The summer of 2005 was especially hot and restless for Grammy-nominated singer/pianist, Angie Winans. Her brother, Ronald, lost his eight-year battle with heart disease a few days before his 49th birthday. Although, he had been ill off and on, it never occurred to Angie that Ronald might die. His sudden death threw Angie into a state of grief that she had never known nor experienced before. Out of that tremendous grief was born “What Manner of Love is This: A Diary of God’s Love in Times of Mourning.”
The book is an intimate one-sided conversation between Angie on this side (earth) with Ronald on the other side (heaven). In those conversations, Angie vents and speaks of her grief. She reminds Ronald of the memories and the scriptures that help her cope with his absence – the same ones that made them so close as siblings.
It’s a poignant book that counsels the heart and soothes the soul at the same time. “I had to get that book out.” Angie says. “I just had to. I’ve never felt anything stronger than I feel what I wrote in that book about Ronald.”
Writing is a new dimension to Angie’s character that she likes and she sees more books in her future.
The next to last-born of the ten children in the Winans gospel dynasty, she was born Angelique Lynette Winans on March 4, 1968, Angie has always enjoyed music. Growing up, she studied orchestral etudes and gospel piano. As she grew older, Angie fell in love with the music of jazz pianist such as Joe Sample, David Foster and David Benoit. Her favorite jazz vocalist is Michael Franks. "I love Michael Franks' music so much! He's been such an influence on me that I would die if he ever did a riff," Angie laughs of the smooth, laid back singer. She sang at home and at church as a child. Her older brothers, The Winans, burst on the gospel scene in the early eighties with a string of gospel and crossover hits such as "Tomorrow" and "Ain't No Need To Worry." Their siblings, BeBe & CeCe, followed with several soul-gospel million-sellers such as "I'll Take You There" and "Addictive Love" at the end of the decade.
At 15, she joined her sister Debbie and friend Sherry Reynolds Kibble for a ten year stretch as background vocalists for BeBe & CeCe. It was while on the road with BeBe & CeCe that Angie met her future husband, Cedric Caldwell, the renowned record producer who was the duo's keyboard player at the time. However, after BeBe & CeCe stopped touring in 1993 and began to pursue solo projects, Angie & Debbie began to sing together as a duo and released their first eponymous album on Capitol Records in the summer of 1993. The critically acclaimed album received major write-ups in USA Today, Entertainment Weekly, etc. The album was nominated for Grammy and Soul Train Music Awards and was supported with an opening slot on Whitney Houston's national tour that year. The album sold over 100,000 copies. Eventually, Capitol Records closed their black music division, and Angie & Debbie pursued other opportunities.
Angie concentrated on writing and producing other artists. She co-wrote and produced the urban styled "Never Alone" for Star Search winner Kelli Williams' debut album. She composed the overture, sang and arranged most of the background vocals on CeCe Winans' gold album, Alone In His Presence. She also wrote "I Love You" for BeBe & CeCe's hit Christmas album and recently wrote a song for pop star Brandy.
Together, Angie & Debbie have done background vocals and vocal arrangements on the albums of various members of their family. They also backed Donnie McClurkin on his smash hit, "Speak To My Heart." The duo wrote four songs for football star Reggie White's autobiographical film "Reggie's Prayer." The duo also joined their sister CeCe for the trio record "Always Sisters" which rose to #24 on the CCM charts in 1996. Angie & Debbie re-teamed for the smash hit CD "Bold" in 1997. In the future, Angie plans to write more instrumental music and compose film scores. Her smooth jazz-styled solo debut CD "Melodies of My Heart" debuted in spring 2001 and was nominated for a Grammy Award. She sings and plays the keyboards on the Top 40 styled CD that also features guest appearances by sax man Kirk Whalum and Take 6. She’s currently working on her sophomore smooth jazz gospel CD.