Mario Winans

Mario Mendell Winans (born 29 August 1974; Orangeburg, South Carolina), born Mario Mendell Brown, is an American R&B producer, singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist.

Early Life

Winans is the son of gospel recording artist Vickie Winans (née Bowman) and her first husband, Bishop Ronald Brown. His mother later married gospel singer and pastor Marvin Winans in 1978, from whose family Mario took his surname; Marvin and Vickie went on to have two sons together, Josiah Winans and Marvin Winans Jr., making Mario a member of gospel music's celebrated Winans family, whose ranks also include his aunt, singer CeCe Winans.

Raised in Detroit, Michigan, Winans began learning piano, keyboards and drums while still in grade school, and picked up studio recording skills at an early age within his musical family environment.

Career

Winans began producing gospel music professionally immediately after graduating from high school, working with artists including Fred Hammond, the Clark Sisters, and various members of the Winans family. In the mid-1990s, he signed a production deal with Dallas Austin's Rowdy Records through producers Tim & Bob, living at their house studio during this period.

His breakthrough came as a songwriter, musician and co-producer on R. Kelly's self-titled 1995 album, contributing to songs including "I Can't Sleep Baby (I)" and "You Remind Me of Something," and he also worked on Pebbles's Straight from My Heart the same year, as well as with 98 Degrees.

Winans went on to sign with Motown, releasing his debut solo album, Story of My Heart, in 1997. He continued to build a reputation as a producer and songwriter for other artists, including Janet Jackson, Whitney Houston, Jennifer Lopez, Mary J. Blige and Ice Cube, alongside further work with his family.

His connections with Sean "Diddy" Combs's Bad Boy Entertainment roster led to a deal with the label, and in 2004 he released his sophomore album, Hurt No More, which debuted at the top of the charts and sold a quarter of a million copies in its first week. The album's lead single, "I Don't Wanna Know," featuring Enya and P. Diddy, built on a sample of the Fugees' "Ready or Not," itself sampling Enya's 1987 song "Boadicea," and reached number two on the Billboard Hot 100 and number one in the United Kingdom.

In 2005, Winans won the Grammy Award for Best Gospel Performance for co-writing and producing his aunt CeCe Winans's song "Pray." He appeared on Diddy's 2006 album Press Play, producing, writing and singing on "Through the Pain (She Told Me)" and the hit single "Last Night," featuring Keyshia Cole, the latter originally intended for a follow-up solo album that was never released.

In 2010, Winans served as executive producer on Last Train to Paris, the joint album by Diddy and Dirty Money, and has since continued to write and produce for a broad range of hip-hop and R&B artists, including Kanye West, on whose 2015 single "All Day" he received a songwriting credit, as well as Ice Spice, Pusha T and Trey Songz.

In 2020, he co-wrote and co-produced "After Hours," the title track of The Weeknd's fourth studio album of the same name, alongside The Weeknd, Illangelo and DaHeala. His signature hit "I Don't Wanna Know" found a new generation of listeners in 2023, when Metro Boomin, The Weeknd and 21 Savage built their chart-topping single "Creepin'" around it, with Winans himself returning to contribute backing vocals to the track; a remix later that year added a guest verse from his original collaborator, Diddy.

In 2021, Winans launched Artime, an online mentorship platform connecting independent artists and students with veteran music industry professionals, including several of his fellow members of Bad Boy's in-house production team, the Hitmen, serving as the platform's founder and chief executive.
 

Personal Life

Winans has remained closely tied to his extended musical family throughout his career, continuing to work with members of the Winans gospel dynasty even as his own output moved into secular R&B and hip-hop production.

He has been involved in charitable activities over the course of his career, particularly initiatives supporting underprivileged communities and music education.

As one of the few members of the Winans family to build a career primarily in secular music, Winans is recognised as a significant bridge between gospel and mainstream R&B production.