Dove Awards 2022: For King & Country, Maverick City Music among top nominees

Leading nominees for the 2022 Dove Awards include powerhouse duo For King & Country, fast-rising worship collective Maverick City Music and longtime Christian music staple Matthew West.

Unveiled Tuesday in a livestream hosted by the Gospel Music Association, Maverick City Music — a singing and songwriting cohort that made a major splash earlier this year at the Grammy Awards — earned seven nominations, including Artist of the Year. West joins Maverick City Music in this year's seven-timer club, led by two nods in Song of the Year.

But the most-nominated artist at the upcoming show might not be one listeners immediately recognize. Producer and songwriter Jeff Pardo appears nine times on the ballot this year, topped by a pair of Song of the Year nominations.

For King & Country, two-time defending Artist of the Year, scored six nods. The Australian-born, Nashville-based brothers compete in 2022 for Artist of the Year, Pop/Contemporary Recorded Song of the Year and Pop/Contemporary Album of the Year, among others.

A handful of artists join For King & Country as six-time nominees: Anne Wilson, Ben Glover, Jeff Sojka, Jonathan Smith and Phil Wickham.

And the field for this year's top honor — Artist of the Year — features a who's who competition of modern Christian performers. Roughly 2,000 Gospel Music Association voters elected gospel legend CeCe Winans, family band We The Kingdom and hitmaking singer-songwriter Zach Williams to the field alongside Maverick City Music and For King & Country.

Additional nods include country powerhouse Carrie Underwood, who competes for Bluegrass/Country/Roots Recorded Song of the Year behind "All Is Well," a track off the deluxe reissue of holiday album "My Gift;" and Dolly Parton, who returns to the Dove Awards to compete alongside Underwood with “In The Sweet By And By," a collaboration with Larry Cordle, Carl Jackson, Jerry Salley and Bradley Walker.

The Dove Awards take place Oct. 18 on Lipscomb University campus in Nashville. The show airs Oct. 21 at 7 p.m. CST via TBN and the TBN streaming app. An encore performance airs Oct. 28 at 7 p.m. CST.

2022 Dove Awards nominees

Song of the Year

• “Be Alright” - (writers) Sean Cook, Evan Craft, Willy Gonzalez

• “Believe For It” - (writers) Dwan Hill, Kyle Lee, CeCe Winans, Mitch Wong

• “Come What May” - (writers) Darren Mulligan, Jeff Pardo

• “Good God Almighty” - (writers) David Crowder, Ben Glover, Jeff Sojka

• "Hold On To Me” - (writers) Lauren Daigle, Paul Duncan, Paul Mabury

• “House Of The Lord” - (writers) Jonathan Smith, Phil Wickham

• “Jireh” - (writers) Chris Brown, Steven Furtick, Chandler Moore, Naomi Raine

• “Look What You’ve Done” - (writers) Tasha Layton, AJ Pruis, Keith Everette Smith, Matthew West

• “My Jesus” - (writers) Jeff Pardo, Matthew West, Anne Wilson

• “Promises” - (writers) Keila Alvarado, Joe L. Barnes, Dante Bowe, Phillip Carrington Gaines, Lemuel Marin, Aaron Moses

• “Rattle!” - (writers) Chris Brown, Steven Furtick, Brandon Lake

Artist of the Year

• CeCe Winans

• FOR KING + COUNTRY

• Maverick City Music

• We The Kingdom

• Zach Wiliams

New Artist of the Year 

• Anne Wilson

• Blessing Offor

• DOE

• Jordan St. Cyr

• Ryan Ellis

Rap/Hip Hop Album of the Year

• No Church In A While - Lecrae, 1K Phew

• The End. - Trip Lee

• TWO UP TWO DOWN - Aaron Cole

• Unstoppable (United We Can) - Angie Rose

• UPPERHAND - indie tribe

Pop/Contemporary Recorded Song of the Year

• “House of the Lord” - Phil Wickham

• “In Jesus Name (God Of Possible)” - Katy Nichole

• “My Jesus” - Anne Wilson

• “RELATE” - FOR KING + COUNTRY

• “Scars In Heaven” - Casting Crowns

Pop/Contemporary Album of the Year

• Healer - Casting Crowns

• Milk & Honey - Crowder

• My Jesus - Anne Wilson

• Rise Up - CAIN

• What Are We Waiting For? - FOR KING + COUNTRY

Bluegrass/Country/Roots Recorded Song of the Year

• “All Is Well” - Carrie Underwood

• “God Is Real” - The Sound

• “Grace And Goodness” - Sunday Drive

• “In The Sweet By And By” - Dolly Parton, ft. Larry Cordle, Carl Jackson, Jerry Salley, Bradley Walker

• “Mamas” - Anne Wilson, ft. Hillary Scott

Southern Gospel Album of the Year

• 2:22 - Karen Peck & New River

• Just Sing! - The Collingsworth Family

• Keeping On - Ernie Haase & Signature Sound

• More To The Story - The Kingsmen

• Something New - Legacy Five

Contemporary Gospel Recorded Song of the Year

• “Adulting - Live” - Jonathan McReynolds, Mali Music

• “Believe For It” - CeCe Winans, ft. Lauren Daigle

• “Gotta Believe” - Tasha Cobbs Leonard

• “Sunday” - Koryn Hawthorne

• “When I Pray” - DOE

Contemporary Gospel Album of the Year

• Clarity - DOE

• Jonny X Mail: Live in LA (Stereo) - Jonathan McReynolds & Mali Music

• Jubilee: Juneteenth Edition - Maverick City Music

• Oil + Water - Travis Greene

• One Touch - Jabari Johnson

Gospel Worship Recorded Song of the Year

• “Breathe” - Maverick City Music, ft. DOE, Jonathan McReynolds, Chandler Moore

• “Goodness of God - Live” - CeCe Winans

• “Jesus “ - Phil Thompson

• “Lazarus” - Maranda Curtis

• “Love Song” - Travis Greene, ft. Madison Binion

Worship Recorded Song of the Year 

• “God, Turn It Around” - Jon Reddick

• “Hymn of Heaven” - Phil Wickham

• “I Speak Jesus” - Charity Gayle

• “Jireh (Radio Version)” - Maverick City Music ft. Chandler Moore, Naomi Raine

• “Know You Will” - Hillsong UNITED

Worship Album of the Year

• Are We There Yet? - Hillsong UNITED

• Homecoming (Live) - Bethel Music

• Hymn of Heaven - Phil Wickham

• LION - Elevation Worship

• SEVEN (Live) - Brooke Ligertwood

Spanish Language Recorded Song of the Year

• “A Ceigas” - Indieomar, Musiko

• “Color de Alegria” - Andy Alemany, TWICE, Samuel ASH

• “Danzando” - Gateway Worship Español, ft. Daniel Calveti, Becky Collazos, Christine D'Clario, Travy Joe, Josh Morales

• “Júbilo” - Maverick City Música, Miel San Marcos

• “Mi Salvador” - Mosaic Msc

Inspirational Film/Series of the Year

• American Underdog

• Blue Miracle

• Redeeming Love

• The Chosen

• The Jesus Music

See a full list of nominees at doveawards.com. 

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: GMA Dove Awards: Maverick City Music, For King & Country nominated