Atlantic recording artist NEEDTOBREATHE carried the Word Label Group with three nods; Rock/Contemporary Album of the Year for their latest release The Outsiders, Rock/Contemporary Recorded Song of the Year for the gospel-infused track “Lay ‘Em Down,” giving the group a back-to-back win in this category with their nod for “Washed By The Water” in 2009 and the coveted Group of the Year award.

“We are really proud of the record and glad people seem to like it,” says Bear Rinehart from NEEDTOBREATHE. “Thanks to all of our fans for their support!”

Fervent Records’ Francesca Battistelli brought home two wins; Female Vocalist of the Year and Short Form Music Video of the Year for her chart-topping, record-breaking smash hit “Free To Be Me.” Battistelli also performed live her brand new single “Beautiful Beautiful.”

“I’m so incredibly honored and humbled by the support of the GMA, Christian radio and my amazing fans,” says Francesca. “I’m very blessed to do what I love to do every single day and can not even begin to express my gratitude. I thank God for these wonderful blessings.”

And the firsts keep coming in as Sidewalk Prophets were named the New Artist of the Year. This award came on the heels of their No. 1 hit, “The Words I Would Say,” from their top-selling debut album, These Simple Truths.

“This year has been an unbelievable journey for us and truly humbling,” remarks Sidewalk Prophets frontman Dave Frey. “Our heart lies in inspiring people and letting them know that they matter. Being given the gift of spreading this message through our music drives us and this award is beyond what we ever expected.”

The Breen Agency, another division of Word Entertainment handling artist touring and booking, garnered nominations for Inspirational Album (“Revelation Song”; Phillips, Craig & Dean) and Inspirational Recorded Song (“The Only Hope”; Bebo Norman and Jason Ingram).

Below is the complete list of awards for Word Entertainment:

FEMALE VOCALIST OF THE YEAR
Francesca Battistelli

GROUP OF THE YEAR
NEEDTOBREATHE

NEW ARTIST OF THE YEAR
Sidewalk Prophets

PRODUCER OF THE YEAR
Jason Ingram, Rusty Varenkamp

RAP/HIP HOP RECORDED SONG
“Movin”; Ordinary Dreamers; Group 1 Crew; Group 1 Crew, Jeremy James, Byron Chambers, Christopher Stevens; Fervent Records

ROCK/CONTEMPORARY RECORDED SONG
“Lay ‘Em Down”; The Outsiders; NEEDTOBREATHE; Bear Rinehart, Bo Rinehart; Atlantic Records

INSPIRATIONAL RECORDED SONG
“The Only Hope”; Bebo Norman; Bebo Norman; Bebo Norman, Jason Ingram; BEC Recordings

ROCK/CONTEMPORARY ALBUM
The Outsiders; NEEDTOBREATHE; Rick Beato, NEEDTOBREATHE, Jim Scott, John Alagia; Atlantic Records

INSPIRATIONAL ALBUM
Fearless; Phillips, Craig & Dean; Bernie Herms; INO Records

COUNTRY ALBUM
The Reason; Diamond Rio; Michael D. Clute, Jimmy Olander; Word Records

CHILDREN’S MUSIC ALBUM
Veggie Tales: Here I Am To Worship; Featuring Natalie Grant & Aaron Shust; Steven V. Taylor; Big Idea

SPECIAL EVENT ALBUM
Glory Revealed II: The Word of God in Worship; Mac Powell, Shane Everett, Jonathan Shelton, Brian Littrell, Trevor Morgan, Mark Hall, Jason Crabb, Bear Rinehart, Matt Maher, Amy Grant, Ed Cash, Geoff Moore, Natalie Grant, Laura Story, Brandon Heath, Mike Donehey, Aaron Shust, Shawn Lewis, Sara Evans, Bethany Dicks Olds, Shane & Shane, Bethany Dillon, Kari Jobe; Mac Powell, David Nasser; Reunion

CHRISTMAS ALBUM
Christ Has Come; Big Daddy Weave; Jeremy Redmond; Fervent Records

SHORT FORM MUSIC VIDEO
“Free To Be Me”; Francesca Battistelli; Andy & John Erwin; Dan Atchison; Alabama Production Group; Fervent Records

MUSICAL
A Baby Changes Everything; Deborah Craig-Claar, David T. Clydesdale; Word Music

For more information on Word Entertainment log on to: http://www.wordlabelgroup.com

About Word Entertainment
A leader in the music industry for 59 years, Word Entertainment, a Warner/Curb company, is a unique, comprehensive entertainment company comprised of multi-faceted artist service departments including brand management, A&R, music publishing, merchandising, direct to fan, and booking. Word Entertainment represents some of the top names and brands in music and is home to Word Distribution, Word Print, The Breen Agency, Word Music Publishing and Word Label Group’s Word Records, Fervent Records, and Myrrh Records.

Diamond Rio celebrates their first GMA Dove Awards for "Country Music Album of the Year" honoring their faith-based The Reason.

Grammy-nominated Francesca Battistelli walked away with two GMA Dove Awards for "Female Vocalist of the Year" and "Short Form Music Video of the Year" for her chart-topping, smash hit single "Free To Be Me."

Fervent Records' Sidewalk Prophets was named "New Artist of the Year." The award came on the heels of their No. 1 "The Words I Would Say" from their top-selling debut album These Simple Truths.

For more info on NEEDTOBREATHE, visit the JFH Artists Database.
For more info on Francesca Battistelli, visit the JFH Artists Database.
For more info on Sidewalk Prophets, visit the JFH Artists Database.