| Kirk Franklin |
Article Index for Kirk |
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| CATEGORIES ABOUT KIRK FRANKLIN | |
| 1970 births | |
| franklin, kirk | |
| living people | |
| african american musicians | |
| people from texas | |
| people from fort worth, texas | |
| american gospel singers | |
| grammy award winners | |
Kirk Franklin (born January 26 , 1970 in Riverside, Texas ) is a Grammy Award winning, platinum-selling African American Musician who blends Gospel , Hip Hop , and R&B . He released his first gospel album, ''Kirk Franklin & Family'', in 1993, and is known as the leader of contemporary gospel Choir s such as Kirk Franklin & the Family, Kirk Franklin's Nu Nation, God's Property and Kirk Franklin Presents 1NC. BIOGRAPHY A native of Fort Worth, Texas , Kirk was raised by his aunt, Gertrude Franklin, after being abandoned by his parents. He developed a talent for music early, playing the Piano at age four and becoming Music Director of his Church Greater Strangers Rest, at age eleven. After leading the DFW Mass Choir at the 1990 Gospel Music Workshop of America Convention, he organized "The Family", a seventeen-voice Choir , in 1992. He signed with GospoCentric in 1993, releasing ''Kirk Franklin & The Family''. It spent almost 2 years on the gospel charts, also charted on the R&B charts (very rare for a Gospel artist) and went platinum. It stayed at #1 on the Billboard Top Gospel Albums chart for 42 weeks, into 1995. In November 1995, ''Christmas'' was released, and stayed at #1 on the Gospel charts for 8 weeks. It was followed by "Whatcha Lookin' 4" in 1996. It went on to be #1 on the Billboard Contemporary Christian Albums chart for 19 weeks, and on the Gospel albums chart for 30 weeks. It also peaked at #23 on the Billboard albums chart, and #3 R&B. Whatcha Lookin' 4 would go on to earn Franklin his first Grammy, in 1997, and was certified Gold. 1997 brought another album, a collaboration with God's Property, aptly named ''God's Property From Kirk Franklin's Nu Nation''. The lead single, "Stomp", featuring Salt 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 x3 platinum. It also brought Franklin another Grammy and three nominations. ''Nu Nation Project'' was released in 1998. The first single, "Lean On Me", featured R. Kelly , Mary J. Blige , Bono of U2 , Crystal Lewis , and the Family. It was followed by "Revolution" (featuring Rodney Jerkins). Both songs were considerable hits. ''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 2001, Franklin oversaw the soundtrack for the film, '' Kingdom Come ''. The soundtrack featured Jill Scott , Mary Mary , 1NC, AZ Yet, and others. The song, "Thank You" (Kirk Franklin feat Mary Mary) was a hit. 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 many collaborations, including with Bishop T.D. Jakes, Shirley Caesar, Tobymac, Jaci Velasquez, Alvin Slaughter, and Yolanda Adams. In 2004, Franklin featured on the song "How Many Lashes" together with Yolanda Adams, on the album ''''. On October 4, 2005, his new long-awaited album '' Hero '' was released. The album was certified Gold that same year, and was #1 on both the 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 2006, Franklin released ''Songs From The Storm, Volume 1'' which topped the Top Gospel albums. Franklin has collaborated with the biggest names in gospel music, including Mary Mary , Tonéx , Donnie McClurkin , Richard Smallwood , Crystal Lewis , Pastor Shirley Caesar , TobyMac , Jaci Velasquez , and Willie Neal Johnson . He also has collaborated with mainstream artists such as Bono , Mary J. Blige ,and R. Kelly on the hit single from his album ''Nu Nation Project'', "Lean on Me." Franklin's songs are published by Zomba Music Publishing, a division of BMG Music Publishing . In 2006, Franklin appeared together with his wife on '' The Oprah Winfrey Show '' on the subject of Pornography . During the show, he admitted to struggling with a porn-addiction for many years. Only recently Franklin had informed his wife, 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 five years.) {Link without Title} In December of 2006, Kirk Franklin won two 2007 Grammy Awards , for his latest album, Hero . He was also recently featured on the song, "Lose My Soul" on the album ." DISCOGRAPHY Albums Notable Singles Music Videos
BILLBOARD CHART HISTORY Albums Singles AWARDS MISCELLANEOUS
Kirk Franklin Appears on J. Mosses, V2 album. REFERENCES EXTERNAL LINKS |
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