Kirk Franklin

Early life

A native of Fort Worth, Texas, Franklin was raised by his aunt, Gertrude, having been abandoned as a baby by his mother. Gertrude recycled aluminum cans to raise money for Kirk to take piano lessons from the age of 4. Kirk excelled and was able to read and write music while also playing by ear.

At the age of 7, Franklin received his first contract which his aunt turned down. He did join the church choir and became music director of the Mt. Rose Baptist Church adult choir at 11 years of age.

In his teenage years, Franklin rebelled against his strict religious upbringing, and in an attempt to keep him out of trouble, his grandmother arranged an audition for him at a professional youth conservatory associated with a local university. He was accepted, but later he had to deal with a girlfriend's pregnancy and his eventual expulsion from school for bad behavior.

Franklin studied music with Jewell Kelly and the Singing Chaparrals at Oscar Dean Wyatt High School. He continued under her tutelage and ultimately became the pianist for the choir.

When he was aged 15 he witnessed the death of a friend by shooting, after which Franklin returned to the church, where he again directed the choir. 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, musical director of the Georgia Mass Choir. Impressed, Biggham enlisted him to lead the DFW Mass Choir in a recording of Franklin's song "Every Day with Jesus". This led to Biggham hiring Franklin, just 20 years old at the time, to lead the choir at the 1990 Gospel Music Workshop of America Convention, an industry gathering.

Career

With groups (1992–2000)

In 1992, Franklin organized "The Family", which was a 17-voice choir, formed from neighborhood friends and associates. In 1992, Vicki Mack-Lataillade, the co-founder of fledgling GospoCentric Records label, 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, eventually earning platinum sales status. It remained at No. 1 on the Billboard Top Gospel Albums chart for 42 weeks. It was only the third gospel music album to sell over a million units after Aretha Franklin's Amazing Grace and BeBe & CeCe Winans' Addictive Love.

Two years later, after releasing a 1995 Christmas album entitled Kirk Franklin & the Family Christmas, the group released Whatcha Lookin' 4 in 1996. The album was certified platinum and earned Franklin his first Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Soul Gospel Album.

In 1996, Franklin's song "Joy" was recorded by Whitney Houston and the Georgia Mass Choir. With production by Houston and Mervyn Warren, the composition was included on the best-selling gospel album of all time, soundtrack to The Preacher's Wife.

GospoCentric's new sub-label, B'Rite, in partnership with Interscope Records brought another album in 1997, 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 crossover hit, enjoying heavy rotation on MTV and other music channels and charting at No. 1 on the R&B Singles Airplay chart for two weeks, even making it into the Top 40. God's Property from Kirk Franklin's Nu Nation was No. 1 on the R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart for five weeks, No. 3 on the Billboard 200, and would go on to be certified 3× platinum by the RIAA. It also brought Franklin another Grammy for Best Contemporary Soul Gospel Album, as well as three Grammy nominations.

The Nu Nation Project was released in 1998. The first single, "Lean on Me", produced by Franklin and pop producer Dan Shea, 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 a Bill 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.

Also in 1998, Franklin had made a guest appearance on the hit television sitcom Sister, Sister.

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.

In 1999, Kirk Franklin disbanded the Family, after the acclaimed, The Nu Nation Tour. He would shortly record, Kirk Franklin presents 1NC, which would be released in August 2000.

Also in 2000, a select amount of The Family filed a multimillion-dollar lawsuit for royalties for their work on The Nu Nation Project against Franklin and GospoCentric Records. The album was recorded prior to the lawsuit.

On January 16, 2010, at the 25th Annual Stellar Awards show taping in Nashville, Tennessee, Kirk Franklin & The Family reunited briefly on stage to perform songs made popular by them in the 1990s. Both The Family and God's Property, would reunite in 2023 for The Reunion Tour, which also featured The Clark Sisters, Tye Tribbett, and Israel Houghton. The two choirs would also record a video for Silver and Gold during that same time.

Solo artist (2001–present)

In 2001, he produced the soundtrack for the film Kingdom Come. The soundtrack included gospel artists Mary Mary, Trin-i-tee 5:7, Crystal Lewis, and Franklin's group 1NC, as well as mainstream artists Az Yet, Jill Scott, Tamar Braxton, Shawn Stockman of Boyz II Men and others.

