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Kirk Franklin
Kirk Franklin on the cover of his 2005 album Hero.
Background information
Birth name	Kirk Franklin
Born	January 26, 1970
Origin	Riverside, Texas, United States
Genre(s)	Gospel,R&B
Occupation(s)	Songwriter, record producer, music director
Years active	1993–present
Label(s)	Zomba, Gospocentric, Sparrow
Associated acts	The Family God's Property 1NC
Website	Official website

Kirk Franklin (born January 26, 1970 in Riverside, Texas) is a Grammy Award winning, platinum-selling African American musician who blended gospel, hip hop, and R&B in the 1990s. He released his first gospel album, Kirk Franklin & Family, in 1993, and is known as the leader of contemporary gospel choirs such as Kirk Franklin & the Family, Kirk Franklin's Nu Nation, God's Property and Kirk Franklin Presents 1NC.

A native of Fort Worth, Texas, Kirk was raised by his aunt, Gertrude Franklin, after being abandoned by his teenaged parents. He developed a talent for music early, playing the piano at age four and becoming music director of his church at age eleven. After getting kicked out of school in his teenaged years, having a girlfriend become pregnant, and after a friend was shot to death he returned to the church.^{[citation needed]} 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 and began his recording career.

He has integrated hip hop styles with gospel themes in albums such as The Nu Nation Project and God's Property, which achieved success on the Billboard Pop Album, R&B and gospel charts.

Franklin has collaborated with the biggest names in gospel music, including Mary Mary, Tonex, Donnie McClurkin, Richard Smallwood, Crystal Lewis, Pastor Shirley Caesar, tobyMac, Jaci Velasquez, and Willie Neal Johnson. He also has displayed a willingness to collaborate with artists from the secular realm, including Bono, Mary J. Blige,and R. Kelly on the hit single from his album Nu Nation Project, "Lean on Me."

On October 4, 2005, his new long-awaited album Hero was released, with his singles "Looking For You" and latest single "Imagine 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.).[1]

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 Portable Sounds (US #10, Top Christian Albums #1).

• "Melodies From Heaven"
• "Stomp"
• "You Are the Only One"
• "Lean On Me"
• "Revolution"
• "Nobody"
• "Brighter Day"
• "Looking for You"
• "Imagine Me"

• In 1996, after falling off the stage into the orchestra pit, he was knocked unconscious for several hours. His "My Life Is in Your Hands" is said to be inspired by that experience.^{[citation needed]}
• Kirk Franklin & the Family was the first gospel debut album to go platinum.^{[citation needed]}
• All of Kirk Franklin's albums peaked at #1 in the Top Gospel Albums chart.^{[citation needed]}
• All of Kirk Franklin's albums peaked at #1 in the Top Contemporary Christian chart (except the 1995 christmas album Kirk Franklin & the Family Christmas that peaked at #2).^{[citation needed]}
• Kirk Franklin appears on the album "Out the Box" by Tonex
• Kirk Franklin appears on Mary Mary's 2005 Album, Mary Mary on the song "And I"
• Kirk Franklin appears on Yolanda Adams 2005 album Day By Day on the song "Tonight".
• Kirk Franklin appears as choir arranger/conductor on "Shelter In The Rain" from Stevie Wonder's 2005 A Time to Love album.

Kirk Franklin appears as a special guest on the VeggieTales 2006 Boyz in the Sink "Live from Paducah" album!

• Kirk Franklin's official website

• One Nation Crew at All Music Guide
• The Oprah Winfrey Show