Stellar Awards

Stellar Awards
Current: 40th Annual Stellar Awards
Awarded for	Outstanding achievements in the gospel music industry
Country	United States
Presented by	Stellar Awards Gospel Music Academy (SAGMA) / Central City Productions
First award	1985;40 years ago (1985)
Website	thestellarawards.com
Television/radio coverage
Network	TV One (2015–2018) BET (2019–present)

A Stellar Award is an award presented by SAGMA to recognize achievements in the gospel music industry. ^[1] The annual presentation ceremony features performances by prominent gospel artists, and the presentation of those awards that have a more popular interest. ^[2] The Stellars were the first major gospel music awards held annually.

The first Stellar Awards ceremony was held on 1984, to honor and respect the musical accomplishments by gospel performers for the year 1983. Following the 2018 ceremony, SAGMA overhauled a few Stellar Award categories for 2019.

In 2020, the awards show was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The ceremony was aired virtually on August 23, 2020. ^[3]

History

The first award ceremony was held at Arie Crown Theater in Chicago in 1985. ^[4] Over the years, The Stellars have been held in various locations including Atlanta, ^[5] Houston, ^[6] Los Angeles, Las Vegas, ^[7] Nashville, ^[8] and New York. Starting from the 30th Annual Stellar Awards in 2015, the show aired on American digital cable and satellite television network TV One. ^[9] Starting with the 34th annual ceremony in 2019, the Stellar Awards moved its annual broadcast to BET. ^[10] The number of awards given have changed over the years with categories being added and removed. The Stellars are produced by Don Jackson's Chicago-based Central City Productions. ^[2] The production company is also a distributor of original programming to television and cable networks. ^[2]

In the spring of 2000, Central City Productions changed the voting process by creating the Stellar Awards Gospel Music Academy (SAGMA). ^[1] SAGMA is currently the official voting body for the Stellar Awards. ^[1] The Academy is open to record company executives, artists, radio announcers, gospel industry professionals and supporters. ^[1]

Entry process and selection of nominees

^[11] Record Companies and artists enter recordings and music videos online released during the eligibility period that meet the category requirements. ^[11] Entries are made online and product is submitted digitally. Once a work is entered, submission go through a screening process. ^[11] A confidential Review committee made up of music industry experts in various fields meet to insure that all entries meet the eligibility criteria, all entries are in the appropriate categories, and are appropriate for the Stellar Awards. ^[11] Each category is limited based on the dictate and discretion of the Stellar Awards Review Committee therefore all entries cannot be included on the ballot. ^[11] Technical quality, lyrics, voice quality, charting duration, project content and charting performance will be reviewed for inclusion on the ballot. All Stellar Awards Review Committee selections are then finalized. ^[11]

Final voting

The voting process for narrowing down the final nominees consist of two separate ballots. The first round ballot includes eligible entries as determined by the Review Committee and voted upon by eligible SAGMA MEMBERS. Top entries for each category from the first ballot will move forward to the final ballot. During the final voting process, SAGMA MEMBERS determine the Stellar Awards nominees and winners. The nominees are announced during a press/radio tour. ^[11] Once final nominees are determined, some categories are available for public voting through the Fan Favorite Voting period. Selected categories for fan voting changes from year to year.

Categories

• Artist of the year
• Song of the Year
• Male Vocalist of the Year
• Albertina Walker Female Vocalist of the Year
• Chorus Group/ Duo of the Year
• New Artist of the Year
• Album of the Year
• Choir of the Year
• Producer of the Year
• Contemporary Chorus Group/ Duo of the Year
• Traditional Chorus Group/Duo of the Year
• Contemporary male artist of the year
• Traditional male artist of the year
• Traditional female artist of the Year
• Contemporary Female Vocalist of the Year
• Contemporary album of the year
• Traditional album of the year
• Urban single or performance of the year
• Music Video of the Year
• Traditional choir of the Year
• Contemporary choir of the Year
• Traditional Artist of the Year
• Special event album of the Year
• Rap/Hip Hop gospel album of the year
• Rap/Hip Hop gospel song of the year
• Youth Project of the year
• Quartet of the Year
• Recorded music Packaging of Year
• Praise and worship album of the Year
• Praise and worship song of the year

Radio & Internet Station Awards

• Gospel Radio Top Market of the Year
• Gospel Radio Medium Market of the Year
• Gospel Radio Small Market of the Year
• Gospel Internet Station of the Year
• Gospel announcer of the Year
• Syndicated Gospel Radio Show

