Contemporary gospel singer Benita Washington studied voice performance in her home state, at the University of Alabama, and made a name for herself as the winner of the Gospel Music Channel's first Gospel Dream competition. After she performed and recorded with CeCe Winans, she made her solo debut with Hold On (2004), which peaked at number six on Billboard's Top Gospel Albums chart and also reached that publication's Independent Albums chart. Washington subsequently became director of praise and worship, and then general overseer of music and worship arts, at Nashville, Tennessee's Mt. Zion Baptist Church. She continued to record every few years, as heard on Renaissance (2007) and The Word Remains (2010), then moved into mentoring worship leaders and teams. She also contributed to additional releases by Winans, as well as L. Spenser Smith's Unstoppable and Jill Scott's Woman. ~ Andy Kellman