DETROIT, MI. (By Kelley L. Carter PR) - Even after receiving bad news eight years ago - a heart specialist at a University of Michigan hospital in Ann Arbor told him he didn't have long to live - Winans rejected the news, choosing to go on, sharing his deep faith and the word of God with anyone and everyone.
Winans died Friday of heart complications at Harper Hospital in Detroit, two weeks shy of his 49th birthday. He had been hospitalized after doctors realized he was retaining fluid.
He was part of Detroit's revolutionary gospel dynasty.
Brothers Ronald, Marvin, Carvin and Michael broke musical ground as the Winans quartet.
They began recording in 1981 and released 10 projects in a 14-year span that earned a host of awards, including five Grammys. The group changed the face of gospel music, melding the secular R&B Motown sounds with traditional music.
They have influenced many of the heavy hitters in gospel and secular music, including Kirk Franklin, Fred Hammond and Whitney Houston.
The Winans are known as the first family of gospel, and nearly all have recorded, including Ronald Winans' brother and sister BeBe and CeCe, together and solo; his nephews as Winans Phase II; brother Daniel; sisters Angie and Debbie; former sister-in-law Vickie Winans, and his parents, David and Delores, who record as Mom and Pop Winans.
The Winans quartet was "the first foundational gospel group to get secular acclaim," said producer Cedric Caldwell, who is married to Angie Winans.
"Marvin wrote most of the songs, but Ronald was the guy on stage that everybody kind of focused on," he said. "He was probably the best performer in the whole family," he said Friday from his Nashville studio.
All of the Winans siblings were at the Detroit hospital Thursday night, praying like they did eight years ago for their brother's life after a heart attack.
BeBe Winans said in a statement: "The family wishes to thank everyone who joined us in prayer and will continue to extend their unwavering support during our time of loss."
Aside from the work with his brothers, Ronald Winans released solo projects in the '80s and early '90s. His latest album, "A Celebration," came out this year.
"I think that Ronald's story still touches lives even in death," said Doreonne Stramler, a family friend and president and chief executive officer of Entheos Records, the Detroit label that released the album. "He was really a good friend and one who helped mentor me in the music field."
"He was going full blast," Caldwell said. "A month or so ago, he was down here performing" at the Gospel Music Awards in Nashville. "He was very active."
After the health scare in 1997, Winans spent his time preaching and testifying. He was an active member of Perfecting Church on Detroit's east side, where his brother Marvin pastors.
"I celebrate every day I wake up. It's a blessing every day," Ronald Winans told the Free Press in January. "I'm here and whatever God has allowed to happen to me is for a purpose to bring Him glory, and for that, I'm glad."
There will be a musical tribute at 7 p.m. Thursday at Perfecting Church, 7616 E. Nevada, Detroit. Services will be at 11 a.m. Friday at Straight Gate International Church, 10100 Grand River, Detroit. All services are open to the public.
