CeCe's NEW LOOK - gospel singer CeCe Winans - Brief Article

Ebony, Nov, 2001 by Joy Bennett Kinnon

WITH a new health routine, a fresh and contemporary look d a broadened musical mision, genre-defying artist CeCe Winans is merging art, activism and business acumen with the release of her 10th album and fifth solo project, CeCe Winans.

Although the artist launched her career 16 years ago, when she was a teenager, she still has the zeal of the newly converted--whether she is talking about the divine romance between God and His people, or her divine haircut, courtesy of her sister, Debbie.

"Last year when I came off the road, I wanted something different," she says. "So I asked Debbie to cut my hair." She says her younger sister, Debbie, who is a hairdresser as well as a gospel singer, "didn't want to do it at first, but I talked her into it." The results have sparked compliments from every quarter, including her husband of 17 years, Alvin Love II, and their two teenage children, Alvin III and Ashley. At a recent parade appearance in Chicago, she said the crowd was particularly vocal about the new cut. "I got a lot of positive feedback from the crowd, kids were yelling at me that my haircut is `the bomb'!" she says, laughing.

Another "bomb" is her new figure. "Over the years, I had slowly put on some weight and I just didn't feel well." She hired a personal trainer and started working out. Since then she has come down a dress size and has more energy and stamina. "My personal trainer makes me work out and taught me to stop looking at a scale and just get strong." Although Winans says she still doesn't like to work out--"I like it when it's over"--she is committed to "working out for the rest of my life."

Along with working out, she also changed some of her eating habits. "I'm not following any funny diets, but I'm definitely eating more fruits and vegetables, and as I eat more of these things I have less and less appetite for junk foods," she says.

The gospel star says you have to fight back to combat the natural aging process. "I made up my mind to be healthy so that I can continue to sing God's praises," she says.

On her new album, Winans continues to sing God's praises, in new and different forms. Songs include R&B, pop, urban, contemporary Christian, gospel and inspirational formats, with a sprinkling of rap, dance and romance, funky rhythms and lush strings, lyrical depth and melodic richness. The musically diverse album marks the second release through her own label, Wellspring Entertainment, which she formed to increase gospel music's exposure and to nurture upcoming artists. "In the gospel industry, we have depended on other people to make things happen for us," she says. "You never got your whole audience. With my company, I want to do the whole thing--promote, set tours, do plays, radio and TV, and support new artists."

The album's tracks speak to crucial social issues that are near to her heart. "With this album, we wanted to reach the world," she says. "I want people to feel encouragement and passion." Among the tracks is an inspired duet with her brother Marvin Winans, "Bring Back The Days of Yea and Nay," first recorded by her older brothers, The Winans. "It's something that needs to be said now," she says. "It's something that we all long for, that we feel like we used to have, those days of `yea and nay' when things were a little clearer, when people stood for something," she says.

Winans wrote six of the 13 songs on this album. "I wrote `It's Gonna Get Better' in response to a horrible problem that I was totally ignorant of--child suicide," she says. "My work and ministry off the stage with young people is just as important if not more important, because God told us to love one another."

Winans was involved in a PBS television special on suicide prevention for young people. She also started several non-profit organizations including, Sharing the Vision, which was created to tackle the problems facing young people today; My Sister's Keeper, a support group for teenage girls and young women; TeenSave, a suicide awareness and prevention organization; and Camp CeCe, a Christian youth camp for underprivileged children in Nashville. She is also the spokesperson for K-Mart's Share the Word program, which encourages reading and Black history awareness.

The next move for the platinum and gold-selling artist is a national fall tour with hot gospel star Donnie McClurkin. The charismatic pair will "co-headline" 30 dates, performing from New York to Los Angeles."

The tour is just part one on her mission to minister to the world by what she sings and how she lives. "We want lives to be changed," she says. "If our kids are going to have a chance, we have to put the Word in them; we have to live it in front of them; we have to take a stand."