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.
