CeCe Winans is celebrating a remarkable family milestone as her mother, Delores "Mom" Winans, turns 90.
The gospel music legend shared a warm birthday tribute honoring the woman whose faith, strength and joyful spirit helped shape one of the most influential families in gospel music. Rather than focusing on awards or public achievements, CeCe highlighted something much more personal-the sound of her mother's laughter.
"Happy 90th Birthday Mom!" CeCe wrote. "Hearing you laugh throughout my life has brought me an abundance of joy! Thank you, thank you, thank you."
CeCe accompanied her message with Proverbs 17:22 from the King James Version: "A merry heart doeth good like a medicine: but a broken spirit drieth the bones." The verse offered a revealing glimpse into what Delores may have given her children beyond musical talent: a home where joy and faith could survive hardship.
But was her laughter also one of the quiet secrets behind the Winans family's extraordinary success?
Delores and her late husband, David "Pop" Winans, raised 10 children in Detroit, surrounding them with gospel music, church life and firm family values. Several of those children-including The Winans, BeBe and CeCe Winans, Marvin Winans and the late Ronald Winans-went on to reshape contemporary gospel music.
Carvin Winans has recalled how the family regularly gathered around the piano for sing-alongs, crediting his parents with recognizing and nurturing their children's abilities. What appeared to the children to be an ordinary family routine was quietly laying the foundation for a gospel dynasty.
CeCe and BeBe have also said that their parents taught the siblings to remain united even when they disagreed. Their guiding family principle was that when one Winans succeeded, the entire family succeeded-and when one struggled, the entire family felt the loss.
That history gives CeCe's brief birthday message a much deeper meaning. Her mother's laughter was not merely a pleasant childhood memory; it may have been part of the emotional and spiritual atmosphere that helped 10 children remain connected while navigating fame, ministry, grief and the pressures of the music industry.
CeCe has become the best-selling and most-awarded female gospel performer in history, but her latest post made it clear that some of her most treasured riches cannot be measured in record sales or trophies. At 90, Delores Winans remains the beloved matriarch whose faith and joy continue to echo through the family she raised.
After decades of hearing the Winans family sing, CeCe's tribute invites fans to consider whether the sound that influenced them most was not a song at all-but their mother laughing inside their childhood home.
