‘Making Space With Hoda Kotb’: CeCe Winans

foreign [Music] there are some voices that take you somewhere there's a spirit behind them that makes you feel something powerful [Applause] man CeCe Winans she's one of those singers she's also the best-selling and most decorated female gospel artist of all time as a woman who spent her life grounded in faith CeCe knows a thing or two about believing and that voice [Applause] that gift from God she says all you have to do is listen [Music] ing that's the single off her first ever live album Believe for it and that's also the name of her most recent book believe for it passing on faith to the Next Generation the book touches on the importance of instilling faith into our kids and then their kids and as a Mom myself I just couldn't wait to soak in all of Cece's wisdom first of all I am so honored I don't know what the right word is I think honored is the right word to be sitting with you I'm honored to be with you you are among other things I mean the most decorated gospel singer of all time I think that's fair to say you are a mother your grandmother you are lit from within and always have been so I try to picture you as a little girl like I look at you and I kind of see her was little CeCe outgoing was she shy what was she like little CeCe was probably more shy than not but growing up with so many siblings it's kind of hard for you to really hide you know you have have seven older brothers my father was the only child my mom had one sister and all that they came together and had ten kids children I guess they said they're never going to be lonely ever again so seven boys straight Bibi was the last um boy and I was the first girl and have two younger sisters I heard your Mom wept with joy when she found out she was finally having a girl I love that yeah because you know they didn't have the ultrasounds back then and so when he said a girl she was like what did you say a girl how are you because I think a lot of kids don't feel seen you know and some people say she's shy and some people will say she's been quieted there's so many loud voices that she's been she's not actually shy but she's been quiet she's been quiet how did how did you find your voice at home and among all those you know what um I have to give credit to my parents I really you know when you get older and you have children of your own I don't know how they did it but I think all of us felt like we had a voice we felt heard we were free to be who God created us to be you know and I don't know how they did it they just loved us well they for some reason somehow and they both worked teeth yeah work she got home cooked did all of this stuff and I never felt like I was looked over huh so I don't know how they did it but they did it I asked one woman uh once who had four beautiful grown daughters and I said what's the secret to good parenting and she said oh four words I said what is it she said listen and love love love that's really it she said listening to your children and you felt you felt her growing up growing up yeah wow you really did not I think all of my siblings did so all of us in a family have a descriptor about us she's the shy one she's the funny one she's the outgoing yeah he's the athletic one yeah what was your what did they what did they say about you I don't know what they would say about it well my brothers would say I'm the spoiled one because I was the first girl yeah but my mom said no I was just a very good child yes York so I don't know I was probably I guess I was kind of serious you were serious yeah I hung out with my grandmom so maybe I was the Wise One what influence did your grandmother have on you oh man that was my best friend she was just very peaceful and loving you know um Stern but I knew that I had an angel looking out for me I got a chance to go and spend the night at her house you know and she would cook for me spoil me a little bit uh but she really would sit down and talk to me you know she wanted me to be a good girl she wanted me to have the best in life you know um and and really taught me my faith taught me that it was important to put God first your grandmother was the first one yeah how old were you when she passed that was in my early 20s I had just got married and I thought I had the flu and she looked at me and said no that's probably a nine month virus [Laughter] oh shoot because I wasn't trying to be pregnant and but she never got a chance to meet my baby my my boy what did you lose when your grandmother passed oh I felt like I lost my Foundation you know but at the same time she had prepared me so well I knew I would be okay you know how you go through something you you want to be okay but you really don't want to be okay because it just doesn't make sense you know now that I look back we lost her at a very young age she was only 60 I think 64 years old and she had a stomach cancer and she was um yeah it was it was really shocking to lose her and the fact that she instilled that deep Faith she was one of many I know who did but that must have just given you such I guess peace definitely definitely because she had a piece she would always say if she ever got to a point that she couldn't take care of herself she wanted to go to heaven and I remember the last time I went to see her she didn't look like herself and I went