In June 2000, a live recording of new material was done at Lakewood Church, and after over a year of production, The Rebirth of Kirk Franklin was released in February 2002. It topped the Gospel Albums chart for 29 weeks, was No. 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, Willie Neal Johnson, TobyMac, Crystal Lewis, Jaci Velasquez, Papa San, Alvin Slaughter, and Yolanda Adams.

In 2004, Franklin launched a new label called Fo Yo Soul Entertainment and had signed a new distribution deal with Zomba Label Group.

On October 4, 2005, Hero was released in the United States. The album was certified Gold on , and Platinum on , by the Recording Industry Association of America. It reached No. 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. At the 2007 Grammy Awards, Franklin won two Grammys for Hero. Additionally, Hero was the 2007 Stellar Awards CD of the Year.

Franklin's 10th album, The Fight Of My Life, was released in the United States on . The album debuted on the Billboard 200 at No. 33 with 74,000 copies sold in the first week. It reached No. 1 on both the Billboard Top Gospel and Top Christian albums charts, and also peaked at No. 7 on the Billboard Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums Chart. The first single, "Declaration (This is It)," was released on , and peaked at No. 35 on the Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs Chart. The album features guest appearances from Rance Allen, Isaac Carree, TobyMac, Da' T.R.U.T.H., Doug Williams (singer) and Melvin Williams (singer). The song "Jesus" was released as the album's second single in 2008 and was sent to Urban AC radio on July 15, 2008. In January 2010, after Haiti had a devastating earthquake, Franklin got an ensemble of gospel artists together to sing the song he wrote, called "Are You Listening". They included Yolanda Adams, Jeremy Camp, Shirley Caesar, Dorinda Clark-Cole, Natalie Grant, Fred Hammond, Tamela Mann, David Mann, Mary Mary, Donnie McClurkin, Bishop Paul S. Morton, J. Moss, Smokie Norful, Marvin Sapp, Karen Clark-Sheard, Kierra Sheard, BeBe Winans, CeCe Winans, and Marvin Winans.

In 2005, Franklin appeared with his wife on The Oprah Winfrey Show to discuss how he ended his pornography addiction. In 2010, he published The Blueprint: A Plan for Living Above Life's Storms, a book in which he recounts the family difficulties experienced during his childhood, and how he got out of a sexually active life and an addiction to pornography.

Franklin served as the host and co-executive producer of the BET original series Sunday Best and the musical co-host of GSN's The American Bible Challenge with Jeff Foxworthy. Franklin's 11th studio album called Hello Fear was released on March 22, 2011. The album features Marvin Sapp, Mali Music, Marvin Winans, John P. Kee, and Rance Allen. The first single, "I Smile", peaked at No. 85 on the Billboard Hot 100, making it his first appearance on that chart in 6 years.

In 2013, Franklin began signing artists onto his label, Fo Yo Soul Recordings, which became an imprint with RCA Records, and he has signed acts such as The Walls Group and artists like Tasha Page-Lockhart. These two artists received ten Stellar Award nominations at the 30th Stellar Awards. The Walls Group won 7 awards, while Page-Lockhart won three of her own, and Franklin won two more for his label.

In September 2015, Franklin announced his 12th studio album, Losing My Religion, which was released on November 13, 2015. The first single off the album, "Wanna Be Happy?", was released on August 28, 2015. It was at this point that Vinson Cunningham referred to him as a hype man when writing for the New Yorker.

Franklin contributed to Tori Kelly's Hiding Place album, released September 14, 2018. They had intended to collaborate on one song, but it turned into a larger project.

On January 25, 2019, Franklin released his single "Love Theory" and official music video for the song. "Love Theory" served the first single from his 13th studio album, Long Live Love. Franklin released his second single, "Just for Me", in April 2019. His third single, "OK", was released in May 2019. Long Live Love was released on May 31.

In February 2019, it was announced that BET's gospel music reality competition, Sunday Best would return from a 4-year hiatus. Franklin will reprise his role as host.

