Kirk Franklin has 20 Grammy awards to his name. As many as Bruce Springsteen. Yet in all probability you've never heard of him.
Franklin is America's most successful gospel artist of recent decades. He performs for the first time in Christchurch, Wellington and Auckland in December. He's recorded 14 studio albums, sells out arenas and stadia. He's considered to have revolutionized the genre - blending it with R&B, hip-hop and pop.
Franklin burst onto the scene in the 1990s. His message, he says, is for everyone. He's written for Whitney Houston and collaborated with everyone from Kanye West and Mary J Blige to Bono. And that makes him no poster boy of conservative Christians. He openly criticises many aspects of the church, while at the same time celebrating God.
He spoke with Culture 101's Mark Amery from Dallas, Texas.
