The Gospel Music Association (GMA) has announced MercyMe’s Bart Millard and Lecrae as this year’s co-hosts for the 45th annual Dove Awards. Lecrae is nominated in the Artist of the Year category, and in the Gospel Performance of the Year category for “Help,” with Erica Campbell.
Performers will include Contemporary Christian Performance of the Year nominee Natalie Grant, Matthew West (whose song “Hello My Name Is” is nominated for Song of the Year), and Gospel Performance of the Year nominees Campbell and Hezekiah Walker. Capital Kings, Olympic Gold medalist Scott Hamilton, author Karen Kingsbury, and Bill Gaither are all confirmed as presenters.
Jonathan McReynolds and Meredith Andrews will serve as hosts for the GMA Dove Awards pre-show, which will stream on hearitfirst.com/live on Oct. 7, beginning at 2 p.m. CT.
As previously announced, Mandisa, Hillsong United, Wayne Haun, Lecae, Matt Maher and Casting Crowns are among the artists leading the 45th annual Dove Award nominees for 2014.
The Dove Awards will take place Tuesday, Oct. 7 at Lipscomb University in Nashville, and will air on Trinity Broadcasting Network (TBN).

Industry members braved stormy weather in Nashville to gather at BMI’s offices Wednesday (Aug. 20) to celebrate the success of Brett Eldredge‘s “Beat of the Music,” penned by co-writers Eldredge, Ross Copperman and Heather Morgan. It marks Eldredge’s second consecutive chart-topper as both a writer and artist.
The song marked Morgan’s first No. 1 single on the Soundscan charts, though “Slow Me Down,” a song Morgan co-wrote that Sara Evans picked up, went to No. 1 on the MusicRow CountryBreakout chart in April. Copperman and Eldredge co-produced “Beat of the Music” together, and celebrated their first No. 1 single as producers.
“One of the neat things about Ross Copperman is that when he’s in the writer’s room, he can also bring in production sensibilities to it,” said Sony/ATV Tree’s Josh VanValkenburg. “There’s a moniker around the row called a ‘track guy.’ Well, Ross is a great songwriter who figured out how to put a little icing on the cake. As for Brett, Sony has been chasing Brett for a long time. We feel he is a future superstar, not only in this genre, but beyond. He’s a triple threat.”
Warner Music Nashville president and CEO John Esposito, who will soon celebrate five years at the label, emphasized the importance of the No. 1 parties and awards. “Coming from rock and pop, they don’t do that,” said Esposito, who said he keeps many of the prestigious No. 1 honors from parties in his office. He also made it clear that he’s as passionate about the music as when he first started. “This is where I’m retiring from—in about 15 years, for those of you looking for upward movement.”
After raising a glass to the Warner Music Nashville/Atlantic artist’s success, Esposito reminded the crowd that Eldredge was his first signing at Warner Music Nashville. “He’s kind of like a son, but I’m kind of like a bad father,” he quipped.
Avenue Bank’s Cooper Samuels honored the song’s writers with a donation from Avenue Bank to the Alzheimer’s Foundation.
Eldredge recalled meeting Esposito and forming a partnership that has since seen more than 1.8 singles sold. At the time, Eldredge was a songwriter and demo singer doing whatever he could to get his voice and songs heard. “We went to dinner at [Nashville restaurant] The Palm, and he took interest in my songs and could name every song I wrote,” said Eldredge. “He convinced me he had the passion and would fight for me.” Eldredge also thanked his mother and father, who were in attendance. “My family are the biggest part of my life,” said Eldredge, recalling the hard work his parents put forth to support his career. “You can’t do things by yourself.”
Eldredge celebrated his first No. 1 song (“Don’t Ya”) by going skydiving, and more recently he swam with sharks to celebrate “Beat of the Music.” Ever the risk-taker, Eldredge brought along a years-old bottle of tequila, which he shared onstage with co-writer Copperman. “I remember meeting Ross and Heather at an after party years ago,” said Eldredge. “This has probably been in the cabinet for like 10 years. We joked that when we have a hot song, we would drink the old tequila with the worm. We had maybe a worm in a tequila bottle’s chance of making it in this business, but we did.”