After Trinity Broadcasting Network aired the 2019 GMA Dove Awards on October 20, 2019, Franklin commented that his acceptance speech was edited to remove comments he made in relation to the killing of Atatiana Jefferson by a police officer. He stated that he was boycotting the award show going forward as it was not the first time they had edited his acceptance speech to remove "reflections on police violence against Black Americans". GMA president, Jackie Patillo, apologized to Franklin and GMA made an unedited version of the speech available but stated that it was an unintentional action and that they were attempting to reduce the running time to meet a 2-hour time-slot. Several other artists supported Franklin's boycott.

In 2021, he was among the inaugural inductees into the Black Music & Entertainment Walk of Fame.

On May 21, 2021, Franklin and American rapper Lil Baby released the song "We Win" for the soundtrack to the 2021 film Space Jam: A New Legacy.

On October 14, 2023, Franklin released his 13th studio album, Father's Day.

On December 17, 2025, it was announced that Franklin would receive the Black Music Icon award at the fourth annual Recording Academy Honours on January 29, 2026, presented by The Recording Academy's Black Collective. The event takes place during the week of 68th Annual Grammy Awards.

Personal life

On January 20, 1996, Franklin married long-time friend Tammy Collins. When they wed, they each had one child from previous relationships. As a couple, they have two children together.

In November 1996, Franklin had a near death experience after accidentally falling from a stage into an orchestra pit during a concert in Memphis, he suffered a head injury which left him in critical condition; he eventually made a full recovery.

In March 2021, Franklin's oldest son, Kerrion, released an audio recording of a private conversation between him and his father in which both can be heard using profanities. Franklin subsequently apologized to his fans and followers.

In 2023, Franklin met his biological father Richard Hubbard for the first time and reconciled with his son Kerrion in his documentary film Father's Day: A Kirk Franklin Story.

Franklin has openly discussed how his faith axed his former pornography addiction, which began when he was 8 years old and continued for over a decade.

Discography

Main article: Kirk Franklin discography

Kirk Franklin & The Family

• Kirk Franklin and the Family (1993)
• Kirk Franklin & the Family Christmas (1995)
• Whatcha Lookin' 4 (1996)

Kirk Franklin's Nu Nation

• God's Property from Kirk Franklin's Nu Nation (1997)
• The Nu Nation Project (1998)

Kirk Franklin and 1 Nation Crew

• Kirk Franklin Presents 1NC (2000)

Kirk Franklin

• The Rebirth of Kirk Franklin (2002)
• Hero (2005)
• The Fight of My Life (2007)
• Hello Fear (2011)
• Losing My Religion (2015)
• Long, Live, Love (2019)
• Father’s Day (2023)

Kirk Franklin & Maverick City Music

• Kingdom Book One (2022)

Filmography

Film

Television

Awards

Main article: List of awards and nominations received by Kirk Franklin

Franklin has received 20 Grammy Awards and 22 GMA Dove Awards. He has also received BET Awards, Soul Train Music Awards and Stellar Awards.

