Church Sing.” Photo Credit: Blue Amber
Brandon Lake and Jelly Roll performing “Hard Fought Hallelujah.” Photo Credit: Terry Wyatt
Host Tauren Wells brought out his pastor-side in the opening monologue, encouraging the audience saying, “There is only one reason that we’re here tonight, one common denominator between all of us and it’s that without Jesus we recognize we have nothing. Without Jesus we have no songs to sing, without Jesus we have no stories to tell, we have no scripts to write, no books, we have no platforms, we have no Instagram followers, we have no subscribers, we have nothing to celebrate if it had not been for the Lord who is on your side. But because of Jesus, we have everything to celebrate. Because of Jesus we have songs to sing, because of Jesus we have stories to tell, because of Jesus we have platforms to declare the greatness of our God. It is not about us, it’s not about our songs or our creativity, it’s about Jesus’s songs and about Jesus’s story.”
Winners followed suit, proclaiming the Dove Awards to be a celebration of faith and community. CeCe Winans, accepting the award for Gospel Worship Recorded Song of the Year, shared, “Like Tauren said earlier, we don’t do what we do for this [award], we do what we do for Jesus.” Accepting the award for Song of the Year with Brandon Lake, Jelly Roll said, “I want to give this message as clear as I can right now, the world is hearing about Jesus like they have never heard it before. And while they are hearing about Jesus, I encourage you to put faith on your feet and feet on your faith and walk out of this building and go do for the least. They’ve heard Jesus, now show them Jesus.” Receiving the Jackie Patillo Leadership Award, Al Andrews from Porter’s Call said, “I feel like I get a front row seat to hope.”
To watch the 56th Annual GMA Dove Awards CLICK HERE.
Logos for the 56th Annual GMA Dove Awards are located HERE. Photo highlights from the night can be found HERE.
Partial list of winners:
ARTIST OF THE YEAR: Forrest Frank
NEW ARTIST OF THE YEAR: Leanna Crawford
SONG OF THE YEAR: “Hard Fought Hallelujah”
GOSPEL WORSHIP RECORDED SONG OF THE YEAR: "Come Jesus Come" - CeCe Winans, Shirley Caesar
WORSHIP RECORDED SONG OF THE YEAR: "I Know A Name" - Elevation Worship, Chris Brown, Brandon Lake
RAP/HIP HOP ALBUM OF THE YEAR: CRY - Hulvey
SPANISH LANGUAGE RECORDED SONG OF THE YEAR: "Coritos de Fuego" - Israel & New Breed, Unified Sound (ft. Adrienne Bailon-Houghton, Nate Diaz, Aaron Moses, Lucia Parker)
CONTEMPORARY GOSPEL ALBUM OF THE YEAR: “God Problems” - Live Breathe Fight - Tamela Mann
SOUTHERN GOSPEL ALBUM OF THE YEAR: Loving You - The Nelons
INSPIRATIONAL RECORDED SONG OF THE YEAR: "The Jesus Way" - Phil Wickham
FEATURE FILM OF THE YEAR: The King of Kings - (Director) Jang Seong-ho, (Producers) Jang Seong-ho, Kim Woo-hyung
For the full list of winners, CLICK HERE.
Select quotes from the 56th Annual GMA Dove Awards:
“Like Tauren said earlier, we don’t do what we do for this [award], we do what we do for Jesus. And all of us in here, we have an incredible opportunity. We get a chance to worship all over the world and do what we do. We have an awesome responsibility to bring as many people as we can when Jesus returns. How many want to take a lot of people with you, amen? Let’s remember why we do what we do so God would be glorified and so that as many souls as possible would come to know who Jesus is.
CeCe Winans, accepting the award for Gospel Worship Recorded Song of the Year
“I grew up singing these songs. I was a Black kid in a white family in a Hispanic church. To be able to do this music with my friends, my family - it means so much. We’re honored to be part of this great tapestry of music.”
-Israel Houghton accepting the award for Spanish Language Recorded Song of the Year
“This moment is incredibly special and honestly a little bittersweet. It’s the first award I’ve ever accepted without my family. I’m not sure that's something I’ll ever get used to. This album is the last thing we ever made together and to see it honored like this just means more than words can ever express. I wish more than anything that my family was standing here beside me today but I know they’re honored and looking down and saying, you did it kid.”
Autumn Nelon accepting the award for Southern Gospel Album of the Year
"I’m not even sure how much I belong speaking up here right now. I was thinking about Matthew when he talks about the least. He said when I was hungry you fed me, when I was thirsty you gave me water, when I was in jail you came and visited me. I realize I am standing here because people took time with the least. I want to give this message as clear as I can right now, the world is hearing about Jesus like they have never heard it before. And while they are hearing about Jesus, I encourage you to put faith on your feet and feet on your faith and walk out of this building and go do for the least. They’ve heard Jesus, now show them Jesus. Go feed the poor. Go visit the ones in jail. Go show them who Jesus was."
Jelly Roll accepting the award for Song of the Year for “Hard Fought Hallelujah”
God is so good. He’s so faithful. The sky is not high enough for where God is about to take you if you just believe. I thank God for the revival He’s about to bring into this world.”
Tamela Mann accepting the award for Contemporary Gospel Album of the Year
“Almost nine years ago I moved to Nashville because I felt like God was calling me to write songs to hopefully encourage people and point them to Jesus. I’m really grateful for the journey of the last nine years. There’s been a lot of ups and downs, a lot of moments I wanted to throw in the towel and give it up. I’m sure a lot of us have been there. But, by God’s grace, He put people in my life that encouraged me and pointed me back to Him.”
Leanna Crawford accepting the award for New Artist of the Year
The 56th Annual GMA Dove Awards are produced by the Gospel Music Association. Jackie Patillo and Justin Fratt serve as showrunners and executive producers, Curtis Stoneberger and Paul Wright as producers, and JoAnna Illingworth and Shama Mrema as scriptwriters. Russell E. Hall returns as director and Scott Moore and Go Live Productions as production manager.
About Gospel Music Association & Foundation:
Since 1964, the Gospel Music Association's mission has been to expose, promote and celebrate the Gospel through music. The GMA serves the richly diverse creatives and professionals within the Christian and Gospel music industry. With a focus on evangelism, education, and community support, the GMA provides resources to train, equip and strengthen the creative community - from aspiring artists to industry professionals - and works to preserve the legacy of those who’ve gone before us. Through broadcasts like the GMA Dove Awards, now in its 56th year, we celebrate the work of today’s artists while reaching millions of people around the world.
For more information about the Gospel Music Association, visit www.gospelmusic.org. Join the GMA social communities on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Twitter, YouTube and LinkedIn.
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Get Connected with the 2025 GMA Dove Awards:
*Watch exclusively on TBN or the TBN+ app starting Friday, October 10 at 7:30 p.m. and 10:00 p.m. ET - find out more at www.tbn.org/2025doveawards
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