Jackson to be front and center at 40th Stellar Gospel Awards
JA Staff Report
The Stellar Gospel Music Awards will celebrate its 40th anniversary August 16th at the Schermerhorn Symphony Center in Music Center, also referred to as Nashville, TN. This could also be a stellar year for Jackson, MS with six nominations for the Mississippi Mass Choir, three additional Malaco nominations for Dorinda Clark-Cole’s “Determined” (Albertina Walker Female Artist of the Year, Traditional Album of the Year, and Traditional Female Artist of the Year), and Hallelujah FM 95.5 for Gospel Radio Small Market of the Year.
The six nominations for the Mississippi Mass Choir are all for “We Still Believe”. They are: Choir of the Year, Producer of the Year, Traditional Album of the Year, Traditional Choir of the Year, Traditional Artist of the Year, and Special Event Album of the Year.
The 2025 show, taped live with a later air date, will recognize gospel legends and rising stars, and present an unforgettable showcase of some of the most renowned gospel artists throughout the country.
Don Jackson, Founder of the Stellar Awards and Chairman of Central City Productions, Inc., commented, “For 40 remarkable years, the Stellar Awards have been a beacon of excellence, celebrating the voices, vision, and victories of gospel music. We honor not just the genre of gospel music, but the legacy of our history, our faith, our culture, and our community that has inspired Black and African American generations for four decades with our Stellar Gospel Music Awards.”
Public fan voting, held earlier this summer, is in two categories – Urban Single or Performance of the Year and Praise and Worship Song of the Year. Total votes will determine the winners of those categories.
Nineteen-time Stellar Award winner Pastor Mike Jr. and Stellar Award winner Jason Nelson lead the field of nominees this year with nine nominations each; both landing top nominations in the key categories Artist of the Year, Song of the Year, Male Artist of the Year, and Album of the Year (Nelson’s “You Belong: Live in Durham”; and Mike Jr.’s “I Got Away” EP).
With eight nominations, Cece Winans is recognized in the top categories of Artist of the Year, Song of the Year, Albertina Walker Female Artist of the Year, and Album of the Year for “More Than This”. Winans’ “More Than This” also features the single, “That’s My King.”
Other artists earning multiple Stellar nominations include: Adia, Deitrick Haddon, Dorinda Clark-Cole, Karen Clark-Sheard, Kenny Lewis & One Voice, Micah Lee, Tamela Mann, Chandler Moore and FK&M (Fred Hammond, Keith Staten, and Marcus Cole).
The Mississippi Mass Choir will also perform for the Urban Soul Cafe 20th Anniversary & Honors Friday, August 15, 2025, at 6 p.m., at Olive Branch Church, 938 Haven Hill Drive, Nashville, TN.
