BMI To Honor John P. Kee At 2025 BMI Trailblazers Of Gospel Music Awards

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BMI will celebrate the songwriters and publishers behind the year’s best in gospel at the 2025 BMI Trailblazers of Gospel Music Awards, taking place on April 3 at Flourish Atlanta and hosted by BMI President & CEO Mike O’Neill and BMI Vice President, Creative, Atlanta, Catherine Brewton.

Gospel music pioneer and pastor John P. Kee will be honored as a Trailblazer of Gospel in recognition of his award-winning career spanning over 40 years. The ceremony will also recognize the songwriters, producers and music publishers of the past year’s 25 most-performed gospel songs in the United States, and award the BMI Gospel Song, Songwriter and Publisher of the Year.

“John P. Kee is a true visionary in the genre, and his music continues to have an impact in Gospel music for over forty years and counting. It’s an honor to recognize his dedication and the unwavering commitment he’s made through his artistry and evangelism,” shares Brewton. “We’re extremely excited to come together and celebrate his legacy and incredible accomplishments and proudly honor all of our award-winning songwriters and publishers for a special afternoon of great music and fellowship.”

Known as the “Prince of Gospel Music,” Kee is widely recognized for his contributions to contemporary Gospel music. His musical talents were discovered at an early age in church, and by the mid 1980’s, he had started a community choir in Charlotte that eventually became known as the widely celebrated New Life Community Choir (NLCC).

Over the course of his professional career spanning almost four decades, Kee has written music for Hallmark, Inc., The Hawkins Family, Daryl Coley, Billy Preston, Dorinda Clark Cole, Rev. James Cleveland, Bishop Rance Allen, Florida Mass Choir, Mississippi Mass Choir, Vanessa Bell Armstrong and for Dr. James Cleveland’s Gospel Music Workshop of America, among others. His music has been featured in film, television, commercials and on Saturday Night Live.

Throughout his solo career and his work with NLCC, he has amassed 37 GMWA Excellence Awards, 27 Stellar Awards, three BMI Awards, two Billboard Music Awards, a Soul Train Music Award, a Trailblazer Award from former President Bill Clinton and received seven Grammy nominations. Adding to his tremendous list of accolades, Kee was inducted into the International Gospel Hall of Fame in 2005 and was previously honored at the BMI Trailblazers of Gospel Music Awards in 2001 and 2005. Kee has also been the full-time pastor of the New Life Fellowship Center in Charlotte, North Carolina since its inception in 1995.

LB Cantrell
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