Phil Wickham, Josiah Queen, Brandon Lake, Tasha Cobbs Leonard Top GMA Dove Awards Winners

On Friday night (Oct. 9), the 57th annual GMA Dove Awards aired on TBN and TBN+, as those in the Christian and Gospel music community gathered to honor some of the year’s top artists, songs, albums and more. Hosted for the fourth consecutive year by singer-songwriter Tauren Wells, the event was held on Oct. 6 at Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena. 

Among the top winners were Phil Wickham, Josiah Queen and Brandon Lake, with three wins each, while Tasha Cobbs Leonard took home two honors.

Wickham was named artist of the year, while his album Song of the Saints was named worship album of the year and he won children’s recorded song of the year for his work on “Follow The Light.”

“God has given us reason after reason to worship him,” Wickham said in accepting the worship album of the year honor, adding, “To be able to write songs with amazing people and to think that people sing them to Jesus blows my mind. That I get to write a song to Jesus and I have the honor of filling the mouths of believers with these songs…I don’t take one moment for granted. He is so worthy.”

Queen earned accolades in categories including song of the year and pop/contemporary recorded song of the year (both for “Dusty Bibles”) and recorded music packaging of the year (for his album Mt. Zion).

Taking the stage to accept the song of the year honor for “Dusty Bibles,” Queen thanked his co-writers on the song, John Michael Howell, Zac Lawson, and Dylan Thomas.

“We wrote this song two Dove Awards ago, so it’s an honor to be here,” Queen said. “I grew up following the Dove Awards because I looked up to so many of you writers and musicians. In saying that and getting this, it’s a huge honor. The greatest honor I can have as a human is to serve Jesus.” He added that faith helped him through hard times, saying, “It was opening up my Bible and spending time with Him that he completely changed my life.”

Lake earned accolades including songwriter of the year (artist), pop/contemporary album of the year (King of Hearts), and country/roots recorded song of the year, for “The Jesus I Know Now,” with Lainey Wilson.

Taking the stage to accept the win for “The Jesus I Know Now,” Wilson said, “There’s a line in the song that says, ‘He says who I am and it ain’t what I do.’ I want to remind all the creators, we are not just singers. We’re not just songwriters, we are connectors.” Lake added, “I’m so thankful for you Lainey, and [co-writers] Emily [Weisband] and Luke [Laird] that we wrote the song with….I’m thankful that we get to share this together.” Earlier in the evening, Wilson and Lake had performed “The Jesus I Know Now.”

Cobbs Leonard won the contemporary Gospel album of the year for her project Tasha, as well as traditional Gospel recorded song of the year for “Church” (which she also performed during the show). “God took me on a journey over the past year and a half…I’ve seen sides of Him that I’ve never seen before,” Cobbs Leonard said of working on the project, which was produced by Kenneth Leonard Jr. “The goodness of God and who He is is absolutely amazing,” Cobbs Leonard said.

Jamie MacDonald, known for hits including “Left It In The River,” won new artist of the year. 

“I spent two decades waiting tables and trying to write songs,” MacDonald said. “I was trying to heal after years of addiction and shame. I got ahold of a CeCe Winans record and it changed everything and I began singing the truth over myself….thank you for helping me to find my life’s purpose…thank you Jesus.”

Several artists offered powerful performances during the evening. Amy Grant and Natalie Grant joined forces to honor the late singer-songwriter Dolly Parton.

“What a rare artist…she felt like she belonged to all of us,” Amy Grant said from the stage. “Her music crossed generations and genres and boundaries of all kinds, and faith was woven into who she was, how she lived, and the music she made.” A video clip showed an older performance of Parton singing “How Great Thou Art,” as Natalie Grant and Amy Grant then joined in singing the song together from the Bridgestone stage, which was awash in pink lighting. They ended by joining to sing Parton’s “I Will Always Love You” as videos of Parton’s past performances filled the screens.

Grant also told Billboard in a statement, “I have thought about Dolly and the impact she had on all of us so much since her passing. Being asked to speak about her and then joining Natalie for a performance was an honor in and of itself. From the beginning, Dolly’s one request of [country singer] Porter [Wagoner] was that she be allowed to include a hymn or a Gospel song in each of their shows. Her roots in faith shaped who she was and how she lived. I appreciated getting to sing with Natalie Grant. Her voice captures the colors of the stratosphere, mine of the earth. Singing together, following Dolly, on the arrangement Natalie and Bernie [Herms] put together was magical. I was so happy to be a part of it.”

Also during the evening, Anne Wilson performed “Who I Am,” while Gospel roots ensemble Chosen Road offered up “A God Thing.” Hope Darst performed “Mighty Name of Jesus,” while rapper Hulvey brought choreography-filled performance of “Rich Like This” and “Dave.” Wells also took the stage for “This Is What a Miracle Feels Like” with Naomi Raine. Later in the evening, Tye Tribbett further elevated the evening’s energy with “I Want It All Back.”

Sarai Rivera’s “Tu Voz” was named Spanish Language Recorded song of the year. Rivera said she wrote the song at a time when “I needed His voice to be louder than the fears, than the lies…today I’m a living testimony that His voice keeps echoing louder and louder.”

The show spilled over into the nearby Ryman Auditorium, where Elevation Worship performed “So Be It.” 

Influential Gospel music songwriter, artist and musician Richard Smallwood was honored with a performance from Jonathan McReynolds, Kierra Sheard, Donald Lawrence, Maurette Brown Clark & Ted Winn, who sang songs including “The Center of My Joy, and “I Love The Lord.”

The inaugural GMA community impact award for peace and purpose to God Behind Bars, an organization that focuses on bringing a faith-based message to those in prison.

Having been newly crowned with the new artist of the year honor, MacDonald closed out the evening with the joyous and soulful “Left It In The River.”

See a list of winners in key categories at the 57th annual GMA Dove Awards below:

Artist of the year: Phil Wickham

Pop/contemporary recorded song of the year: “Dusty Bibles,” Josiah Queen

Pop/contemporary album of the year: King of Hearts, Brandon Lake

Bluegrass recorded song of the year: “Broken Angels,” The Grascals and Dolly Parton

Gospel worship recorded song of the year: “More Than This” Cece Winans feat. Todd Dulaney

Worship recorded song of the year: “God I’m Just Grateful,” Elevation Worship and Chandler Moore

Worship album of the year: Song of the Saints, Phil Wickham

Contemporary Gospel recorded song of the year: “Still (Live)” Jonathan McReynolds and Jamal Roberts

Contemporary Gospel album of the year: Tasha, Tasha Cobbs Leonard

New artist of the year: Jamie MacDonald

Song of the year: “Dusty Bibles,” Josiah Queen

Spanish Language Recorded Song of the Year: “Tu Voz,” Sarai Rivera

Rock/contemporary recorded song of the year: “No Survivors,” Jeremy Camp feat. Skillet

Rap/Hip-Hop album of the year: Could Be Tonight, Hulvey

Feature film of the year: David

Television series of the year: The Chosen