home myself and I said Lord she's ready to go you knew huh yeah and she passed really shortly after that wow yeah wow what an influence and a beautiful what's her name Laura Laura Halsey you know I feel like when you say someone's name they're remembered yeah don't you okay Miss Laura how is he beautiful um I think it was 1987. I think you were at the NAACP Awards and you met a beautiful singer named Miss Whitney Houston beautiful singer what was it what was that meeting like I mean I was just thinking these two beautiful powerhouses at that point what was that like it was incredible I mean that was the year she came out and was winning everything yeah and we kind of just crossed paths in the lobby of the of the auditorium and she actually turned around like Cece Cece and Bibi was with me Cece you know like how do you know us but she had been listening to our music and my brother's music for years and she I don't know why she asked us this but are you performing somewhere here and we were like actually we're performing tonight we had a Late Late Show at this small place uh people used to perform at called um concert by the Sea okay and she said I'm coming wait what yeah she said I'm coming and we were like okay sure right see you there yeah yeah and that night she came and ended up on stage with us wait what yes and singing our songs better than we've ever sang them in our lives so then we were like get off this page but that was the beginning of our friendship and you sang together on the wedding to Exhale uh track which was that song Count on Me come on [Music] that was so beautiful it was so perfect it was who we were we were sisters we were friends and um I love her I mean what a voice I remember when she had just finished the soundtrack to bodyguard yes she was in California and she called me she said you gotta hear this this you gotta hear this and she started playing those songs dying wow I was yeah I had no words I was like well you're going somewhere you've never been before because those songs and the way she articulated them it was just incredible yeah spectacular you stayed in the gospel Lane although your music has crossed over a million times obviously some chose to go pop some choose like back in the day Sam Cook went one way how come you decided to stay in this Lane and not um kind of venture out yeah I feel that is really important the message that I carry in the message that I sing is something that is past entertainment but it's something that ministers to the soul into the hearts and so I feel that that call I've done little things here and there like commercials here and there but as far as for a career I never went into it for a career it's always been a Ministry yeah and and so I just feel it's the call of my life to this is my purpose and when you find your purpose it's like you're stepping down if you try anything else that's beautiful that's really beautiful when you find your purpose that's that's why I was created that's why I'm here that's why he gave me the gift um to do what I do you know it's a heart thing and it's yeah yeah were you young when you married very young yeah I've been married for oh 38 years now whoa really so I got married at 20. did you know right away when you I didn't know right away but I liked them right away yeah yeah and what did he bring like what was it about him that you remember his smile yeah his smile uh Alvin is very he's a nice guy just a nice guy he's a very nice guy uh he had joined the church in in Detroit and he became friends with my brothers but also he he made me laugh and laughter is important I laugh a lot and the Bible says that laughter is like a medicine yeah and so it is the whole family we we love to laugh and so and laughter will take you through some hard times you know was he intimidated walking into the wine and home I mean I'm sure he was how do you think you're good enough they made it really and not just the wine at home but I had seven older brothers like I have an eight fathers yeah so even even if you looked at our our wedding tape I don't know where it is at this point uh what do you call them yeah VHS yeah those old things I know I got a bunch too he had a look on his face like should I do that because they had threatened him it was horrible they were not nice to him but he made it through wow so yes he's he's an awesome guy you said you came from a family of 10 uh siblings and you you have two children was that did you say to yourself that was too many I think I'd want to or was two just the way it kind of worked out it just kind of worked out um that was that's probably my only regret in life is that I didn't have more children um I had them when I was busy singing and on the road and you know I had my boy first Alvin III was first and then two years later I had Ashley and I remember my mom looking over me as I was coming back from Ashley saying how did you have a girl second oh yeah and I was like favorite's not fair so I had a boy girl I was busy doing and I was just like oh you know this is good and it wasn't until later on I was like man I should have kept having kids because I really enjoy being around how was parenting and Performing and living that life how did you yeah how did you do it oh I did it because I had great help yeah you know um when they were really little we lived in