Brandon Lake leads this year’s slate of nominees for the Gospel Music Association’s upcoming 55th annual GMA Dove Awards, picking up 16 nominations, including artist of the year. The nominations were announced Wednesday morning (July 24).

Lake will compete in the artist of the year category against “Strong” hitmaker Anne Wilson, “That’s My King” hitmaker CeCe Winans, “Unsung Hero” singers for King & Country and “Thank God I Do” singer Lauren Daigle. Lake also earned four nods in the song of the year category, as well as nods in the worship recorded song of the year category, while his project Coat of Many Colors is nominated for pop/contemporary album of the year.

Other top nominees this year include writer-producer Jeff Pardo (11 nominations), Chris Brown (10), Chandler Moore (10), writer-producer Jonathan Smith (10), CeCe Winans (five) and Naomi Raine (five).

Among this year’s slate of nominations is a new category: Spanish language worship recorded song of the year. The inaugural nominees in the category are “Alaba” (Elevation Worship, Elevation Español, Unified Sound), “Hermoso Momento (Sesión Acústica)” (Kairo Worship), “Holy Forever (Español)” (Chris Tomlin, Miel San Marcos), “Tu Amor No Tiene Fin (Correr A Tus Brazos)” (Generación 12, Gateway Worship Español) and “Tu Presencia Es Mi Jardín” (Daniel Calveti, Melody Adorno).

Hosted by Tauren Wells, whose project Joy in the Morning (Horizon Edition) is nominated for pop/contemporary album of the year, the 55th annual GMA Dove Awards will be held Oct. 1 at the Allen Arena at Lipscomb University in Nashville, Tennessee, and will air exclusively on TBN and TBN+, and simulcast on SiriusXM The Message, on Friday, Oct. 4, at 8 p.m. and 10 p.m. ET.

“I love this moment each year when we get to announce our nominees,” GMA president Jackie Patillo said in a statement. “The Dove Awards are about spreading the message in our music with the world and honoring the work of the amazing artists, songwriters, producers, and film & TV creators in our great community. I’m thrilled for this year’s nominees and can’t wait to celebrate in October.”

The theme for the 55th annual GMA Dove Awards is Unite the Song, with Wells saying via a statement, “Unite the song is a heart cry for God’s people to come together in unity. We get to come together out of our individual corners, from each different stream within the church, to unite around this one song, holy holy holy is the Lord God Almighty.”

This year’s nominees were selected from more than 2,500 submitted entries and voted on by the GMA professional membership. Final-round voting for the GMA Dove Awards will run from Aug. 1 through Aug. 8. The 55th annual GMA Dove Awards are produced by the Gospel Music Association, with Patillo and Justin Fratt serving as showrunners and executive producers, alongside Curtus Stoneberger and Paul Wright as producers. Russell E. Hall returns as director, Michael Nolan as scriptwriter, Scott Moore and Go Live Productions as production manager.

See a list of GMA Dove Awards nominees in top categories below. For the full list of GMA Dove Awards nominees in all categories, visit doveawards.com.

Artist of the year

Anne Wilson

Brandon Lake

CeCe Winans

for KING + COUNTRY

Lauren Daigle

Song of the year

“All Things” (Writer) Kirk Franklin

“Firm Foundation (He Won’t)” (Writers) Cody Carnes, Austin Davis, Chandler Moore

“Holy Forever” (Writers) Jason Ingram, Chris Tomlin, Brian Johnson, Jenn Johnson, Phil Wickham 

“I Believe It (The Life Of Jesus)” (Writers) Daniel Carson, David Leonard, Jess Cates, Jon Reddick, Jonathan Smith

“More Than Able” (Writers) Chandler Moore, Ben Fielding, Steven Furtick, Naomi Raine

“Praise” (Writers) Chandler Moore, Brandon Lake, Steven Furtick, Chris Brown, Cody Carnes, Pat Barrett

“Praise You Anywhere” (Writers) Brandon Lake, Ben Fielding, Jacob Sooter, Hank Bentley

“Thank God I Do” (Writers) Lauren Daigle, Jason Ingram, P!nk, Jeffrey Bhasker, Nate Ruess

