BMI to Honor Trailblazers of Gospel Music

Posted in News on October 22, 2004

BMI is proud to announce the date of the 6th annual Trailblazers of Gospel Music Awards Luncheon. The invitation-only event, to be held in conjunction with the 2005 Stellar Awards, will take place on Friday, January 14, 2005 at Downtown Aquarium in Houston, Texas (401 Bagby Street). The gala luncheon salutes gospel music and honors outstanding gospel music recording artists, award-winning BMI writers, and gospel music industry executives. The 2005 honorees include contemporary gospel singers Rance Allen and Pastor John P. Kee.

Rance Allen	Pastor John P. Kee

The Rance Allen Group was founded more than four decades ago and Allen has been fronting the band with his soulful, soaring vocals ever since. This Detroit-based black gospel group was the first to incorporate rock, jazz, and soul into their music, topping both the gospel and urban Billboard charts throughout the years. Their most recent release, The Live Experience, features gospel greats Fred Hammond, Kirk Franklin and LaShun Pace joining the band on hits such as "Miracle Worker," "Something About the Name Jesus" and "I Can't Help Myself."

Pastor John P. Kee, considered one of the genre's greatest artists, blends a rich brew of funk, rock & roll, soul, reggae, and even club dance elements to create his own personal form of expression on top of a gospel music foundation. His diverse styles can be heard on his latest Verity Records effort, The Color of Music, which features superstar producer Rodney Jerkins on the track "Dancin'." The full-time pastor of New Life Fellowship Center since 1995, the Charlotte, North Carolina-based singer gets his inspiration from seeing how people's lives are changed and turned around through the power of music and worship.

The 20th annual Stellar Awards will take place the day after BMI's Trailblazers of Gospel Music Awards Luncheon on January 15, 2005 at the George R. Brown Convention Center in Houston. Produced by Central City Productions, the Stellar Awards celebrate the year in gospel music. Nominations are received and voted on by the Stellar Awards Gospel Music Academy (SAGMA), made up of members who encourage and promote gospel music worldwide.

SOURCENews TAGS Christian Dance Gospel Rock BMI Trailblazers Honors