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       *A musical tribute will be held Thursday in Detroit for the late Ronald Winans. The Grammy-winning gospel singer and member of the famed Winans Family died Friday of heart complications at Harper Hospital in Detroit, two weeks shy of his 49th birthday.

       The musical tribute, with guests to be determined, begins at 7 p.m. at Perfecting Church (7616 E. Nevada). All cards and flowers for the family should be sent to this location. 

       Services for Ronald Winans will be held 11 a.m. Friday at Detroit’s Straight Gate International Church (10100 Grand River). All services are open to the public.

      At the time of his death, Ronald Winans had been hospitalized after doctors discovered he was retaining fluid. After the singer suffered a heart attack in 1997, his doctor at the University of Michigan hospital in Ann Arbor told him to begin preparing for the worst because he wouldn’t live much longer. Ronald chose, instead, to put his fate in God’s hands – and spent the following eight years preaching and sharing his testimony. He was an active member of Perfecting Church on Detroit's east side, where his brother Marvin is a pastor.

       "I celebrate every day I wake up. It's a blessing every day," Ronald Winans told the Detroit Free Press in January. "I'm here and whatever God has allowed to happen to me is for a purpose to bring Him glory, and for that, I'm glad."

       Brothers Ronald, Marvin, Carvin and Michael were discovered as singing group The Winans by gospel great Andrae Crouch and released their first album, "Introducing the Winans, in 1981. During their 14-year span, the quartet released 10 projects, won five Grammys and laid the groundwork for a new, more R&B-flavored style of gospel music that would later influence Kirk Franklin and other contemporary gospel artists.  Aside from the work with his brothers, Ronald released solo projects in the '80s and early '90s. His latest album, "A Celebration," came out this year.

      Hailing from the Detroit-based ‘first family of gospel,” Ronald Winans and his brothers were the first of many Winans family members to emerge as recording artists. BeBe and CeCe recorded together and continue to record as solo acts. Ronald Winans’ nephews have formed a group called Winans Phase II.  Other artists in the family include Ronald’s brother Daniel, sisters Angie and Debbie, former sister-in-law Vickie Winans and his parents, David and Delores, who record as Mom and Pop Winans.

       All of the Winans siblings were at Ronald Winans’ bedside at the Detroit hospital Thursday night, reports the Free Press.

       BeBe Winans said in a statement: "The family wishes to thank everyone who joined us in prayer and will continue to extend their unwavering support during our time of loss."

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