The "Big Three" of the Dove Awards
30 April 2026 • by Bob • Music, Random Thoughts
I belong to a Facebook group named Fans Of Real 80's CCM, which is for fans of Contemporary Christian Music (CCM) from the 1980s. That's the music era that I group up in, and I like the discussions that take place in that group. It's fun to reminisce about some of the CCM artists from days gone by.
Many of those artists were nominated for Gospel Music Association's (GMA) Dove Awards at one time or other, and by way of explanation, the GMA Dove Awards are like the Grammy Awards of CCM. Earlier today, someone from that group posted the following chart that shows the years that each of the "Big Three" of CCM were nominated or won Dove Awards, with the "Big Three" consisting of Amy Grant, Michael W. Smith, and Steven Curtis Chapman. Note that the following chart only lists the years where each artist was nominated or won, and does not take into account the numerous times each artist won multiple awards on the same night (e.g. Album of the Year, Song of the Year, Songwriter of the Year, Female/Male Vocalist of the Year, Music Video of the Year, etc.) For example, as of this writing, Steven Curtis Chapman was nominated or won Dove Awards across 26 different years, but he has won 59 Dove Awards from over 100 nominations.
There are some artists who've won large numbers of Grammy Awards (e.g. Beyoncé, Chick Corea, Quincy Jones, etc.), but their numbers fall short of the staggering number of Dove Award wins by the "Big Three" of CCM. Oh, sure - the pool of talent for the Grammys exceeds that of the Dove Awards, but still... the number of wins and nominations by the "Big Three" can be summed up in one word: bloated. I realize that every form of art is subjective - but 59 wins from over 100 nominations? Nope. I'm sorry for all the Steven Curtis Chapman fans out there, but he's simply not that good. Nobody is.
Don't get me wrong - I like the "Big Three," and over the past few decades I've seen each of them in concert. Sometimes more than once. However, this chart illustrates something of a problem with the Dove Awards, because CCM is far more than just these three artists. While I realize that the "Big Three" have always been nominated along with a slew of other artists, many of those artists often lost to the "Big Three" simply because the GMA committee that selects the Dove Award winners has a clear bias for the "Big Three," and that is unfortunate for every other artist in CCM who deserves to be recognized.
POSTSCRIPT:
FWIW - Chris Tomlin is another artist for which the GMA committee that selects the Dove Award winners has a clear bias. Since 2005 he's had 61 Dove Award nominations with 23 wins, despite the fact that he's a bad songwriter. (Yes he is. Yes he is. Yes he is.) Chris Tomlin isn't what I'd call "good," but he's popular within the right circles to win awards, which is enough to score him a continual series of Dove Award wins, even though his songs are boring and trite and make me want to hurl. (Yes they do. Yes they do. Yes they do.)
Tags: Music, Opinion, Christianity