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 his entry, the music and the culture of contemporary Christianity got an energy boost enough to give Red Bull a run for its money! 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, an upcoming movie, and he even hosts his own BET talent search program, “Sunday Best.”

The Lord has blessed Kirk Franklin to be not only a commercial success – the biggest selling gospel artist in Soundscan history with over12 million albums sold and over 20 #1 singles at Gospel radio, plus 5 Grammy Awards; an American Music Award; 34 Stellar Awards (gospel); 12 Dove Awards (CCM); 4 NAACP Awards; 2 BET Music Awards, and a Soul Train Award on his mantle – he is a hero and example to anyone who thinks their life is beyond redemption. To hear his testimony is to hear that of a man who’s risen from the bleakest streets to the highest heights. Deeper still, he understands that the literal fight of his life is a battle done daily.

Franklin's road to the top, though quick, was far from smooth. Abandoned by his mother and never having known his father, Franklin was reared by his Aunt Gertrude, a deeply religious woman who raised him as a strict Baptist. When he was four, she paid for his piano lessons by collecting aluminium cans. The lessons were money well spent, for Franklin was a natural musician who could sight read and play by ear with equal facility.

At age 11, he was leading the Mt. Rose Baptist Church adult choir near Dallas. Despite, or because of, his church background, Franklin began rebelling in his teens and getting into trouble until one of his friends was accidentally shot and killed at age 15. Realizing that he had chosen a bad road, Franklin returned to the fold and began composing songs, recording, and conducting.

Through a lot of the 90’s, Kirk was backed up by his 17-member choir, The Family, a group comprising friends and associates from his younger days (interestingly, one member of the Family, Jon Drummond, made it to the semi-finals heat of the 100-meter sprint at the 1996 Olympics). Support from his pastor, his wife Tammy Franklin, whom he married in early 1996, and the two children they brought to the marriage help keep Franklin close to his religious core, and he returned in 1998 with Nu Nation Project. The album topped the Billboard Top 200 charts (peaking at number seven) and remained on the Billboard Gospel Albums chart for 49 weeks, paving the way for Franklin's third Grammy (Best Contemporary Soul Gospel Album).

Over the course of the next few years, Franklin worked on the soundtrack of the movie Kingdom Come (contributing the single "Thank You") and released another album, 2002's The Rebirth of Kirk Franklin. Making good on the success of its predecessor, the disc soared to number four on the Billboard 200 chart and spent 29 weeks on the Gospel Albums chart. Two more chart-topping albums emerged out in the next four years, Hero (2005) and Songs for the Storm, Vol. 1, both of which topped the Gospel charts at the time of their release. Hero went on to win two Grammys in late 2006. More recently (2007), Kirk released another stellar record in The Fight of My Life.

Still, despite all the adulation and brouhaha, Franklin remains a humble, devout Christian, eschewing the title "entertainer" in favor of labeling himself as just a "church boy."

“For me success is very personal,” Kirk comments. “Next January (2010), I will have been married 14 years. I have kids that know me and love me. I'm not only married I'm happily married! I'm a Black man in my 30s still hungry for The Lord and still hungry for God to knock down the stuff I see in me that still ain't right. That's the thinking I choose to keep in close contact with in terms of how I define 'success.' I've been working on me - and there's a lot more work to be done.”

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