Nominees for the 57th annual GMA Dove Awards have been announced with Phil Wickham, Brandon Lake and CeCe Winans leading the pack with nine, eight and seven nods, respectively.
Meanwhile, rising star Josiah Queen scores six nominations on the strength of his sophomore effort, “Mt. Zion,” which also receives a nod for Recorded Music Packaging of the Year, honoring the creative team behind it.
Alongside Queen, Wickham, Lake, Winans and Lauren Daigle will all vie for Artist of the Year when the 2026 GMA Dove Awards take place at Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena Oct. 6.
Not surprisingly, “What An Awesome God” and “Homesick For Heaven” — both of which are featured on 2025’s “Song Of The Saints” — fuel Wickham’s top position on the leaderboard. His original compositions for recent animated movie “DAVID,” which is also nominated for Feature Film of the Year, earns the SoCal native additional entries for Inspirational Recorded Song of the Year and Children’s Recorded Song of the Year.
Lake’s “SEVENS,” pulled from Pop/Contemporary Album of the Year contender “King Of Hearts,” lands both a Rock/Contemporary Recorded Song of the Year nod and a Short Form Music Video of the Year (Concept) nomination. His duet with Lainey Wilson, “The Jesus I Know Now,” is also up for Country/Roots Recorded Song of the Year.
Winans’ “Worthy Of It All (Worthy)” is among the finalists for Worship Recorded Song of the Year and Short Form Music Video of the Year (Performance). Moreover, her version of seasonal classic “The First Noel” is nominated for Christmas Recorded Song of the Year.
Ironically, the stacked Song of the Year slate — comprised of 10 mega-hits — finds many of today’s premier songwriters going head-to-head with themselves. Wickham notches dual entries with “What An Awesome God” and “Homesick For Heaven,” as does Lake with co-writing credits on “Can’t Steal My Joy” and “I Know A Name.” Queen also scores a pair of competing nods with “Can’t Steal My Joy” and “Dusty Bibles.”
Elsewhere, fresh voices step into the spotlight across the New Artist of the Year class, which finds bodie, Emerson Day, Jamie MacDonald, Megan Woods and SEU Worship vying for the coveted honor. Additionally, MacDonald secures key nominations for Song of the Year and Pop/Contemporary Recorded Song of the Year for “Left It In The River,” as well as a fourth nod for Pop/Contemporary Album of the Year courtesy of her self-titled debut. SEU Worship also garners a second nomination as “A Forgiving God” logs a spot on the Worship Album of the Year ballot.
Furthermore, the genre’s biggest songwriters and producers earn their stripes with Jonathan Smith tallying 14 nominations, Jacob Sooter accruing 12 honors and Steven Furtick appearing in 11 categories. These behind-the-scenes creatives helped craft massive anthems like “What An Awesome God,” “Mighty Name Of Jesus” and “God I’m Just Grateful,” among many others.
Following a successful return to Bridgestone Arena in 2025, the Dove Awards will once again command the large venue in downtown Nashville on Oct. 6 for a star-studded evening of performances and one-of-a kind moments celebrating the biggest names and songs from every corner of the faith-based sphere. Tauren Wells is set to host for the fourth consecutive year.
Fans can catch the 57th annual GMA Dove Awards exclusively on Trinity Broadcasting Network (TBN) and TBN+ Oct. 9 at 7:30 p.m. ET.
2026 GMA Dove Awards Nominees
Song of the Year
“Can’t Steal My Joy”
(Writers) Josiah Queen, Brandon Lake, Hank Bentley, Jacob Sooter
“Come Jesus Come”
(Writers) Hank Bentley, Bryan Fowler, Stephen McWhirter, Tara McWhirter
“Dusty Bibles”
(Writers) Josiah Queen, Zac Lawson, Dylan Thomas, John Michael Howell
“God I’m Just Grateful”
(Writers) Chandler Moore, Pat Barrett, Steven Furtick, Abubakar Baker Shariff-Farr, Joshua Coleman
“Homesick For Heaven”
(Writers) Phil Wickham, Jonathan Smith
“I Know A Name”
(Writers) Steven Furtick, Brandon Lake, Jacob Sooter, Hank Bentley
“Left It In The River”
(Writers) Jamie MacDonald, Jonathan Gamble, Colby Wedgeworth
“Mighty Name Of Jesus”
(Writers) Hope Darst, Jacob Sooter, Lauren Sloat
“No Fear”
(Writers) Jon Reddick, Matthew West, Jeff Pardo
“What An Awesome God”
(Writers) Phil Wickham, Jonathan Smith, Rich Mullins
Artist of the Year
New Artist of the Year
Songwriter of the Year (Artist)
Chris Brown (Elevation Worship)
Pop/Contemporary Recorded Song of the Year
“Homesick For Heaven,” Phil Wickham
“Left It In The River,” Jamie MacDonald
“Let It Be A Hallelujah,” Lauren Daigle
Worship Recorded Song of the Year
“God I’m Just Grateful,” Elevation Worship (feat. Chandler Moore)
“How Good It Is,” Chris Tomlin
“Mighty Name Of Jesus,” Hope Darst (feat. Josh Baldwin)
“What An Awesome God,” Phil Wickham
“Worthy Of It All (Worthy),” CeCe Winans
Pop/Contemporary Album of the Year
“Counting My Blessings,” Seph Schlueter
“Jamie MacDonald,” Jamie MacDonald
“King Of Hearts,” Brandon Lake
“Walk Through Fire,” Ben Fuller
Worship Album of the Year
“A Forgiving God,” SEU Worship
“SO BE IT (Live),” Elevation Worship
“Song Of The Saints,” Phil Wickham
“We Must Respond (Deluxe) [Live],” Bethel Music
Feature Film of the Year
“A Great Awakening”
“DAVID”
“I Can Only Imagine 2”
“Sarah’s Oil”
“Soul On Fire”
Television Series of the Year
“Duck Dynasty: The Revival”
“House of David”
“The Chosen”
“The Promised Land”
“The Wingfeather Saga”
For a full list of nominees, visit doveawards.com.
