With 11 nominations, Brandon Lake leads the 2023 GMA Dove Award nominations. Phil Wickham and Katy Nichole also made this year’s leader board with five and four nods, respectively. Additional top nominees include nine-time K-LOVE Fan Award recipient Lauren Daigle and New Artist of the Year contender Naomi Raine (Maverick City Music) with three nominations each.
WATCH NOW: 54th Annual Dove Awards Nominee Announcement
Lake’s nominations reflect the diversity of his artistry as an in-demand songwriter, collaborator and worship leader. Up for Artist of the Year and Songwriter of the Year (Artist), the three-time K-LOVE Fan Award winner co-wrote four of the five songs represented in this year’s Worship Recorded Song of the Year category: Brooke Ligertwood’s “Honey in the Rock,” Maverick City Music’s “Fear Is Not My Future,” Phil Wickham’s “This Is Our God” and his own “Gratitude.” Additionally, “Gratitude” is set to go head-to-head with “Fear Is Not My Future” and “Same God,” which he co-penned for Elevation Worship, in the coveted Song of the Year bracket. He’s also nominated for his collaboration with hip-hop titan KB on “Graves,” which received nods for Rap/Hip-Hop Recorded Song of the Year and Short Form Music Video of the Year (Performance).
Wickham, Lake’s “Summer Worship Nights” tourmate, is also nominated for Artist of the Year and Songwriter of the Year (Artist). In addition to “This Is Our God” — his fourth consecutive No. 1 — being up for Worship Recorded Song of the Year, two other selections he co-penned were honored. These include MercyMe’s “Then Christ Came,” the radio version of which he’s featured on; and Chris Tomlin’s “Holy Forever,” which earned Wickham one of two GRAMMY® nominations earlier this year.
Nichole picked up four nods, including New Artist of the Year, Pop/Contemporary Album of the Year for her full-length debut, “Jesus Changed My Life,” Pop/Contemporary Recorded Song of the Year for her second consecutive chart-topping hit, “God Is In This Story (feat. Big Daddy Weave)” and Song of the Year for her debut single, “In Jesus Name (God of Possible).”
“One nomination is crazy enough… But four?! This is truly unbelievable, and wow am I honored!” Nichole shared on socials after receiving the news. “I’m wildly grateful, GMA Dove Awards. This is a dream! God is so good.”
Outside of the perennial music honorees, this year, faith-based TV gets its own bracket. The Television Series of the Year category joins the veteran Feature Film of the Year category (formerly Inspirational Film of the Year), whose 2023 nominees include K-LOVE Films’ own “Family Camp.”
Honorees across a total of 37 categories were announced this morning (Aug. 9, 2023) ahead of the 54th annual GMA Dove Awards, which will take place Oct. 17, 2023, in Nashville. The theme of this year’s celebration is “Joyful Echo.” Jason Crabb, Jordan Feliz, Danny Gokey and Natalie Grant, among other artists, were on-hand to announce nominees during a livestream hosted by the Gospel Music Association.
The 2023 GMA Dove Awards will air exclusively on Trinity Broadcasting Network (TBN) and the TBN app Friday, Oct. 20, 2023, at 8 p.m. and 10 p.m. ET.
2023 GMA Dove Award Nominees
Song of the Year
(Writers) Colton Dixon, Seth Mosley, Johan Lindbrandt, Sandro Cavazza, Mikey Gormley
(Writers) Kirk Franklin, Brandon Lake, Jonathan Jay, Hannah Shackelford, Nicole Hannel
(Writers) David Crowder, Ben Glover, Jeff Sojka, Dante Bowe
(Writers) Ben Fielding, Ed Cash, Jason Ingram, Jenn Johnson, Brian Johnson
(Writers) Brandon Lake, Benjamin William Hastings, Dante Bowe
“In Jesus Name (God Of Possible)”
(Writers) Ethan Hulse, Katy Nichole, David Andrew Spencer, Jeff Pardo
(Writers) Joel Smallbone, Luke Smallbone, Michael Pollack, Josh Kerr
(Writers) Rachael Lampa, Andrew Ripp, Ethan Hulse
“Same God”
(Writers) Brandon Lake, Steven Furtick, Chris Brown, Pat Barrett
(Writers) Bart Millard, Phil Wickham, Jason Ingram, David Leonard
Artist of the Year
New Artist of the Year
Hulvey
Pop/Contemporary Recorded Song of the Year
“Brighter Days,” Blessing Offor
“I’m So Blessed (Best Day Remix),” CAIN
“Love Me Like I Am (feat. Jordin Sparks),” for KING & COUNTRY
“God Is In This Story,” Katy Nichole & Big Daddy Weave
“Thank God I Do,” Lauren Daigle
Worship Recorded Song of the Year
“Gratitude (Radio Version),” Brandon Lake
“Honey in the Rock (feat. Brandon Lake),” Brooke Ligertwood
“Fear Is Not My Future (Radio Version),” Maverick City Music
“This Is Our God,” Phil Wickham
Pop/Contemporary Album of the Year
“My Tribe,” Blessing Offor
“Jesus Changed My Life,” Katy Nichole
“Always Only Jesus,” MercyMe
“Life After Death,” TobyMac
“A Hundred Highways,” Zach Williams
Worship Album of the Year
“Come Up Here,” Bethel Music
“Honest Offering (Live),” CAIN
“God Is Good! (Live),” Cody Carnes
“LION: Live From The Loft,” Elevation Worship
“Lamb of God,” Matt Redman
Christmas/Special Event Album of the Year
“The Manger,” Anne Wilson
“Milk & Cookies: A Merry Crowder Christmas,” Crowder
“Sing: Christmas Songs,” Ellie Holcomb
“Christmas at Home,” Michael W. Smith
“This Is Christmas,” Tasha Layton
Feature Film of the Year
“Big George Foreman”
“Family Camp”
“I Heard The Bells”
“Jesus Revolution”
“Remember Me: The Mahalia Jackson Story”
Television Series of the Year
“The Wingfeather Saga”
“Grace Notes”
“When Calls The Heart"
“The Chosen”
“Journey of Faith”
For a full list of nominees, visit doveawards.com.