Franklin was born and raised in Fort Worth, Texas. Abandoned by his teenage mother and father at the age of three, the orphaned Franklin was adopted by a distant sixty-four year old aunt, Gertrude Franklin. he began playing the piano at the age of four. On Saturday mornings his aunt would collect cans to pay for his music lessons. On Sunday mornings the same woman, the only mother he ever knew, made sure he was in church.
By the time he was out of kindergarten, he was singing and playing on the church gospel circuit. At the age of seven he was offerred a recording contract. At eleven he was appointed minister of music at Mount Saint Rose Baptist Church. It was then he began to write, arrange and re-arange Christian music. "My first triumph," recalls Franklin, "was turning Elton John's 'Benny and the Jets' into a gospel tune." At nineteen he did his first home recording. Franklin gave the tape to Milton Biggham (President of Savoy Music Group) who was so impressed that the wunderkind was invited to work with the D.F.W. mass Choir on their debut album. In 1992 he began to realize his vision of a new gospel sound. In choosing the talented artists that comprise The Family, Franklin handpicked seventeen of the richest voices in the area.
As word of Franklin's impending solo project spread to the major labels a bidding war ensued to sign him to a lucrative contract. In 1993, after much prayer and reflection, he signed with a brand new fledgling label, Gospo Centric. Gospel Music veteran Vicki Mack-Lataillade (CEO, Gospo Centric) started the company with $6,000. she borrowed from her father's postal pension, and Franklin was among the first artists signed to the label. A month after the release of Kirk Franklin and the Family the CD sat atop Billboard's gospel chart. He recently signed a multi-million dollar contract with Gospo Centric, and in January of 1997 Gospo Centric was named the #1 Gospel label in the country, fielding five artists and eight albums in the top 20.
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