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Kirk Franklin music biography continued...

1970 in Fort Worth, Texas to a mother who abandoned him and a father he never knew. He was raised by a strict Baptist aunt who recognized his musical talent and encouraged him. By age 11, he was leading the Mt. Rose Baptist Church adult choir near Dallas. After a brief period of rebellion, Franklin returned to the fold with The Family, a 17-member choir composed of friends and associates from his younger days, backing him. In 1993, Franklin released his debut, Kirk Franklin & the Family, which spent 100 weeks on the gospel charts (some of those on top), crossed over to the R&B charts, and became the first gospel debut album to go platinum. His second album, Kirk Franklin & the Family Christmas, became the genre's first Christmas album to make it to number one, and his 1996 album Whatcha Lookin' 4 went gold as soon as it was released and established Franklin as "gospel's Garth Brooks."



Over the course of the next decade, Franklin would release several more albums and garner three Grammy awards. Kirk Franklin's 10th album, The Fight of My Life, was released in December 2007, and debuted on the Billboard 200 at #33. It subsequently reached #1 on both the Billboard Top Gospel and Top Christian albums charts, and it also peaked at #7 on the Billboard Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums Chart. Says Franklin: "I can look over my life and career now and see both seasons of success as well as struggles and pitfalls," says Kirk, "and God has allowed it all. It's all done with the purpose of the Lord drawing you closer to Him-getting you closer to where He wants you to be. And it can be painful sometimes until you reach the point where you can see it's all been for a purpose, and that's a true moment of awakening and rebirth." Franklin's millions of fans can trace that moment back to the time they first heard the gospel star's lyrics.