Kirk Franklin Announces ‘King’s Men’ Tour with McClurkin, Sapp, Houghton

Gospel star Kirk Franklin announced that he was partnering with Live Nation to produce a major national tour featuring himself and three other huge male gospel stars—Donnie McClurkin, Marvin Sapp and Israel Houghton—and the tour will be called “The King’s Men.”

Franklin, who won this year’s Grammy Awards for Best Gospel Song and Best Gospel Album for “Hello Fear” at the February ceremonies, said this was the first time in history that Live Nation—the biggest concert promoter in the country—was sponsoring a gospel tour. During a radio appearance today on the “Steve Harvey Morning Show,” Franklin said it was difficult to choose the other artists because there are so many great artists on the scene right now.

“I wanted to get the best, the greatest, but there are so many great artists out there I couldn’t do them all on one tour—otherwise that would be like Woodstock weekend,” he said. “But we will turn this into a brand, maybe do a new group next time. I want people to see that us brothers can stand together and reach people.”

Franklin said he would also want to do a tour of the top female gospel stars in the future.

The King’s Men tour will kick off on September 16 in Phoenix. Other stops on the tour will include Los Angeles, Atlanta, Dallas, Houston, Miami, Washington, D.C., Philadelphia, Cleveland and Brooklyn, New York. Tickets are available at Ticketmaster.com, a partner of Live Nation.

Independent journalism doesn't fund itself.

We hope this story was worth your time. For over 14 years, Atlanta Black Star has stayed Black-owned and independently run. We didn't get here by waiting on ad budgets that were never built to prioritize us. Our readers did that.

Corporate support for Black media has always been thin. Outlets like ours get roughly 1% of the $170 billion spent on U.S. advertising each year, and that margin is shrinking further as advertisers walk back the DEI-linked commitments they made in 2020. That's the backdrop. It's not why we're asking.

We know a request for support isn't why you came here. But without readers choosing to fund this work directly, the depth of reporting we can do at home and abroad shrinks along with everyone else's. If you're not in a position to give, that doesn't change how much we value you as a reader.

If you are able to, a recurring contribution does more for us than a single one-time gift, because it lets us plan the next investigation instead of just the next invoice. It takes about 30 seconds, no long form, no account. Thank you for continuing to support independent journalism and freedom of the press.

Back to top