• KIRK FRANKLIN: 'REFRESH THE SPIRIT' CONCERT EVENT

  Top40-Charts - Found Jun. 26, 2009 Kirk Franklin knows about overcoming trials and tribulations-many of his songs speak about triumphing over all circumstances.

• Mute Math, Blink-182, Kirk Franklin book concert dates in Birmingham

  AL.com - Found Jun. 26, 2009 It includes elements of orchestral pop, especially on the bittersweet "Ghost Under Rocks." Kirk Franklin, Aug. 1, 6 p.m., Cathedral of the...

• MONA AUSTIN'S GOSPEL SLICE: News on Kirk Franklin, Clark Sisters and ...

  EURweb - Found Jun. 9, 2009 MUSIC MAVEN KIRK FRANKLIN TEAMS UP WITH AMERICAN BIBLE SOCIETY: Partnership feeds fans the word of God daily While Kirk Franklin, the biggest selling ...

• Seven-Time Grammy Winner Kirk Franklin Takes People Behind the ...

  Christian News Wire - Found Jun. 7, 2009 Media Opportunities Interview Kirk Franklin or the American Bible Society Download 30-second and 60-second PSAs of Franklin telling how the...

• 2009 Readers' Choice Winner: Kirk Franklin

  CCM Magazine - Found Jun. 1, 2009 Kirk Franklin has single-handedly changed the face of gospel music forever. And he doesn?t even really sing. A Texan by birth, Franklin does...

• Theater Review Update: Gospel recording star Kirk Franklin calls ...

  Examiner.com - Found Apr. 17, 2009 DFW resident and Grammy award-winning artist Kirk Franklin I recently reviewed a new play called 'unseen teens: Keepin It 100' by Dallas-based

• KIRK FRANKLIN FEATURED ON THE COVER OF JET MAGAZINE: Superstar ...

  EURweb - Found Apr. 4, 2009 Email to a friend| Print Friendly Kirk Franklin will be featured on the cover of the April 6, 2009 edition of Jet Magazine.

• ESSENCE AT 15

  NOLA Live - Found Jul. 3, 2009 ... to pastor and motivational speaker T.D. Jakes with Tyronne Foster & the Arc Singers, CeCe Winans, Kirk Franklin, Ledisi and Smokie Norful. Festival to celebrate Jackson - The Age The 2009 Essence Music Festival Presented By Coca-Cola: - Reuters Essence Fest to celebrate black music in La. - Philadelphia Inquirer Essence Fest celebrates black music, culture - Philadelphia Inquirer Explore All

  WCBS-TV

• Mike Aremu blows live... on MUSON stage

  Nigeria Guardian - Found Jul. 3, 2009 He has played alongside notable international artists like Kirk Franklin, Marvin Winans, Ron Kenoly, Mary Mary and Adlan Cruz and had appeared...

• Essence Fest celebrates 15-year anniversary in N.O.

  Amsterdam News - Found Jul. 2, 2009 Al Sharpton; and Donnie McClurkin. On Sunday, Grammy Award-winning gospel artists Kirk Franklin and CeCe Winans perform in afternoon concerts.

Kirk Dwayne Franklin (born January 26, 1970(1970-01-26) in Fort Worth, Texas) is an American Gospel music singer and author and is most notably known as the leader of urban contemporary gospel choirs such as the Family, God's Property and 1NC (One Nation Crew).

Biography

Early years

A native of Fort Worth, Texas, Franklin was raised by his great aunt Gertrude, having been abandoned as a baby by his mother.² Gertrude collected and resold aluminum cans to raise money for Kirk to take piano lessons from the age of 4. Kirk excelled in music, able to read and write music by ear. He received his first contract offer at the age of 7, which his aunt turned down.² He joined the church choir and became music director of the Mt. Rose Baptist Church adult choir, at the age of eleven. Despite his strict religious upbringing, Franklin rebelled in his teenage years, and in an attempt to keep him out of trouble, his great aunt arranged an audition for him at a professional youth conservatory associated with a local university. He was accepted and while his life seemed to be on track for a while, the announcement of a girlfriend's pregnancy and his eventual expulsion from school for behavioral problems proved otherwise.

After the shooting death of a friend,³ Franklin returned to the church, where he began to direct the choir once again. He also co-founded a gospel group, The Humble Hearts, which recorded one of Franklin's compositions and got the attention of gospel music legend Milton Biggham. Impressed, Bigham enlisted him to lead the DFW Mass Choir in a recording of Franklin's song "Every Day with Jesus." This led to Bigham hiring Franklin (at just twenty years old) to lead the choir at the 1990 Gospel Music Workshop of America Convention, a major industry gathering.²

Musical career

Kirk Franklin & The Family (early 90's - 2000)

In the early 90's he organized "The Family", a seventeen-voice choir, formed from neighborhood friends and associates. In 1992, Vicki Mack-Lataillade, the co-founder of fledgling record label, GospoCentric heard one of their demo tapes and was so impressed she immediately signed up Kirk & The Family to a recording contract.

In 1993, the group, now known as, Kirk Franklin & The Family, released their debut album, Kirk Franklin & The Family. It spent almost two years on the Gospel music charts and charted on the R&B charts, and eventually earning platinum sales status. It remained at #1 on the Billboard Top Gospel Albums chart for 42 weeks. It was also the first gospel music album to sell over a million units.

Two years later, after releasing a 1994 Christmas album, titled Kirk Franklin & the Family Christmas, the group released Whatcha Lookin' 4 in 1995. The album was certified 2x platinum and earned Franklin his first Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Soul Gospel Album.