Detroit so I had my mom my sisters my brothers you know Alvin's family everybody was there yeah uh my husband and I understood the importance of really keeping a marriage that was strong so if I went out of town I wouldn't go out that long or he would come with me you know so we worked it you have to prioritize and it's something that you have to do at different stages you know when they were really small I mean babies my mom was there and I knew they were being taken they were being looked after when they got a little bit older I would bring them with me when they got to the pre-teen age where every child kind of loses their mind for a little while I took him out of school and they were homeschooled oh you did I hired somebody yeah to teach them on the road and so we all so they could come with you yeah and then my husband there's no way I could have did it without him and he's always supported me completely um in in what he felt God wanted me to do with this gift your book is about passing on faith to the Next Generation again the title for people who don't know is believe for it passing on faith to the Next Generation that's important to you you had it given to you and I'm sure your parents before them right and passing it along dear kids what was the kind of the easiest part of it and the most difficult part of making sure that you fill your child's cup so that he is prepared or she's prepared for the world the easiest part was I knew that that was the way I needed to raise my children you know I never wavered in that because I knew what it did for me as a person to know who you are and know who God is I knew that my faith had took me through every storm that I ever faced and that I will ever face so that was the easiest part the hardest part is watching and waiting for the light to come on for them you know you can't put it in their hearts you can't put in their minds all you can do is model it before that that's important you know and so as a mom I was just praying Lord you see you know you know you pray for the right friends yes you pray for them to understand who they are you know they're you they're going to go through you know am I good enough or or people who are not nice to them you know you can't protect them from from the world um so that's why you want them to have God on the inside because he's always there with them when I can't be you know so that's probably the hardest part is that you can't protect them from everything but you have to trust God but he's faithful God that what's up that's a beautiful that's yes that's beautiful I interviewed Michelle Obama a little while back and there was a passage in her new book that struck me and she talks about that she struggles with I guess Demons Inside like we all do it's the voice inside your head that says you're not good enough today look how you look you still don't look good I don't care how pretty that dress is the voice inside that's loud and she talks about how she lives with that voice and where she puts it because she goes even if a rock tells me I look beautiful right it doesn't matter if I don't feel it inside it's the whole loving yourself and hearing so for all of us and I'm sure you have the voice too we all have it it's like quiet right but what do you do to sort of quiet that part of you I drown it out with what with what tell us you drown it out with Worship You drawn it out with praise you drown it out with the scriptures with the word of God with prayer and I was told a long time ago whatever you feed the most that's what's going to be the loudest oh that's good say that again whatever you feel that's going to be the loudest whatever you meditate on the most that's going to be the loudest and because I've trained myself to meditate on good things yeah and because I've trained myself to understand that God created me to be who I am he didn't want me to be as tall as you it's okay yeah you know yeah you can celebrate your tallness yes yes yes without feeling like something's wrong with me because I'm not you know what I'm saying and so because I I had that perspective and that is that God perspective that everyone's beautiful and who am I to put down myself when God created me this way you know I sing on the stage with people who sing better than me all the time but there's it's almost like a puzzle you know you can work all night on a puzzle and get everything together and if that one piece is I'm sorry it's like you're ready just throw it off yeah yeah yeah and that's who we all are in the world it's like you have you there's a part that you play in this puzzle that nobody else can feel it's a shape it's a size it's a temperament it's a gift it's a talent that completes the puzzle and to me that quiets down anything else yeah how do you with with big conflict or big loss in your life yeah you talked about your grandmother I know your brother passed and just things pain is pain is pain pain is rough grief is grief um actually I was just invited to to go and sing at a funeral that I know is going to be really really rough but it's you go through it one day at a time yeah we saw I've had to do that yeah I remember when I lost my second eldest brother and you know watching my parents you know no parents should very bury their child you know but I watched how they walked through it and it was pretty