The GMA Dove Awards, the Christian equivalent to the Grammy Awards, has announced their nominees for 2023. Skillet, one of the biggest bands of the past two decades has been a juggernaut when it comes to the Dove Awards. They have countless nominations and wins at this point, and deservedly so. Skillet has been relevant at a time when music sales fell. When music shifted from albums to YouTube, Pandora, YouTube Music, Spotify, and other sites, their sales have still been ridiculously successful. Skillet has been nominated for the Rock/Contemporary Song of the Year. Skillet and Stryper have been nominated for the Rock/Contemporary Album of the Year, giving the two giants of Christian hard rock/Metal a challenge that seems to have flown under the radar.
Stryper, like Skillet, has been nominated for a Grammy and won several GMA Dove Awards. They won two off of their successful album “In God We Trust” which came out in 1988. Also like Skillet, they have sold over 10 million albums (over 12 million depending on the source). When it comes to heavy music under the Christian label from start to finish, these two and P.O.D. are among the biggest in history!
Also nominated for Rock/Contemporary Album of the Year are August Burns Red and Memphis May Fire. August Burns Red is also a former two-time Grammy nominee. Memphis May Fire, another band that had received major nominations before. Gable Price and Friends also received a nomination for the award. Will anyone dethrone Skillet? Or will the panheads sweep through? Will Stryper continue to defy age and logic, winning another GMA Dove award nearly 35 years after winning an award that their massive success may have helped push to create in the first place? Or will another rock act pull off the upset? Whatever happens, Christian Rock definitely has a great cast of candidates at this show. The 53rd annual GMA Dove Awards will be held on October 17th, 2023.
Article written by John Ward