1997 brought another album, a collaboration with the vocal ensemble God's Property, aptly named God's Property from Kirk Franklin's Nu Nation. The lead single, "Stomp", featuring Cheryl "Salt" James (of Salt-N-Pepa), was a huge hit, enjoying heavy rotation on MTV and other music channels, charting at #1 on the R&B Singles Airplay chart for 2 weeks, and even making it in to the Top 40. God's Property from Kirk Franklin's Nu Nation was #1 on the R&B Albums chart for 5 weeks, #3 on the Pop charts, and would go on to be certified 3x platinum. It also brought Franklin another Grammy for Best Contemporary Soul Gospel Album as well as three Grammy nominations.

On November 2, 1998, God's Property sued Franklin. The lawsuit, filed in Los Angeles Superior Court, alleges that Franklin induced God's Property founder Linda Searight into signing an "onerous and one-sided" contract with B-Rite Music.⁴

The Nu Nation Project was released in 1998.⁵ The first single, an interpolation of the Bill Withers song "Lean on Me" and produced by Franklin and pop producer Dan Shea, controversially featured several mainstream artists, including R. Kelly, Mary J. Blige and Bono of U2. Together with Crystal Lewis, and the Family, "Lean On Me" and the second single "Revolution" (featuring Rodney Jerkins) were considerable hits, and the album contained a version of another Withers song "Gonna Be a Lovely Day". The Nu Nation Project went on to top the Billboard Contemporary Christian Albums chart for 23 weeks and the Billboard Gospel Albums chart for 49 weeks, and brought Franklin his third Grammy.

In, 2000, The Family filed a multi-million dollar lawsuit for royalties for their work on The Nu Nation Project against Franklin and GospoCentric Records.⁶ This saw the end of the "Kirk Franklin & The Family" records, as Kirk went on to become a solo artist, except for his CD Kirk Franklin presents 1NC, which he did in collaboration with 1NC, and was released that same year.

As a solo artist (2000 - present)

In 2001, Franklin ventured into new territory, scoring and producing the soundtrack for the film Kingdom Come. The soundtrack featured gospel artists Mary Mary and 1NC, as well as secular artists Az Yet, Jill Scott, Shawn Stockman of Boyz II Men and others. A notable song from the soundtrack was "Thank You" (Kirk Franklin feat Mary Mary).

2002's The Rebirth of Kirk Franklin topped the Gospel Albums chart for 29 weeks, was #1 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart, and was certified Platinum. The album featured collaborations with Bishop T.D. Jakes, Shirley Caesar, Tobymac, Crystal Lewis, Jaci Velasquez, Papa San, Alvin Slaughter, and Yolanda Adams. This was Kirk's first major release not to garner him a Grammy Award.

On October 4, 2005 Hero was released in the United States. The album was certified Gold on December 2, 2005 (2005-12-02) and Platinum on December 14, 2006 (2006-12-14) by the Recording Industry Association of America.⁷ It made #1 on both the Billboard Top Christian and Top Gospel albums. The first single, "Looking for You", was a hit, as was the follow-up "Imagine Me", which made it onto the R&B Charts. In December of 2006, Kirk Franklin won two 2007 Grammy Awards, for Hero. Additionally, Hero was the 2007 Stellar Awards CD of the Year.⁸

Kirk Franklin's 10th album, The Fight of My Life, was released in the United States on December 18, 2007 (2007-12-18). The album debuted on the Billboard 200 at #33 with 74,000 copies sold in the first week.⁹ It reached #1 on both the Billboard Top Gospel and Top Christian albums charts, and also peaked at #7 on the Billboard Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums Chart.¹⁰¹¹ The first single, "Declaration (This is It)," was released on October 23, 2007 (2007-10-23) and peaked at #35 on the Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs Chart.¹¹ The album features guest appearances from Rance Allen, Isaac Carree, tobyMac, Da' T.R.U.T.H., Doug Williams, and Melvin Williams. The song "Jesus" was released as the album's second single in 2008 and was sent to Urban AC radio on July 15 2008.

Personal life

On 20 January 1996, Franklin married long time friend Tammy Collins.² When they wed, they each had one child from previous relationships: Kirk's son Kerrion, born in 1988, and Tammy's daughter Carrington, born in 1989.¹² Together, they have had two children: Kennedy, born in 1997 and Caziah, born in 2000.¹³

Struggle with pornography

In 2006, Franklin appeared together with his wife on The Oprah Winfrey Show on the subject of pornography. During the show, entitled Famous Gospel Singer Admits His Addiction to Porn, he admitted to struggling with a porn-addiction for many years. Franklin had informed his wife of his addiction after first having proposed to her to share the pornography together, which she rejected. Kirk stated in the interview that he sought help through Christian counseling and finally considers himself to be free from his addiction. As of the interview, he had been clean for over seven years.¹⁴¹³

Discography

Awards

Billboard chart history

Albums

Singles

References

Additional reading

• Franklin, Kirk (1998). Church Boy. Thomas Nelson. ISBN 0849940508. 
• Waldron, Clarence (2007-10-29), "Kirk Franklin's new mission: finding gospel's next superstar and boosting the music's appeal", Jet (Magazine/Journal) 112 (17): 60(5) 
• Slagle, Dana (2005-12-26), "Kirk Franklin healed from 20-year addiction; filled with Christmas joy", Jet (Magazine/Journal) 108 (26): 52(6) 
• "Kirk Franklin's Joyful Noise", Guideposts, 1997 

External links

• Official website
• Kirk Franklin music videos on Yahoo! Music
• Kirk Franklin at the Internet Movie Database
• Kirk Franklin at Allmusic
• One Nation Crew at Allmusic
• Kirk Franklin at MySpace
• Kirk Franklin Channel