References

References

1. "Artists - Fo Yo Soul".
2. (November 10, 2021). "Kirk Franklin (1970- )".
3. (January 26, 2003). "Hopeville Tour".
4. Don Cusic, ''Encyclopedia of Contemporary Christian Music: Pop, Rock, and Worship: Pop, Rock, and Worship'', ABC-CLIO, USA, 2009, p. 197
5. (October 20, 1998). "Kirk Franklin: The Nu Nation Project".
6. [https://people.com/archive/apostle-of-gospel-vol-46-no-2/ Apostle of Gospel] {{Webarchive. link. (January 1, 2019 , ''People'', USA, July 8, 1996)
7. Franklin, Kirk. (1998). "Church Boy". Word Pub..
8. [http://www.rockonthenet.com/artists-g/godsproperty_main.htm Kirk Franklin] {{Webarchive. link. (May 3, 2008 . Rock on the Net. Retrieved August 19, 2012.)
9. W. K. McNeil, ''Encyclopedia of American Gospel Music'', Routledge, Abingdon-on-Thames, 2013, p. 132
10. "Kirk Franklin". BET.
11. Randall Herbert Balmer, ''Encyclopedia of Evangelicalism: Revised and expanded edition'', Baylor University Press, USA, 2004, p. 268
12. [https://web.archive.org/web/20071231040314/http://www.rhapsody.com/kirkfranklin/6807337_thenunationproject Free Music: The Nu Nation Project by Kirk Franklin]. Rhapsody Online
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14. Price, Deborah Evans. (October 19, 2004). "Kirk Franklin Bows Label".
15. "Home".
16. (2007). "22nd Annual Stellar Award Winners". GospelFlava.com.
17. Walsh, Chris M.. (December 27, 2007). "Groban, Blige Enjoy Huge Weeks on Album Chart".
18. "allmusic (Kirk Franklin – Charts & Awards – ''Billboard'' Albums".
19. "Billboard.com – Artist Chart History – Kirk Franklin".
20. "Porn Epidemic". Harpo Productions, Inc.
21. Jeannie Law,[https://www.npr.org/2010/05/21/127037862/gospel-star-kirk-franklin-shares-blueprint-for-life Gospel Star Kirk Franklin Shares 'Blueprint' For Life] {{Webarchive. link. (May 16, 2021 , npr.org, USA, May 21, 2010)
22. "Kirk Franklin".
23. "Amazon.com: Hello Fear: Kirk Franklin: Music".
24. Thomasos, Christine. (January 16, 2015). "Kirk Franklin More Excited About Tasha Page-Lockhart, The Walls Group Stellar Award Nominations Than His First Win". The Christian Post.
25. "Kirk Franklin Announces New Album 'Losing My Religion'".
26. (September 25, 2015). "Kirk Franklin Is Losing His Religion and Wants to Help Others Do the Same".
27. (August 27, 2015). "Kirk Franklin".
28. Cunningham, Vinson. (January 9, 2017). "How Kirk Franklin Is Pushing the Boundaries of Gospel".
29. Longs, Herb. (August 25, 2018). "Tori Kelly Debuts 'Never Alone' (Feat. Kirk Franklin)".
30. (January 25, 2019). "Kirk Franklin Launches New Single 'Love Theory'".
31. (January 31, 2019). "Kirk Franklin Shares His 'Love Theory'".
32. (January 31, 2019). "BET Sunday Best returns Spring 2019!!!".
33. (October 29, 2019). "Black Musicians Are Standing Behind Kirk Franklin's Boycott Of Evangelical TV Network".
34. (October 29, 2019). "GMA Pres Jackie Patillo Apologizes to Kirk Franklin for Dove Awards Speech Editing 'Missteps'".
35. Saint-Vil, Sweenie. (May 7, 2021). "Diddy, Beyoncé and more to be inducted into Black Music and Entertainment Walk of Fame".
36. (May 20, 2021). "Lil Baby and Kirk Franklin Team Up for 'Space Jam' Soundtrack". [[Rap-Up]].
37. Ochoa, Jon. (December 17, 2025). "Pharrell Williams, Brandy & Kirk Franklin To Be Honored At Recording Academy Honors During GRAMMY Week 2026".
38. Grein, Paul. (December 17, 2025). "Pharrell Williams, Brandy and Kirk Franklin to Be Honored at 2026 Black Music Collective Grammy Week Event". Billboard.
39. (November 3, 1996). "SINGER CRITICALLY HURT IN A FALL FROM THE STAGE".
40. (December 21, 1996). "Falling To Higher Level Kirk Franklin Believes Tumble From Stage Was Meant To Be | The Spokesman-Review".
41. Dave Ferman. (February 12, 1997). "PERFORMER SAYS INJURY WAS A BLESSING".
42. (November 3, 1996). "Gospel Singer In Critical Condition | The Spokesman-Review".
43. Mamo, Heran. (March 17, 2021). "Kirk Franklin Interview After Leaked Phone Call With Son".
44. (September 26, 2023). "Kirk Franklin's Raw Journey to Meeting His Father for the First Time at 53: 'I Wanted a Daddy so Bad'".
45. (March 18, 2016). "This gospel singer is a former porn addict — and Kanye's newest sidekick".
46. National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences, [https://www.grammy.com/grammys/artists/kirk-franklin/9067 Kirk Franklin] {{Webarchive. link. (April 14, 2021 , grammy.com, USA, retrieved December 5, 2020)
47. Gospel Music Association, [https://doveawards.com/awards/past-winners/ Past winners : Kirk Franklin] {{Webarchive. link. (September 25, 2015 , doveawards.com, USA, retrieved December 5, 2020)
48. Jackson, Kevin. (April 22, 2024). "High praises at Fun in the Son Headliner Kirk Franklin brings dance party". Jamaica Observer Newspaper.