Defunct award categories

Winner Milestones Kirk Franklin was the night's big winner with six statues. Donald Lawrence presents the Tri-City Singers received four Stellar Awards. John P. Kee's I Made It Out delivered three Stellar Awards. Tasha Cobbs Leonard garnered two trophies, while Le'Andria Johnson earned two for her work on Donald Lawrence's project, Goshen. The Walls Group received two statues for their album Friend in Me, along with newcomer Pastor Mike Jr. who took home a pair of Stellar Awards for his work on Live Free. Kurt Carr received two Stellar awards. Rounding out the night with one Stellar Award each were JJ Hairston, Ben Tankard, Gospel Kids, Keith Wonderboy Johnson and Greenleaf; Season 3. ^[11]

Ceremonies

#	Date	Host(s)	Venue	Ref.
1	1986	Tramaine Hawkins	Arie Crown Theater, Chicago	[12] [13]
2	1987	Al Green Tramaine Hawkins	Auditorium Theatre, Chicago	[4] [13] [14]
3	1988	The Winans	Christ Universal Temple, Chicago	[4] [13]
4	1989	Wintley Phipps Tramaine Hawkins Marvin Winans		[4] [13] [15]
5	1990	Clifton Davis Marla Gibbs	Aquarius Theater, Los Angeles	[4] [13] [16]
6	1991	Clifton Davis Marilyn McCoo	Apollo Theater, New York City	[13]
7	1992		Royce Hall, Los Angeles	[4] [13] [17]
8	1993			[13] [18] [19]
9	November 1994	Anna Maria Horsford Clifton Davis	Auditorium Theatre, Chicago	[4] [13] [20]
10	1995	Arnetia Walker Meshach Taylor		[4] [13]
11	1996	James Avery Kim Fields Jonathan Slocumb	Tennessee Performing Arts Center, Nashville	[13]
12	1997	Terrence C. Carson Jonathan Slocumb CeCe Winans	Grand Ole Opry House, Nashville	[13] [21]
13	1998	Yolanda Adams Miguel A. Núñez Jr.		[13]
14	January 9, 1999	Lynn Whitfield Steve Harvey CeCe Winans	Atlanta Civic Center, Atlanta	[13] [22] [23]
15	January 8, 2000	Dr. Bobby Jones Donnie McClurkin Vickie Winans		[13] [24]
16	January 13, 2001	Ananda Lewis Vickie Winans Dr. Bobby Jones T. D. Jakes		[13] [25]
17	January 12, 2002	Yolanda Adams Donnie McClurkin		[13] [26]
18	January 11, 2003	Mary Mary Donnie McClurkin Michelle Williams		[13] [27]
19	January 10, 2004	Yolanda Adams Kirk Franklin Donnie McClurkin	George R. Brown Convention Center, Houston	[13] [28]
20	January 15, 2005	Yolanda Adams Donnie McClurkin Tonéx		[13] [29]
21	January 21, 2006	Israel Houghton Vickie Winans Donnie McClurkin	Grand Ole Opry, Nashville	[13] [30]
22	January 13, 2007	Kirk Franklin Mary Mary Tye Tribbett		[13] [31]
23	January 12, 2008	Kirk Franklin CeCe Winans Byron Cage		[13] [32]
24	January 17, 2009	Dorinda Clark-Cole Donnie McClurkin Sinbad		[13] [33]
25	January 16, 2010	Kirk Franklin Donnie McClurkin Vickie Winans		[13] [34]
26	January 15, 2011	Donnie McClurkin		[13] [35]
27	January 14, 2012	Dorinda Clark-Cole Marvin Sapp		[13] [36]
28	January 19, 2013	Mary Mary Kirk Franklin		[13] [37] [38]
29	January 18, 2014	Sherri Shepherd Rickey Smiley	Nashville Municipal Auditorium, Nashville	[13] [39]
30	March 28, 2015	Rickey Smiley David Mann Tamela Mann	Orleans Arena, Las Vegas	[13] [40] [41]
31	February 20, 2016	Rickey Smiley Sherri Shepherd		[13] [42]
32	March 25, 2017	Anthony Brown Erica Campbell		[13] [43]
33	March 24, 2018	Kirk Franklin		[13] [44]
34	March 29, 2019			[13] [45]
35	August 23, 2020	Kirk Franklin Jonathan McReynolds Koryn Hawthorne	Virtual ceremony	[3] [13]
36	July 10, 2021	Jekalyn Carr Tye Tribbett	Schermerhorn Symphony Center, Nashville	[13]
37	July 16, 2022	Jekalyn Carr Kierra Sheard	Cobb Energy Performing Arts Centre, Atlanta	[46] [13]
38	July 15, 2023	Jonathan McReynolds Tasha Cobbs Leonard	Orleans Arena, Las Vegas	[47] [13]
39	July 20, 2024	Rickey Smiley Loni Love		[13]

