BeBe & CeCe Winans are an American gospel music brother and sister duo. BeBe and CeCe Winans are the seventh and eighth of the Winans family's ten children, most of whom have had gospel music careers. Together, they have received several awards, including three Grammys. eBe and CeCe left the PTL Singers in 1987 to pursue a musical career and that same year, Sparrow Records offered the two siblings a Gospel recording contract. Their mainstream debut release was the self-titled album BeBe & CeCe Winans. It was produced by Keith Thomas, who would go on to produce Amy Grant and Vanessa L. Williams. The debut record gave them their first R&B hit, "I.O.U. Me", which topped R&B and inspirational charts and generated Grammy nominations, and Dove and Stellar Awards. CeCe also earned a Grammy for "Best Soul Gospel Performance, Female" for the song "For Always."
A holiday release titled First Christmas followed in 1993. This album showcased BeBe's production skills and led to him doing production work with Whitney Houston on the soundtrack for the movie The Bodyguard as well as production and writing music for artists such as Gladys Knight, Bobby Brown, The Clark Sisters and his younger sisters Angie and Debbie Winans.The release of their 1991 album Different Lifestyles brought their biggest success to date. It featured the singles "Addictive Love" and a cover of The Staple Singers' "I'll Take You There" featuring Mavis Staples. Both singles topped the R&B chart.[4] Rapper MC Hammer was featured on the single "The Blood" at the height of his career. In 1992, the song peaked at No. 8 on Billboard's Christian Adult Contemporary chart.
One of the duo's signature songs, Heaven, was remade by Destiny's Child member Michelle Williams featuring Carl Thomas on her 2002 Gospel album Heart to Yours.[7]
In 1992, the duo made an appearance on Sesame Street in the song "Dancing Shoes", for which they provided the vocals.[citation needed]
Both appear on the television series Martin on the episode titled "Go Tell It on the Martin" (1994).
On the Disney Channel's animated television show The Proud Family, the youngest children in the family are twin toddlers named BeBe and CeCe.[8]
Timothy Bowman Jr. and Deborah Joy Winans portrayed BeBe and Cece respectively in the 2015 Lifetime biopic Whitney.
In 1995, they officially parted ways to work on their solo careers and other areas of interest. Both artists have gone on to have successful solo careers, receiving numerous awards and accolades. To date, BeBe has released six solo albums, while CeCe has released eight.
BeBe and CeCe Winans recorded twice as a duo during their hiatus (before reuniting for the 2009 album "Still") – "What A Child", a duet on CeCe's Christmas album His Gift, and "Tonight Tonight", a duet on BeBe's 2000 album Love & Freedom.
