Ronald Winans, 48; Singer in Family of Gospel Artists Won Five Grammys

Ronald Winans, 48, a Grammy-winning member of the Winans, the first family of contemporary gospel music, died Friday at a hospital in Detroit of a heart ailment. Winans had suffered a heart attack in 1997 and was recently readmitted to the hospital.

The second of 10 children, Winans was born in the family’s hometown of Detroit. Along with his brothers Calvin, Marvin and Michael, Ronald Winans began singing in the choir at the Zion Congregational Church of God in Christ. In 1975, they formed a gospel quartet.

In 1981, the group recorded their first album, “Introducing the Winans.” Later, their siblings Benjamin and Priscilla would make big names for themselves as the gospel act BeBe and CeCe Winans.

Though the siblings gained fame singing religious songs, their music was tinged with the sounds of contemporary R&B;, which annoyed some gospel traditionalists. Winans dismissed such criticism, saying in a 1995 interview that his music catered to young people and those who wouldn’t normally go to church.

The family as a whole sang generally just in church, but they toured as a unit in 1992. The “Winans’ One Family World Tour” included parents David and Delores; the brothers who made up the quartet; Be Be and Ce Ce; Debbie and Angie Winans, who were generally billed separately as the Sisters; and Daniel Winans, who performed as a solo act.

Ronald Winans, who sang on five Grammy-winning albums, released his final CD, a live recording titled “A Celebration,” earlier this year.