What is Vickie Winans' Net Worth?
Vickie Winans is an American Gospel recording artist who has a net worth of $3 million. Vickie Winans had her breakthrough in 1985 with her debut album, "Be Encouraged." Her notable singles include "Work it Out," "It's Alright," "Special Day," "Kids Love Jesus Too," and "Release It." Winans has also released some live albums over the years, including 1997's "Live in Detroit" and 1999's "Live in Detroit II." Vickie's son is singer Mario Winans.
Early Life
Vickie Winans was born as Viviane Bowman on October 18, 1953 in Michigan as the seventh of 12 children of housewife Mattie and manual laborer Aaron. Her siblings are Beverly, Sandi, Irma, Annette, Carleen, Cathy, Mary, Bryan, Lorne, Tim, and Aaron Jr., who passed away. Winans began performing music early on in life, singing at the International Gospel Center starting when she was eight. As a teenager, she sang with the group the International Sounds of Deliverance.
Career Beginnings
Winans decided to pursue a career in music due to her husband Marvin Winans, who along with his brothers Carvin, Michael, and Ronald formed the Detroit gospel quartet the Winans. She went on to join Winans Part II, a group also featuring in-laws BeBe and CeCe Winans and Marvin's brother Daniel. However, that group soon fell apart due to BeBe and CeCe leaving to join the PTL Singers on the Christian television program "The PTL Club."
Albums in the 80s and 90s
In 1985, Winans signed to Light Records, the label on which her husband's group had found success. She subsequently released her debut album, "Be Encouraged," which became a significant gospel hit. Among the album's notable tracks were a cover of Dottie Rambo's "We Shall Behold Him" and a gospel rendition of "Midnight Train to Georgia" entitled "First Trumpet Sound." For "Be Encouraged," Winans earned a Grammy Award nomination for Best Soul Gospel Performance, Female and a Stellar Award for Album of the Year. Winans was unable to repeat her success with her second album, "Total Victory," which came out in 1989. This was due in part to the poor financial standing of Light Records. As a result, Winans signed to Geffen Records in 1990. After Geffen was acquired by Universal Records, Winans' contract was handed over to sister label MCA Records. This upset Winans, as the label pressured her to dial back the Christian messaging in her music. Moreover, MCA added dancers to her performance at the Stellar Awards, a move that rankled conservative Christian viewers of the broadcast. MCA soon dropped Winans.
Following three years without a recording contract, Winans signed to the Atlanta-based classical music label Intersound Records in 1995. She got off to a great start on the new label with her self-titled 1995 album, which launched the gospel hits "Work it Out" and "We Shall Behold Him." Winans went on to record her first live album, "Live in Detroit," at Bishop Andrew Merrit's Straight Gate Church. Released in 1997, the album was a major hit, yielding such successful singles as "Long As I Got King Jesus" and "No Cross, No Crown," both covers of the James Cleveland classics. Winans had another smash with the sequel album, "Live in Detroit II," released in 1999. That same year, she went in a different direction with "Share the Laughter," a stand-up comedy album that didn't perform as well.
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Albums in the 21st Century
Not long after the start of the new millennium, Winans was dropped by Intersound Records. She subsequently signed with Tommy Boy Gospel, and then with Verity Records in 2002. The year after that, she released her album "Bringing it All Together," featuring the track "Shake Yourself Loose," written and produced by her son Mario. To promote the album, Winans spent more than $200,000 of her own money to launch a marketing campaign involving five music videos and a 50-city promotional concert tour, among other things. Her work paid off, as "Bringing it All Together" debuted at number one on the Billboard gospel charts, and remained in the top ten for a whole year. The album also won five Stellar Awards. After releasing a greatest hits album in 2005, Winans released "Woman to Woman: Songs of Life" in 2006.
In 2007, Winans put out her first holiday album, "Happy Holidays from Vickie Winans." She released "Praise & Worship" the following year. In 2009, Winans self-produced her album "How I Got Over" through her independent label Destiny Joy Records. It went on to receive a Grammy Award nomination for Best Traditional Gospel Album. Through her independent label, Winans has also released some comedy albums.
Personal Life
Winans has been married and divorced multiple times. She wed her first husband, Bishop Ronald E. Brown, after graduating from high school. He worked at Faith Tabernacle Deliverance Temple in Orangeburg, South Carolina. From Brown, Winans has a son named Mario who is a singer-songwriter and record producer. Winans' second husband was gospel singer Marvin Winans, with whom she had a son named Marvin Jr. The couple divorced in 1995. Winans wed her third husband, businessman Joe McLemore, in late 2003. They got divorced a few years later.
