Kirk Franklin

One of contemporary gospel music's brightest and most enduring stars, singer, songwriter, and producer Kirk Franklin emerged in the early '90s leading the Texas-based choir the Family, whose platinum-selling debut, Kirk Franklin & the Family, proved to not only be a chart-topping gospel success, but crossed over to the R&B and pop charts as well. This broad appeal would prove to be a recurring theme in Franklin's collaborations with the Family and another choir, God's Property, as well as in his subsequent solo career, which he started with The Rebirth of Kirk Franklin in 2002.

Franklin's fondness for collaborations within secular and Christian music circles, and his innate knack for combining charismatic gospel with R&B and hip-hop, has continued to appeal to a wide audience. He remains a perennial chart success and a frequent Grammy winner, proven repeatedly with Top 20, award-winning albums such as Hero, Hello Fear, Losing My Religion, and Long Live Love. Kingdom Book One, his collaboration with Maverick City Music, brought attention to mass incarceration, while the uplifting single "Try Love," arrived in 2023.