Kirk Franklin

biography

Before the arrival of Kirk Franklin in 1993, contemporary gospel music leaned toward inspirational quiet storm – ‘positive’ messages alluding to Jesus and a righteous walk of faith set to lightly groovin’ tracks that appealed primarily to adults. Upon the arrival of Kirk Franklin, the music and the culture of contemporary Christianity got a huge energy boost! Injecting a vigorous and youthful excitement to faith-walking, Kirk Franklin made it cool to be Christian, placing Godly messages in the same heavy rotation as other urban pop music. Over the last 14 years with hits such as ‘Stomp’, ‘Whatcha Lookin’ For’, ‘Looking for You’, ‘Revolution’ and ‘Lean on Me’, Kirk ascended to the upper echelons of gospel and pop. Beyond the music, he’s a highly exalted example of a man who achieved success without selling his soul (literally or figuratively) or his integrity. His messages now inhabit books, a forthcoming film and he even hosts his own TV talent search program on BET, “Sunday Best.”
Grammy-winning, multi-platinum, crossover gospel king Kirk Franklin is a man accustomed to firsts. For example, he was the first gospel artist to sell over a million copies of his first album, Kirk Franklin & The Family. Widely accepted and embraced almost immediately by the masses, that album spent 100 weeks at the top of Billboard magazine’s gospel charts, while also crossing over to the R&B side.

But despite that auspicious, record-shattering entrance, the world had seen only the smallest foreshadowing of the work of a man who, in less than a decade, would come to stand with the likes of gospel royalty such as Thomas A. Dorsey, James Cleveland and Andraé Crouch as one of the pivotal, defining forces of 20th century and-beyond gospel music.

Kirk’s meteoric rise to the apex of Gospel Music’s upper ranks may appear to have been quick, but it was far from glamorous. Abandoned as an infant by his biological mother and never knowing his father, he was raised by his Aunt Gertrude, a deeply religious woman who paid for his piano lessons by collecting aluminium cans when Franklin was only four years old. Though young Kirk possessed phenomenal prodigious musical gifts, surely Aunt Gertrude had no idea that this seed well sown into the life of a hyper young boy full of potential would impact the world on such a large scale.

By age 11 Kirk was directing adult choirs in the Dallas/Ft Worth area. A self-proclaimed “church boy” at heart, it was during a season of teenage rebellion that a 15 year-old Franklin came face to face with the gravity of his decisions when one of his friends was accidentally shot and killed. The tragic death of his friend served as a wake up call for the teenage musical prodigy, and he began composing songs, recording and formed the 17-member vocal ensemble, The Family.

His life took a dramatic turn in 1992 when he was signed to a recording contract. Since then, great commercial successes and brilliant, ground breaking artistry and musical innovation ever seen and heard in gospel music has followed.

Never defined solely as a gospel artist, Franklin is also responsible for several mainstream cross-over successes. Always celebrated for weaving seemingly disparate musical influences – R&B, modern rock, hip-hop, pop, jazz, gospel – into a seamless fabric, Kirk is known for creating his own singular style and sound that truly transcends any and all boundaries of genre, race, denomination or social background.

“I can look over my life and career now and see both seasons of success as well as struggles and pitfalls, but I still believe that it’s God working in me,” says Kirk. “There’s nothing any different in me than what’s in any Christian artist. I’m just very grateful that God is using my experience, my imperfections, and that when he gives me a song, it’s a song that connects with people.”
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