Lisa Knowles-Smith and Darrel Walls were the big winners at the 2026 Stellar Gospel Music Awards, taped live from the Spectrum Center in Charlotte, North Carolina, on Saturday, August 15. Gospel superstar Kirk Franklin hosted the show.
Knowles-Smith, 42, won five awards, four for the album Revival: Live in Dallas, recorded with The Brown Singers. She won the Albertina Walker female artist of the year award; duo/chorus/group of the year and quartet of the year (alongside The Brown Singers); producer of the year (with Frederick Perry); and song of the year for “Promises (Live),” which reached No. 5 on Billboard’s Hot Gospel Songs chart in June.
Walls, 35, won artist of the year and contemporary male artist of the year, both for his album Heart of Mine. Vincent Bohanan & SOV won three awards for Live in New York: album of the year, choir of the year (tied with JJ Hairston & Youthful Praise), and contemporary choir of the year.
Other artists with two wins were Jonathan McReynolds, John P. Kee, Jekalyn Carr and The Brown Singers. Tasha Cobbs Leonard received the Aretha Franklin Icon Award, and Pastor Mike Jr. received the Thomas A. Dorsey Most Notable Achievement Award.
The show will premiere on The Stellar Network (Charter Spectrum and Verizon Fios) on Saturday, August 29, at 8 p.m. ET, with an encore at 10 p.m. ET. BET will air the ceremony on Sunday, August 30, at 8 p.m. ET and 10:30 p.m. ET, followed by broadcast TV syndication from September 5–27. Bounce TV will air it on Saturday, September 5, at 1 p.m. ET.
Source: Billboard
