With honouring at the heart of the inaugural Step FWD Awards last November, a special inclusion was The Lavine Hudson Award for Vocal Excellence named after the late gospel pioneer and trailblazer Lavine Hudson. Lurine Cato MBE was announced as the first ever recipient of the now annual award.
Lavine’s brother Tim Hudson presented the award on the night to a full house with some of the best-known names in UK Christian and Gospel industry at St Paul’s in Hammersmith and passionately expressed his delight and thanks on behalf of the family.
On receiving her award Lurine gave a very emotional acceptance speech and remembered Lavine as an inspiration growing up. Lavine Hudson remains the only female Gospel artist in the UK to be signed by a major record label.
To underscore the significance of The Lavine Hudson Award for Vocal Excellence we’ll take you back to what a few notable influencers had to say about her below.
Steve Alexander Smith author of “British Black Gospel – The Foundations of this vibrant UK sound” had this to say:
Lavine was a prolific songwriter and under Virgin Records she was given autonomy to collaborate with Phil Collins (All I Need), The Winans, Derek Brinkley, Nicky Brown, Twinkie Clark as well as appearing on US television. As well as Virgin, she was signed to Sparrow and Reunion in the US. One of her most popular tracks was the Leon Patillo cover ‘Flesh of my Flesh‘. A music education at the Berklee College of Music in the United States in the early 1980’s prepared her for the music industry. Two albums were released inside four years, “Intervention” and “Between Two Worlds”. In 1988 she told American magazine Totally Gospel that she wouldn’t dilute her lyrics for anyone.
Marcia Dixon MBE and recipient of a Step FWD Award for Outstanding Contribution to the Christian & Gospel music in the UK, wrote in a Voice Magazine tribute shortly after the gospel icon’s passing:
“Hudson holds a special place in British gospel music history because she was, and remains, the only UK female gospel artist to sign a deal with a major record company. Her debut album, “Intervention” was released on the Virgin Record Label in 1988 to critical acclaim and peaked at No. 19 in the US Billboard Gospel Chart.” Legendary producer Nicky Brown was quoted in same article as saying “Lavine was a super-confident and amazingly talented singer and songwriter and was wowing us and all the guests that would come to our church on a regular basis.”
Tony Cummings of Cross Rhythms and also a recipient of an Outstanding Contribution Award, wrote in an article:
“…for a period in the late ’80s Lavine was British gospel music’s premier star and the act that music industry observers predicted would one day become “Christian music’s answer to Whitney Houston”. The same article mentioned that “…Mojo Magazine once described as having “a pure tone and a greater gift for melismatic cadences. . . In fact, for a time, Lavine was regarded as the UK’s answer to Aretha Franklin. . . Her voice possessed a great elasticity and facility to communicate emotion.” Indeed it did, concluded Tony.
Once again congratulations Lurine Cato MBE on receiving the prestigious Lavine Hudson Award for Vocal Excellence. Catch her recent response below:
Lurine is set to release her brand new “Dance” EP this 25th February. Pre-order on Amazon Music today!
