Hero (Kirk Franklin album)

Hero is the eighth album by Kirk Franklin, released October 4, 2005 on GospoCentric Records. Hero was certified as Gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) on December 2, 2005 (2005-12-02) and Platinum on December 14, 2006 (2006-12-14).^[2] it is one of the best-selling gospel albums of all time. In 2007, Hero won the Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Soul Gospel Album and "Imagine Me" won the Grammy Award for Best Gospel Song.^[3]

Hero
Studio album by Kirk Franklin
Released	October 4, 2005
Recorded	July 2005
Genre	Urban contemporary gospel
Length	77:26
Label	B-Rite, GospoCentric, J Records
Producer	Kirk Franklin, J Moss
Kirk Franklin chronology
A Season of Remixes (2003) Hero (2005) Songs for the Storm (2006)

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	[1]

Synopsis

Produced by Franklin and J. Moss, the album features songs with several urban contemporary gospel and R&B artists including Dorinda Clark-Cole, Tye Tribbett, Marvin Winans (member of the Winans), Stevie Wonder, Yolanda Adams, and Moss himself.^[4]

Track listing

#	Title	Time	Notes
1.	"Intro (America the Beautiful)"	0:45	Vocals by the African Children’s Choir
2.	"Looking for You"	4:06	Samples "Haven't You Heard" by Patrice Rushen and appears on the soundtrack to "Norbit".
3.	"Hero" (featuring Dorinda Clark Cole)	5:20
4.	"Interlude #1" (featuring Fred Hammond)	0:55
5.	"Let It Go" (featuring Sonny Sandoval of P.O.D. and tobyMac)	4:59	Samples "Shout" by Tears for Fears
6.	"The Process"	1:08
7.	"Imagine Me"	5:18	2007 Grammy Award for Best Gospel Song
8.	"Could've Been" (featuring J Moss and Tye Tribbett)	6:47
9.	"Better"	4:00	Produced By Dre & Vidal
10.	"Afterwhile" (featuring Yolanda Adams)	2:51
11.	"Brokenhearted" (featuring Marvin L. Winans)	6:01
12.	"Without You"	5:02
13.	"Keep Your Head"	4:36	Samples Keep Your Head to the Sky by Earth, Wind, and Fire
14.	"Why" (featuring Stevie Wonder)	4:36	Samples Free by Deniece Williams
15.	"First Love"	5:52
16.	"The Appeal"	7:21
17.	"Brokenhearted (Reprise)"	1:09
18.	"Interlude #2"	0:30
19.	"Sunshine"	4:59	Samples "You Bring The Sun Out" by Randy Crawford
20.	"Outro"	1:11	Kerrion Franklin

Personnel

*Note: Personnel listing from Hero album liner.^[4]

Vocalists

• Ashley Guilbert
• Nikki Ross
• Daphanie Wright
• Anaysha Figueroa
• Faith Anderson
• Erica Davis
• Jana Bell
• Charmaine Swimpson
• Isaac Carree
• Eric Moore
• Jason Champion
• Anthony Evans
• Myron Butler

Instrumentalists

• Kirk Franklin - Keyboards, Minimoog, Piano, Drum Programming
• Terry Baker - Drums
• Shaun Martin - Keyboards, Drum Programming, Minimoog, Programming, Drums
• Jerome Harmon - Keyboards, Hammond B3
• Braylon Lacy - Bass Guitar
• Doc Powell - Lead Guitar, Acoustic Guitar
• Ernie G - DJ, Keyboards, Programming
• Jason Bell - Lead Guitar
• Sheila E. - Percussion, Percussion Color
• Chris Godbey - Programming
• Vidal Davis - Percussion, Additional Instruments
• Andre Harris - Percussion, Additional Instruments
• Ryan Toby - Percussion
• Jason Boyd - Percussion
• Humberto Ruiz - Trombone
• Lee Thornburg - Trumpet
• Paul Cerra - Saxophone
• Dave Monsch - Baritone Sax
• Jamie Hovorka - Trumpet

Orchestra

• Assa Drori – Violin
• Agnes Gottschewsky – Violin
• Armen Garabedian – Violin
• Elizabeth Wilson – Violin
• Sally Berman – Violin
• Brian Benning – Violin
• Irma Neumann – Violin
• Berj Garabedian – Violin
• Robert Brosseau – Violin
• Shari Zippert – Violin
• Kazi Pitelka – Viola
• Jorge Moraga – Viola
• Renita Koven – Viola
• Karie Prescott – Viola
• Cecilia Tsan – Cello
• Dan Smith – Cello
• Miguel Martinez – Cello
• Earl Madison – Cello
• Frances Liu – Contrabass
• Nicholas Phillippon – Contrabass
• Katie Kirkpatrick – Harp
• Gary Foster – Flute
• Sheridan Stokes – Flute
• Vince Trombetta, Jr. – Flute
• Larry Caplan – Flute
• Don Shelton – Clarinet
• Jeff Driskill – Alto Clarinet
• Phil Feather – Bass Clarinet/Oboe
• John Mitchell – E♭ Contrabass Clarinet/Bassoon
• David Duke – French horn
• John Reynolds – French horn
• Loren Marstellar – Baritone horn
• Chuck Koontz – Tuba
• Brent Fischer – cymbals/Timpani

Notable Singles

Hero featured the singles "Looking for You" and "Imagine Me". "Looking for You" was released as a single on September 20, 2005 in the U.S. and was a top-five hit on the Billboard's Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart.^[5][6]

Charts

Hero peaked at No. 13 on The Billboard 200 chart on October 22, 2005 (2005-10-22), ^[6] It also reached No. 4 on the Billboard Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart.^[6]

Weekly charts Chart (2005) Peak position US Billboard 200[7] 13 US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums (Billboard)[8] 4

Year-end charts Chart (2006) Position US Billboard 200[9] 108 US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums (Billboard)[10] 32 Decade-end charts Chart (2000-2009) Peak position US Top Gospel Albums (Billboard)[11] 5

Awards

In 2006, the album won a Dove Award for Urban Album of the Year at the 37th GMA Dove Awards. The song "Looking for You" also won a Dove Award for Urban Recorded Song of the Year.^[12]