Back from the brink of death: gospel star Kirk Franklin

Ebony, April, 1997 by Lisa Jones Townsel

Texas singer takes music ministry to new heights after near-fatal fall

Shock gripped the music world on November 1, 1996, when it received word that Kirk Franklin, the talented young star who redefined and repopularized gospel music, was unconscious and dangerously close to death.

Just two days after launching his third national tour, Franklin misstepped and fell 9 feet--head-first--into a darkened orchestra pit at the Memphis Cook Convention Center.

Rushed to Regional Medical Center at Memphis, the gospel star hovered between life and death, going in and out of consciousness. For three, long, agonizing hours, doctors and medical technicians huddled around his bed. There was guarded optimism, but some feared that he might have brain damage or that he might be paralyzed or, worse, that he might die. There were no broken bones, but Franklin did suffer contusions on the left side of his brain. His future looked bleak.

Was this the end of the road for the brilliant young music minister who had come out of Fort Worth, Texas, only a few years before with a gospel sound that made him a superstar to sinners and saints alike?

Just hours after the tragedy, there were alarming reports on radio stations and flash bulletins on TV that reported Franklin--the first traditional gospel artist to have a recording to reach platinum status--was seriously injured. There were even rumors that he was dead or close to death.

Yet, in a miraculous twist of fate, just 10 days after his hospital stay, Franklin experienced a leap of faith and health. Six weeks after the bizarre incident, he was strong enough to go to Nashville for the 12th Annual Stellar Awards Show, where he gave a high-energy performance and received top honors in five categories.

Physically rejuvenated, the hip-hop minister, who is known to mix a little razzle-dazzle with traditional church music, continued his amazing recovery when the 50-city "Tour Of Life" resumed the day after Christmas. His near-death ordeal, it seemed, only enhanced his performance and stage presence.

One of Franklin's most recent stops along the touring trail was in Chicago, where the Grammy-nominated entertainer thrilled sold-out audiences at the new Regal Theater on the city's South Side.

The individual flavors that Franklin, Yolanda Adams and Fred Hammond and his group, Radical For Christ, brought to the concert made it impossible for the tour to be a formal event. Instead, the high-voltage production more closely resembled an updated tent revival. With eyes closed and hands raised, the crowd clapped to Hammond's urban beat and swayed to Adams' jazzy gospel style. But the audience, a mix of young and old, stood, danced and hollered throughout Franklin's segment of the program.

"I'm grateful to be back, and I'm excited about what God is doing. The devil tried to take my life," Franklin said while strutting across the stage and pretending to stomp something under his shoe. "Devil, you must've forgotten who my Daddy is."

The crowd roared.

The crowd also howled when Franklin introduced his newly proclaimed, born-again Christian brother, Robert Kelly, a.k.a. R. Kelly. "I understand that some people may feel like his music is not for the body of Christ," said Franklin, who did the vocal arrangements for the tune, "Trade In My Life," on Kelly's third and most recent album. "But one thing I've noticed about him is that he's got a good heart, and he's hungry. So those of you who have friends who may not be like you think they should be, don't beat 'em upside the head. Just be what you're supposed to be in front of them. God will do the rest."

With that said, a conservatively dressed Kelly entered the stage, singing his chart-topping single, "I Believe I Can Fly," while intermittently explaining how his newfound relationship with Jesus Christ has changed his life.

Although Kelly's surprise visit was a crowd-pleaser, it was still obvious whom the majority of the concert-goers had come out to see that wintry Chicago evening--Kirk Franklin.

"His music just really inspires me, and his heart is set to do the will of the Lord," said a 24-year-old White fan from suburban Chicago.

One of the reasons for the new aura surrounding Franklin is the ordeal he went through. Franklin doesn't have any recollection of the accident or of that night. But, he believes, the fall was God's way of regaining control of his life and moving his ministry a notch higher. "There were some things in my life that had to fall," reveals Franklin in his characteristic raspy voice. "So when I fell, some things in my life fell, such as my temper; low self-esteem and other old habits and insecurities that God couldn't take to the next level."

Since the fall, Franklin says, he is more determined than ever to face the music and make some drastic life changes. "[The fall represented] a chance for me to step out and do what I'm supposed to be doing without being afraid," he says. "I'm not afraid about how people see me, view me, think about me. It doesn't matter to me anymore. There was a time when people didn't like me dancing on stage, but now I couldn't care less because people's lives are being touched by the ministry. I can't say that I didn't love God before the fall, but [the fall] gave me a boldness that says that if the devil was bold enough to try to do that to me, then I'm bold enough to do what I have to do to him."