Gospel Legend Kirk Franklin's Chart-Topping HELLO FEAR Certified Gold
Los Angeles, Calif. KIRK FRANKLIN and his chart-topping album HELLO FEAR just went certified Gold, as reported by RIAA. The announcement follows Franklin’s two GRAMMY® awards wins for Best Gospel Album (HELLO FEAR) and Best Gospel Song (“I Smile”) earlier this week at the 54th Annual GRAMMY® Awards celebration held on February 12 at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. The legendary gospel artist on Verity Gospel Music Group, with these two new trophies, now has nine career GRAMMY® awards. Franklin will also perform at this year’s live NBC Network NAACP Image award show this Friday, February 17 at 8:00 p.m. EST -- in which he is nominated for two awards – Outstanding Song (“I Smile”) and Outstanding Gospel Album (HELLO FEAR).
Franklin’s HELLO FEAR debuted at #1 on Billboard’s Gospel sales chart and #5 on the Billboard Top 200 when it was released last Spring, making the album the fourth highest Gospel debut in Soundscan history. In addition to his GRAMMY® wins and NAACP nominations, Franklin was also awarded four Stellar Awards for HELLO FEAR and “I Smile” -- Song of The Year, CD of the Year, Producer of the Year and Contemporary CD of the Year. Franklin performed “I Smile” on last year’s American Idol finale, and was #1 at Gospel radio for 23 weeks, hitting Urban AC radio at #1. Currently, Franklin stars as Baylor Sykes in the feature film Joyful Noise starring Dolly Parton and Queen Latifah. He also hosts and executive produces gospel talent show "Sunday Best," the highest-rated gospel program in BET network history, now heading into its fifth season.
Kirk Franklin is the #1 selling Gospel artist of all time. For two decades, he has been a pioneer in gap-bridging musicianship, uniting gospel, hip hop, pop and R&B audiences. His rhythms have resulted in albums that have consistently topped Billboard's Gospel, Christian and R&B/Hip Hop charts. He is a New York Times best-selling author for “The Blueprint: A Plan for Living Above Life’s Storms (Gotham/Penguin). To date, Franklin has garnered nine GRAMMY® Awards, an American Music Award, 35 Stellar Awards, 14 Dove Awards (CCM), six NAACP Image Awards and two BET Awards.
Franklin was named GQ’s “Best Dressed Men” at this year’s GRAMMY® Awards.