Sole Surviving Member Of The Nelons Gives Tearful Speech After “Bittersweet” Dove Awards Win
on Oct 13, 2025
The Nelons Win Southern Gospel Album Of The Year At The 2025 Dove Awards
On Friday, October 10, the GMA Dove Awards aired, bringing together some of the most popular names in Christian and gospel music.
One of the night’s biggest wins came when The Nelons took home the award for Southern Gospel Album of the Year.
The band’s only surviving member, Autumn Nelon Streetman, was there to accept the award on their behalf after a tragic plane crash claimed the lives of its other three members.
On July 26, 2024, Nelons members Kelly Nelon Clark, her husband Jason Clark, and their oldest daughter Amber Nelon Kistler were all killed when their private plane crashed in a remote area of northeastern Wyoming.
The band was en route to Seattle to board a Gaither’s Homecoming cruise.
The victims also included Amber’s husband, Nathan, the group’s assistant, Melodi, and the pilot and his wife, Larry and Melissa Haynie.
Kelly and Jason’s other daughter, Autumn, had been traveling separately from the rest of her family. She and her husband ended up taking a commercial flight to Seattle instead.
Autumn didn’t find out about her parents and sister’s death until they arrived at their hotel.
“They took Jamie and I up to the hotel room, and when I opened the door, Bill and Gloria [Gaither] were standing there, and I looked to my left, and Karen Peck was standing there,” Autumn recalled during an interview with Woman’s World.
“They were all crying, and they didn’t have to say anything. I knew. I looked at Bill, and I said, ‘I just lost my entire family, all of them.’ They took me in their arms and we prayed.”
Autumn Streetman Gives Acceptance Speech For The Nelons’ “Bittersweet” Win
Karen Peck and Sonya Issacs presented the award for Southern Gospel Album of the Year. After listing the nominees, they announced that the winner was The Nelons for their album Loving You.
“Oh, I’m shaking,” she told the crowd. “This moment is incredibly special, and honestly, it’s a little bittersweet. This is the first award that I’ve ever accepted without my family.”
Voice cracking, Autumn continues, “I’m not sure that’s somethin’ that I’ll ever get use to. This album was the last thing that we ever made together, and to see it honored like this just means more than words could ever express. I wish more than anything that my family was standing here beside me today, but I know they’re honored…looking down and saying ‘You did it kid.'”
Watch Autumn Streetman’s emotional speech below.
