CeCe & BeBe Winans Singing "Addictive Love" Live Is Next-Level Electrifying
The brother and sister R&B duo blew the roof off the Apollo in 1991 when they performed their hit song live.
Over three decades ago, CeCe and BeBe Winans released the chart-topping gospel song “Addictive Love.” The brother and sister R&B duo have performed the powerful hit single many times over the years and each time's been a moving, memorable experience.
Released on their 1991 album, Different Lifestyles, “Addictive Love” held the number-one spot on Billboard’s R&B chart for two weeks. It also won the Soul Train Music Award for Best Song of the Year in 1992. Before they went their separate ways in 1995 to pursue their own solo music careers, CeCe and BeBe Winans recorded six albums together. They reunited more than a decade later to record one more album together titled Still, which won two Grammys in 2011.
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Together and separately, CeCe and BeBe Winans have released a long list of timeless hits, and “Addictive Love” has remained one of their most popular for many years. Below we revisit their electrifying live performance of “Addictive Love” and break down how to watch one half of the Winans duo perform in 2024 at NBC’s A Motown Christmas special.
CeCe and BeBe Winans performed “Addictive Love” live in 1991
Shortly after the release of their album Different Lifestyles, CeCe and BeBe Winans made an appearance at It’s Showtime at the Apollo! to perform their hit song “Addictive Love” in front of a jam-packed audience who delivered a standing ovation. The crowd also clapped and danced along as they sang lyrics like “You see this love takes me higher” and, “I found it was addictive love.”
Filmed at the Apollo Theater in Harlem, New York City, their live performance aired on October 26, 1991. During the episode, which was hosted by Donna Summers, the Grammy-winning artists also sang a cover of The Staple Singers’ “I'll Take You There.”
You can watch CeCe and BeBe Winans’ live performance of “Addictive Love” here.
“Addictive Love” nearly got cut from CeCe and BeBe Winans’ album Different Lifestyles
BeBe Winans revealed during an interview on Sway's Universe in May 2024 that a record executive had told him and CeCe that their beloved gospel track would not make the final cut of the record. “They wanted to tell me that they had decided that ‘Addictive Love’ was not going to go on the album because of the negative connotation of addiction,” he recalled. “Really nicely I said ‘OK, thank you for all that, but not only is it going on the album, it’s going to be the first single.’”
“I stood my ground,” he continued, “So ‘Addictive Love’ did what it did … and they came back and apologized and said ‘You were right.’”
BeBe also revealed that it was R&B icon Luther Vandross who told them that “Addictive Love” should be the first single on the album after listening to it while driving around.
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Watch BeBe Winans perform in NBC’s A Motown Christmas special
Hosted by Smokey Robinson and Halle Bailey, BeBe Winans is one of many legendary musicians performing at NBC’s A Motown Christmas special, airing on December 11.
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In addition to Winans, you can also expect to see Ashanti, Andra Day, Jamie Foxx, JoJo, October London, mgk, Pentatonix, Jordin Sparks, and the cast of the Broadway show MJ The Musical. The two-hour special will also feature an 11-piece band, led by Emmy Award-winning musical director Rickey Minor, as well as performances from Gladys Knight, Martha Reeves and the Vandellas, the Temptations, and more
Watch A Motown Christmas on Wednesday, December 11 at 9/8c on NBC and the next day on Peacock.
