Lost Grammy Nominee: Kirk Franklin's "Lean On Me"

It was almost Song of the Year, but what is it?

Welcome to my series on lost Grammy nominees. Once a month or so, I’ll write a bonus post for paid subscribers that looks at an obscure nominee in one of three major Grammy categories: Best New Artist, Record of the Year, or Song of the Year.You can find all the entries in the series right here.

Kirk Franklin might be the biggest gospel music star of all time. While many artists occasionally record gospel music, Franklin only records it, and he’s sold millions upon millions of records. Back in the 90s, his albums frequently hit the top 10 of Billboard’s main album chart, and his video for the song “Stomp” was even on MTV. The idea of a gospel artist having a music video on MTV still doesn’t compute, and I remember this happening!

Originally, part of Franklin’s whole deal was that he recorded with various gospel choirs. The most famous was called The Family, but there was also God’s Property and One Nation Crew. Brand name choirs like these have long been a staple of gospel music, but Franklin managed to make himself the personality around which these ensembles rotated. That’s a good way to make yourself a household name.