January 26, 1970 Kirk Dwayne Franklin, gospel music singer, was born in Fort Worth, Texas. Franklin began to take piano lessons at the age of four and became the music director at his church at the age of eleven. In the early 1990s, he organized a choir called The Family and in 1993 they released their debut album, “Kirk Franklin & The Family,” which was the first gospel album to sell more than a million copies and remained on the gospel music charts for two years. Subsequent albums include “Whatcha Lookin’ 4” (1995) and “God’s Property from Kirk Franklin’s Nu Nation” (1997), both of which won the Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Soul Gospel Album. In 2001, Franklin went solo and released “The Rebirth of Kirk Franklin” (2002), “Hero” (2005), which won the Grammy Awards for Best Contemporary R&B Gospel Album and Best Gospel Song for “Imagine Me,” “The Fight of My Life” (2007), and “Hello Fear” (2011).
