On October 19, during the 36th annual Sunshine Awards in Newark, New Jersey, gospel singer Carlene Davis is scheduled to receive an award for her dedication and service to the performing arts.
The singer feels thrilled to be getting this acclaim on a global scale, even after decades in the industry.
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“First, I would like to say how grateful I am to our heavenly Father for sustaining me. The Sunshine Awards has been going for over 30 years — that is a long time. It has gained the respect of the Caribbean and the world’s conscious, dignified, and talented people. My career has not slowed down over and beyond those 30 years of the Sunshine Awards, so I am inspired to keep fighting [and] pressing through my music for a better deal for humanity, which will come by with the more people who come to know Christ through the music we make and the service we give through our God-given talent,” She informed the journalists.
The Sunshine Awards program was established 36 years ago to honor the best practices and achievements in the performing arts, academia, science, humanities, and sports across the Caribbean. Africa, South and Central America, Europe, Asia, and the United States have now joined the expansion.
The Sunshine Awards organizers released a statement stating that Davis’s artistic contribution spanned more than 50 years and included songs against South Africa’s apartheid, including Winnie Mandela, Rise Up, Thank You Mr. Mandela, and It Must Be Love. She also had several albums under her career and other singles, including Stealing Love, Going Down To Paradise, Like Old Friends Do, With You, and Santa Clause Do You Ever Come To The Ghetto.
She leaves for Virginia after the awards ceremony to film a broadcast presentation for CBS TV that tells her story and highlights her contribution to spiritual Christmas music.
Carlene Cowan and her spouse Tommy Cowan are the creators of the Fun in The Son Gospel Festival. On April 20, Carlene participated in a celebration of The Best Dressed Chicken’s 65th anniversary in Kingston. Additionally, on September 28, at Swallowfield Chapel, she will be a part of the forthcoming gospel event “Journey: The Best of Junior Tucker.”
If rising gospel singers want to stay in the business for a long time, Davis advises them to take care of every part of it.
The “Praising God” singer, “approach your career with excellence. Rehearse, practice, understand the business of music, give it your best effort; it’s not all about you. And, most importantly, it’s [about] walking daily with intimacy in Christ. It is service to the King of Kings and His kingdom, after which all things will be added to you.”
The singer has been honored with several additional honors throughout the years, such as the Order of Distinction from the Jamaican government, a PhD in pastoral counseling in 2007, and the designation of August 11 as “Carlene Davis Day” by the mayor of Hartford, Connecticut.
She also plans to release her most recent album in December.
