CeCe Winans has been a force in contemporary gospel for more than two decades but says she’s just now breaking out of her shell.
Winans is back on the road with her brother, BeBe, for their first tour together in years. Their 2009 album “Still,” was their first work as a duo since 1994.
“It’s been great,” Winans said. “We get on stage, we have a great time, it’s like we’ve never parted. It’s pretty amazing, I think one of the most amazing things is the love people have shown us. When we get out and sing, we see people singing.”
The tour stops at the Fox Theatre tonight with Mary Mary, but don’t call it a homecoming for either of the siblings. Winans calls Nashville home, but visits often.
“I’m always in Detroit,” she says. “That’s home, that’s where my mama is! My brother [Pastor Marvin Winans] has a church there, I was there a month ago.”
“When I’m here, I go to coney islands — I got to get a coney island — but other than that just hanging out with family and going to church.”
One of Winans’ trademarks — as well as the rest of her siblings — is her presence among secular R&B fans. BeBe and CeCe enjoyed heavy airplay on urban radio in the late 1980s and 1990s with songs like “Addictive Love,” “Heaven” and “Lost Without You” — tunes with inspirational lyrics over smooth R&B production.
“It was amazing the first time, it was amazing this time. We went in going doing the best we could do. We were very young back then starting out, and doing music young people loved…and we got played,” Winans said.
“They never asked us to change our message or be something that we weren’t. And that’s the way we should be. We’ve got good news to tell people, and it should be heard.”
“Still” earned a Grammy nomination and another radio hit, “Close to You,” but Winans says there are no plans for another album just yet. “This one took a while to get together. One thing when we start doing projects, you build separate careers and that takes a whole lot of time as well. We’ll see.”
And both siblings continue to build those separate careers; CeCe has released seven albums and written three books, while BeBe has released six, appears a judge on BET’s “Sunday Best” and has appeared onstage in Broadway productions of “The Color Purple.”
“I gotta get back in the studio, gotta get back to writing. We plan on it — now I don’t know for sure. But we’re planning on a live record. I think I’m brave enough to do it,” Winans said.
There’s a wish list of collaborators for CeCe if or when she gets back in the studio again.
“One of my favorite people — he’s been so supportive and so kind over the years — and that’s Stevie Wonder,” she said “Of course, there’s no one else that sings like him and writes like him. One thing about getting older is that you get braver, and I think I’m ready to work with him.
Winans added that years ago, she was in talks to work with Kenneth “Babyface” Edmonds for a project that didn’t come to fruition. Edmonds produced Winans’ biggest hit, “Count on Me” — a duet with Whitney Houston from the “Waiting to Exhale” soundtrack.
“I had a great time with him. We tried it before and it didn’t happen — different reasons, different schedule,” she said. But Winans didn’t know that “Exhale” author Terry McMillan penned a sequel to the book, “Getting to Happy,” nor about the talks about reuniting the cast for a sequel.
“I would love to be a part of that. Man, I didn’t know it was going to be so depressing!” Winans said about the original novel. “Now that I know that they’re happier, I would love that.”
Another potential event on Winans’ schedule is appearing on “The Oprah Winfrey Show” for the talker’s last season. Years ago, the entire Winans family was invited to perform for a special episode at Winfrey’s request.
“Bebe and I did (the Oprah show) last year, we did it last summer. We don’t have anything scheduled right now. Nothing planned right now, so we’ll see.”
For now, Winans says she’s looking forward to coming back to the Fox and sharing the stage with Mary Mary.
“It’s gonna be great, I’m excited about working with them. They’ve been a blast — they’re funny and I think they’ve had some of the greatest voices I’ve heard in my life,” she said.
article courtesy of TheBelleReport.com
