by Michael P Coleman
Gospel superstar Kirk Franklin will kick off his 20 Years In One Night Tour in March. It will be Franklin’s first solo tour and will stop in 24 major cities nationwide, including Los Angeles on April 15th and Oakland on April 16th. Tickets will be on sale this weekend!
The announcement comes on the heels of the release of Franklin’s 11th studio album, Losing My Religion (Fo Yo Soul Recordings / RCA Records) in November. The album, which marked Franklin’s 11th consecutive #1 debut, premiered at the top of Billboard’s Current Gospel, Top Christian / Gospel, and R&B Albums charts. It also debuted at #10 on Billboard’s Top 200 pop chart.
To ice that impressive cake, Franklin just received a Grammy nomination for Best Gospel Song / Performance for Losing My Religion’s #1 single, “Wanna Be Happy”.
The 20 Years in One Night Tour will be a retrospective of Franklin’s 20-plus year body of work, which has garnered him nine Grammy Awards, 40 Stellar Awards and 16 Gospel Music Association Dove Awards, as well as the love of millions of fans worldwide.
I talked with Franklin as he announced the new tour, and asked the legendary artist, songwriter, and producer what his recent successes, after 20 plus years, meant to him. I also asked him what fans can expect from him in concert this spring.
“It will be the first tour that I’ve done by myself,” Franklin told me. “I want people to know that I am not going to let them down. I’m going to do 20 years of music in one night, and I’m not going to leave until they leave.”
“I want it to be the most exciting opportunity to celebrate life, to celebrate God, to celebrate grace, and to have a party all at the same time,” Franklin continued. “That’s my goal.”
About the reception of Losing My Religion, Franklin earnestly shared “It was very, very, very humbling. I was thankful that I still have an opportunity to do music and to reach people, man. So I give God all the glory for that and all the credit for that.”
Franklin’s new album boldly declares his love for Jesus, while challenging the church to step it up. The album’s highlights include the rousing “Road Trip” and the impeccable, stirring “Pray For Me”.
On the album’s opening spoken word intro, Franklin defiantly states that he’s losing his religion and he “thanks God” for that. He then tells listeners “Helping you lose yours? That’s my job!”
Franklin wants church folk to lose their religion? I asked the trailblazer about this nonconventional, seemingly counterintuitive message, at least for an award-winning gospel artist.
“Religion can be very cold,” Franklin reflected. “When you look at the decline of church attendance across the board, I think it’s because we’re pushing ‘religion’ more than ‘relationship’. Some people never get to know God as a father and a friend, because of our trying to make him a very distant guy or because of…the rituals and the rules that never let you get to the heart of who God is. Rules without relationship lead to rebellion, so we never really get people to fall in love with God.”
To paraphrase Franklin’s first worldwide hit from 1993, THAT’s the reason why he sings.
Tickets for Franklin’s 20 Years In One Night Tour will go on sale December 19th at 10am PST at ticketmaster.com.
Look for more of our EXCLUSIVE conversation with Kirk Franklin in the coming weeks at sacculturalhub.com
Michael P Coleman is a Sacramento-based freelance writer. Connect with him at michaelpcoleman.com or on Twitter: @ColemanMichaelP
