In his early teens, Kirk turned rebelious and entered a life of violence and theft. The shooting and death of a close friend shocked a fifteen year old Kirk into realizing the error of his ways and Kirk quickly returned to the safehold of the church.
In his early teens, Kirk turned rebelious and entered a life of violence and theft. The shooting and death of a close friend shocked a fifteen year old Kirk into realizing the error of his ways and Kirk quickly returned to the safehold of the church.
Kirk began writing and composing songs, as well as recording demo tapes. He combined aspects of [[urban contemporary gospel]] and mainstream [[secular]] music in his songs, something his later career would be noted for. 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. <ref>[http://www.sing365.com/music/lyric.nsf/Kirk-Franklin-Biography/C971EC9AE60D09F848256BF1000C6E88 Kirk Franklin on Sing365]<ref>
Kirk began writing and composing songs, as well as recording demo tapes. He combined aspects of [[urban contemporary gospel]] and mainstream [[secular]] music in his songs, something his later career would be noted for. 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.
A native of Fort Worth, Texas, Kirk was raised by his great aunt, Gertrude Franklin, after being abandoned in infancy by his teenage parents. He developed a talent for music early, a talent recognized by his aunt who collected and recycled aluminium cans in order to raise money for her nephew to have piano lessons at the age of four. Kirk excelled in music, being able to sight read and play by ear, becoming music director of his church adult choir, Greater Strangers Rest, at age eleven.
In his early teens, Kirk turned rebelious and entered a life of violence and theft. The shooting and death of a close friend shocked a fifteen year old Kirk into realizing the error of his ways and Kirk quickly returned to the safehold of the church.
Kirk began writing and composing songs, as well as recording demo tapes. He combined aspects of urban contemporary gospel and mainstream secular music in his songs, something his later career would be noted for. 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.
Musical career
He signed with Sparrow Records 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.
[1]
1997 brought another album, a collaboration with God's Property, aptly named God's Property from Kirk Franklin's Nu Nation. The 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 and three nominations.
The Nu Nation Project was released in 1998. [2] 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. 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 2001, Franklin oversaw the soundtrack for the film Kingdom Come. The soundtrack featured Jill Scott, Mary Mary, 1NC, AZ Yet, and others. A notable song from the soundtrack was "Thank You" (Kirk Franklin feat Mary Mary).
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[3]. It was #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. Additioanlly, Hero was the 2007 Stellar Awards CD of the Year. [4]
He was also featured on the song, "Lose My Soul" on the album Portable Sounds (US #10, Top Christian Albums #1), which sold over 50,000 units in its first week alone. He was also featured on the compilation Interpretations: Celebrating The Music of Earth, Wind & Fire with the cover "September."
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 five years. [8]
Franklin, Kirk. Church Boy. Thomas Nelson. ISBN0849940508. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |origdate= ignored (|orig-date= suggested) (help)
Jones, Hatti. Free to Dream: The Real Story of Kirk Franklin and his Friends. AuthorHouse. ISBN1418462756. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |origdate= ignored (|orig-date= suggested) (help)
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)
