Biography
Grammy-nominated Wintley Phipps, was born in Trinidad and Tobago. At an early age, his family moved to Montreal, Quebec, Canada. He attended Kingsway College Academy in Oshawa, Ontario. After high school Wintley enrolled in Oakwood University, an HBCU in Huntsville, Alabama where he received a Bachelor of Arts degree in Theology. Wintley is married to Linda Galloway, whom he met at Oakwood. They have three sons: Wintley II, Winston Adriel, and Wade Alexander.
Pastor Phipps earned a Master of Divinity degree from Andrews University, a Seventh-day Adventist theological seminary in Berrien Springs, Michigan. Wintley Phipps served as pastor for the Capitol Hill Seventh-day Adventist Church in Washington, D.C. and currently pastors the Palm Bay Seventh-day Adventist Church in Florida.
He has performed for American presidents Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan, George H. W. Bush, National Prayer Breakfast for Bill Clinton in 1994, George W. Bush, Barack Obama at several National Prayer Breakfast events and Obama's 2013 Inaugural Prayer Service and other celebrations. He performed for the 1984 and 1988 Democratic National Conventions, Rosa Parks' 77th Birthday gala at the Kennedy Center, Mother Teresa of Calcutta, and former South African President Nelson Mandela.
Wintley Phipps has appeared on programs such as the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. television special, Dr. Robert Schuller's Hour of Power Telecast, Billy Graham Crusades, the Vatican, as guest soloist at Diana Ross's wedding ceremony in Switzerland, Saturday Night Live, Soul Train, The Oprah Winfrey Show, and the 2013 50th Anniversary of the March on Washington.
Wintley Phipps' voice over work is heard on the Breathe Bible project. On July 27, 2020, he sang an emotionally-charged version of "Amazing Grace" as Rep. John Lewis lay in state in the US Capitol in Washington, DC, and sang "How Great Thou Art" at Colin Powell's funeral on November 5, 2021.
Wintley Phipps' passion for acting and producing has proven that beyond his artistic achievements as a singer-songwriter, he is an amazing storyteller and excels in any part of that creative process.