“This Is Our God” (Writers) Phil Wickham, Steven Furtick, Brandon Lake, Pat Barrett

“Trust In God” (Writers) Brandon Lake, Steven Furtick, Chris Brown, Mitch Wong

New artist of the year

Charity Gayle

Forrest Frank

Josiah Queen

Seph Schlueter

Terrian

Rap/hip hop recorded song of the year

“Hard Work God First” – Zauntee

“IGWT” – Jon Keith, KB

“In The Light” – Wande

“Love Like That” – Hulvey (ft. Torey D’Shaun, Alex Jean)

“Miracles” – KB, Lecrae

Pop/contemporary recorded song of the year

“Any More” – CAIN

“Counting My Blessings” – Seph Schlueter

“GOOD DAY” – Forrest Frank

“Strong” – Anne Wilson

“The Prodigal” – Josiah Queen

Bluegrass/country/roots recorded song of the year

“If I Got Jesus” – Ben Fuller

“Lookin’ For You” Zach Williams ft. Dolly Parton

“Man On The Middle Cross” – Rhett Walker

“Praying Woman” – Anne Wilson (ft. Lainey Wilson)

“tell the devil” – Joseph Habedank

Traditional gospel recorded song of the year

“Burdens Down (Live)” – Tasha Cobbs Leonard

“God Is (Radio Edit)” – Melvin Crispell III

“I Believe God” – Jekalyn Carr

“In My Name” – Smokie Norful

“When I Think (Live)” – Ricky Dillard

Gospel worship recorded song of the year

“All Yours” – Kierra Sheard (ft. Anthony Brown)

“Fill The Room” – Michael Bethany

“Lead Us Again” – DOE

“That’s My King” – CeCe Winans

“The Story I’ll Tell (Live)” – Naomi Raine

Worship recorded song of the year

“Firm Foundation (He Won’t) (Live)” – Cody Carnes

“I Believe” – Phil Wickham

“Praise” – Elevation Worship (ft. Brandon Lake, Chris Brown & Chandler Moore)

“Praise You Anywhere” – Brandon Lake

“Trust In God” – Elevation Worship (ft. Chris Brown)

Pop/contemporary album of the year

COAT OF MANY COLORS – Brandon Lake

Jesus Music – CAIN

Joy In The Morning (Horizon Edition) – Tauren Wells

Lauren Daigle – Lauren Daigle

Unsung Hero: The Inspired By Soundtrack – for KING + COUNTRY

Gospel worship album of the year

Cover The Earth (Live in New York) – Naomi Raine

More Than This – CeCe Winans

Overflow – Michael Bethany

The Journey – Todd Dulaney

The Maverick Way Complete – Maverick City Music

Spanish language recorded song of the year

“Amén” – Nacho (ft. Gilberto Daza, Alex Zurdo)

“Babel” – Un Corazón

“Danza” – KB, Niko Eme & Cardec Drums

“Donante de Sangre” – Daddy Yankee

“Tantas Historias” – Christine D’Clario

Spanish language worship recorded song of the year (New Category)

“Alaba” – Elevation Worship, Elevation Español, Unified Sound

“Hermoso Momento (Sesión Acústica)” – Kairo Worship

“Holy Forever (Español)” – Chris Tomlin, Miel San Marcos

“Tu Amor No Tiene Fin (Correr A Tus Brazos)” – Generación 12, Gateway Worship Español

“Tu Presencia Es Mi Jardín” – Daniel Calveti, Melody Adorno

Southern gospel recorded song of the year

“Here Comes Jesus” – Jeff & Sheri Easter (ft. Mo Pitney)

“Make the Morning Worth the Midnight” – Gaither Vocal Band

“Sheaves (Dedicated to Isabel)” – Karen Peck & New River

“Unstoppable God” – Kingsmen

“Until We Fly Away” – Ernie Haase & Signature Sound

Feature film of the year

Unsung Hero

Sound of Freedom

Journey To Bethlehem

Ordinary Angels

The Blind

Television series of the year

Chasing CAIN

When Calls The Heart

The Wingfeather Saga

Jonathan & Jesus

God. Family. Football.