Kanye “Ye” West won big at Sunday’s Billboard Music Awards, sweeping both the Gospel and Christian music categories.
West was nominated for seven awards and won six, only losing the Top Rap Album category to Drake for his Certified Lover Boy album. Still, West was the most decorated male artist of the night, winning every Gospel and Christian music category.
In the Top Christian Artist category, West beat out Grammy Award-winners Carrie Underwood, Elevation Worship, for King & Country and Lauren Daigle. In the Top Gospel Artist category, he reigned victorious over Grammy Award-winners CeCe Winans, Elevation Worship, Kirk Franklin and Maverick City Music.
West’s 2021 Donda album was also named the Top Christian Album and the Top Gospel Album. Further, his song “Hurricane” from his Donda album was named the Top Christian Song and the Top Gospel Song. In both of those categories, West held four of the five nomination spots, with his songs “Moon,” “Off the Grid,” and “Praise God” also being nominated.
While West has mostly released secular music throughout his career, he now has several songs that pay homage to Christianity and multiple full-blown Christian music albums (Jesus Is King, Donda). West also leads the gospel music group the Sunday Service Choir.
The Billboard Music Awards are determined by evaluating data surrounding the “streaming strength, radio airplay, album and track sales” and social engagement of a song, artist, or album, Variety reports.
According to Showbiz CheatSheet, West now holds 17 Billboard Music Awards, making him tied for seventh place with rapper Eminem. While West was the most decorated male artist of the night, the biggest winner of the night was new artist Olivia Rodrigo, who took home seven awards. Other big winners included Drake, BTS, Doja Cat, Justin Bieber and The Kid Laroi.
West, who holds 24 Grammy Awards, was not in attendance at the awards show.
Photo courtesy: ©Getty Images/Robin Marchant/Stringer
Kayla Koslosky has been the Editor of ChristianHeadlines.com since 2018. She has B.A. degrees in English and History and previously wrote for and was the managing editor of the Yellow Jacket newspaper. She has written on her blog since 2012 and has also contributed to IBelieve.com and Crosswalk.com.
