Marvin Sapp led all nominees for the 24th annual Stellar Awards—announced earlier this week—with nine nominations, including Male Vocalist of the Year and Song of the Year for "Never Would Have Made It."

Other leading nominees named for the best African-American artists in gospel music in 2008 were Jonathan Nelson with eight nods, while Dorinda Clark-Cole and Kirk Franklin each earned five nominations.

Sapp, Clark-Cole and Franklin were nominated in the Artist of the Year category along with Beverly Crawford and Ricky Dillard & New G. Crawford and Clark-Cole were nominated in the Female Vocalist of the Year category with CeCe Winans, newcomer Jessica Greene and Shirley Caesar.

To be hosted by comedian Sinbad, the Stellar Awards will be held Jan. 17 at the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville, which will be taped for broadcast by the Gospel Music Channel.

Click here for a complete list of 2009 Stellar Award-nominees.

• Prev
• Next