astounding to me I remember when my brother took his last breath actually my father's first response was his hands went up and I was just I looked at them and I'm just like what we're all crying and right away he began to just thank the Lord for the years we had Ronald I mean he switched that he shift the whole atmosphere to gratitude before depression could come in I'll never forget that but I remember my sister asked me Cece how are we going to make it without Ronald how I said Debbie I do not know I do not know I could cry thinking about it I don't know how we're gonna make it but I know the god that we serve this didn't take him by surprise it took us by surprise but it didn't take him by surprise we're going to trust him to carry us through and every day you don't know how you're going to make it to the next day but you wake up and it's like I'm still here and then you know it's amazing how he just begins to heal your heart he begins to heal your heart and I remember going on stage actually right after Ronald had passed and I had sing this song called he's concerned about you and one of the lyrics that says um while your tears are flowing through your time of mourning he will lift your heavy heart because he's concerned about you because even before I went on the stage I was like Lord how am I gonna sing this song when my heart is so broken how am I even gonna make it through that was one of the times that I had to minister to myself oh wow I had to hear those lyrics that I'm always telling other people I had to take them in and then I just had to walk it through and because I knew he was with me um but but I can't I can't really put into words how you make it through it's just that he's faithful and now I think even with Whitney I think those that I've lost in my life that were really close I think I've been able to keep going because of the good memories because they're always with you you know so I might cry when I think of one thing you know but then shortly after I'm laughing because I'm cracking up at a time we had you know like Whitney one time he she was in this limo and she wanted to go to she wanted to go to White Castles I'm like you want to take a limo through the drive through a White Castle yes that's what I want to do you know so you have those moments that that really will take you through there are some people who are like feeling a little hopeless and they need they need something right now as they're listening to this I would just tell them first of all to breathe because you're still here you know and as long as you're breathing there's still hope There's Hope I love to encourage people to remember that God loves them because that's what we were all created for and that's what we all yearn for and that is love you're loved you're on God's mind and because of that there's hope so don't give in don't give up you just keep moving you have to keep going keep going because tomorrow it will get better it will get better don't give in don't give up but it will be better because God loves you and even though things are altered and things don't look the way you thought they would look the purpose and the plan for your life Remains the Same yeah that's good it Remains the Same and lastly uh so you see I feel like there's something magical about this time in your life you've had so many Highs but as you sit here today I just feel like there's this I mean you always have this Inner Light obviously but you're at a magical time in your life now what makes this stage in your life um just special great question um I feel that I feel that I feel it's so funny I'm enjoying getting older yeah yeah my mom is 86 now I feel like at 58 I'm young enough to still do things not just well but probably better than I've ever done but yet I'm old enough to have enough wisdom not to waste time hmm that's good yeah right you're choosy yeah yeah yeah you you know what life is about and it's a blessing to still be healthy and strong at this age um because I feel like I can accomplish a lot more and because I'm clear on my purpose than I've ever been before this I'm at the stage where uh everything counts right you understand love you understand relationship you understand what it takes you understand what's most important in life and I enjoy being able to help those who are coming after me I feel the awesome responsibility now I'm here because of those who took out time before me to pour into me to give me wisdom to correct me to tell me what I needed to hear not what I wanted to hear who loved me no matter what I did so now I get a chance to do that not just for my daughter but for those who are coming after me so you see this interview was everything I dreamed it would be thanks for coming to see you thanks for having me hey thanks for watching don't miss the Today show every weekday at 11 A.M Eastern 8 Pacific on our streaming Channel today all day to watch head to today.com all day or click the link right here

Channel: TODAY

Views: 416,991

Keywords: Today, Today Show, Savannah Guthrie, Al Roker, Natalie Morales, domestic news, international news, weather, interviews, politics, money, media, entertainment, sports, breaking news, food, health, home, parents, style, concerts, pets, shopping, Hoda Kotb

Id: Oxy3s84cfZM

Length: 24min 49sec (1489 seconds)

Published: Fri Mar 03 2023