See also

• List of religion-related awards

References

1. Sagma. The Stellar Awards. Retrieved on March 6, 2019
2. About Us. The Stellar Awards. Retrieved on March 6, 2019
3. "Stellar Awards 2020 Performers". BET.com. Retrieved January 10, 2021.
4. "The Stellar Awards - Series - TV Tango". TVTango.com. Retrieved January 25, 2019.
5. "The 17th Annual Stellar Awards Ceremony - brought to you by GospelFlava.com". www.gospelflava.com. Retrieved September 25, 2017. "Central City Productions About Us" . Retrieved February 25, 2018.
6. "The 19th Annual Stellar Award Results - brought to you by GospelFlava.com". gospelflava.com. Retrieved September 25, 2017.
7. "Hallelujah: The Stellar Awards to move to Las Vegas for 30th anniversary" . Retrieved September 25, 2017.
8. "The Official 21st Annual Stellar Award WINNERS (2006) - brought to you by GOSPELflava.com". gospelflava.com. Retrieved September 25, 2017.
9. The 30th Annual Stellar Gospel Music Awards on TV One!. TV One Network. Retrieved on March 7, 2019
10. GMA (March 28, 2019). "34th Annual Stellar Awards Set To Air Easter Sunday On BET". The Gospel Music Association. Retrieved April 20, 2019.
11. Stellar Awards Important Dates. The Stellar Awards. Retrieved on March 6, 2019
12. "Gospel Music Awards brings out the Best | Gary/Chicago Crusader". Chicago/Gary Crusader. March 10, 2016. Retrieved January 25, 2019.
13. "The Stellars has been spreading the sound of gospel music nationwide and globally for 29 years!". Stellar Today 2024: 15, 130. 2024.
14. "Primetime - Sunday" . The Palm Beach Post. West Palm Beach, Florida. October 18, 1986. p. 133. Retrieved January 26, 2019– via Newspapers.com. WGN Stellar Awards: "The Second Annual Gospel Music Awards" Tramaine Hawkins and Al Green introduce performers The Winans and Shirley Caesar as awards are given in 14 categories of gospel music. From The Auditorium Theater in Chicago.
15. "WGN - Stellar Awards" . Corbin Times Tribune. Corbin, Kentucky. April 7, 1989. p. 22. Retrieved January 26, 2019– via NewspaperARCHIVE.com. Stellar Awards From Chicago's Christ Universal Complex, the fourth-annual tribute to gospel music artists features perforryiances by Shirley Caesar, James Cleveland, Commissioned, Nicholas, Take 6, the Williams Brothers and the Winans. Hosts: Tramaine Hawkins, Wintley Phipps, Marvin Winans. (2 hrs.) (Taped)
16. Brennan, Patricia (January 14, 1990). "NBC'S 'GRAND'". The Washington Post. Washington, D.C. Retrieved January 26, 2019. Also today: the (taped) fifth annual Stellar Awards (10:30 a.m. on 11, 4 on 5), honoring gospel music recordings, hosted by Clifton Davis and Marla Gibbs from the Aquarius Theater in Los Angeles.
17. Willman, Chris (January 18, 1992). "TV Reviews : Black Gospel Specials Worthy of High Praise". Los Angeles Times. Los Angeles. Retrieved January 26, 2019.
18. Collins, Lisa (October 7, 1992). "In the Spirit". Billboard. New York: Billboard Music Group. p. 51. Retrieved January 26, 2019– via Google Books.
19. "Eye on Gospel". Indianapolis Recorder. Indianapolis. November 21, 1992. p. 22. Retrieved January 26, 2019.
20. Willman, Chris (January 15, 1994). "TV REVIEWS : 'Stellar Awards' Spotlight on Gospel Singers". Los Angeles Times. Los Angeles. Retrieved January 26, 2019.
21. Collins, Lisa (November 9, 1996). "In the Spirit". Billboard. New York: Billboard Music Group. p. 34. Retrieved January 26, 2019– via Google Books.
22. Collins, Lisa (December 19, 1998). "In the Spirit". Billboard. New York: Billboard Music Group. p. 44. Retrieved January 26, 2019– via Google Books.
23. Collins, Lisa (January 30, 1999). "In the Spirit". Billboard. New York: Billboard Music Group. p. 36. Retrieved January 26, 2019– via Google Books.
24. "GospelFlava.com - 15th Annual Stellar Award Results". GospelFlava. Retrieved January 25, 2019.
25. "The 16th Annual Stellar Award Winners - brought to you by GospelFlava.com". GospelFlava. Retrieved January 25, 2019.
26. "The 17th Annual Stellar Award Results - brought to you by GospelFlava.com". GospelFlava. Retrieved January 25, 2019.
27. "The 18th Annual Stellar Award Results - brought to you by GospelFlava.com". GospelFlava. Retrieved January 25, 2019.
28. "The 19th Annual Stellar Award Results - brought to you by GospelFlava.com". GospelFlava. Retrieved January 25, 2019.
29. "20TH ANNUAL STELLAR GOSPEL MUSIC AWARDS". ASCAP. Retrieved January 25, 2019.
30. "The Official 21st Annual Stellar Award WINNERS (2006) - brought to you by GOSPELflava.com". GospelFlava. Retrieved January 25, 2019.
31. "The Official 22nd Annual Stellar Award WINNERS (2007) - brought to you by GOSPELflava.com". GospelFlava. Retrieved January 25, 2019.
32. "RECAP: Taping of the 23rd Annual Stellar Awards (2008) - brought to you by GOSPELflava.com". GospelFlava. Retrieved January 25, 2019.
33. "The Official 24th Annual Stellar Award WINNERS (2009) - brought to you by GOSPELflava.com". GospelFlava. Retrieved January 25, 2019.
34. "The Official 25th Annual Stellar Award Results (2010) - brought to you by GOSPELflava.com". GospelFlava. Retrieved January 25, 2019.
35. "26th Annual Stellar Gospel Music Awards – DetroitGospel.com". DetroitGospel.com. January 25, 2011. Retrieved January 26, 2019.
36. "The 27th Annual Stellar Awards Winners! | Praise 104.1". Interactive One, LLC. January 17, 2012. Retrieved January 26, 2019.
37. "Kirk Franklin and Mary Mary Unveiled As 2013 Stellar Awards Hosts". TheGospelGuru. October 22, 2012. Retrieved January 26, 2019.
38. "Mary Mary, Marvin Sapp big winners at Stellar Awards". USA Today. Retrieved January 26, 2019.
39. "The 29th Annual Stellar Gospel Music Awards announces lineup for 2014". Akron Beacon Journal. Retrieved January 26, 2019.
40. "The Stellar Awards Announce Final Nominees Along With Ricky Smiley, David Mann and Tamela Mann as Hosts | Path MEGAzine". Parallel Path Entertainment. January 14, 2015. Retrieved January 26, 2019.
41. "Stellar Telecast Draws 1 Million Viewers – GospelFlava.com". GOSPELflava.com. April 9, 2015. Retrieved January 26, 2019.
42. "31st Annual Stellar Gospel Music Awards Nominees & Details Announced Interview | Detroit Praise Network". Interactive One, LLC. Retrieved January 26, 2019.
43. "Stellar Awards 2017: Hosts and Nominees Announced! | Praise 106.1". Interactive One, LLC. January 17, 2017. Retrieved January 26, 2019.
44. "Mary Mary Reunion And Snoop Dogg Stellar Awards Debut Highlight An Unforgettable Night at This Year's 33rd Annual Stellar Gospel Music Awards, With an All-Star Line Up Of Performances - The Gospel Music Association". Gospel Music Association. February 27, 2018. Retrieved January 26, 2019.
45. 34th Annual Stellar Awards. Orleans Arena. Retrieved on March 6, 2019
46. "Front Cover". 37th Annual Stellar Awards Magazine: Front Cover. 2022.
47. "2023 Stellar Awards Performers". Stellar Awards 2023 Magazine: 35. 2023.

External links

• Official website