Commissioned is an American

urban contemporary gospel Urban/contemporary gospel is a modern subgenre of gospel music. Although the style developed gradually, early forms are generally dated to the 1970s, and the genre was well established by the end of the 1980s. The radio format is pitched prima ...

group from

Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at th ...

, Michigan. Members included

Fred Hammond Frederick William Hammond (born December 27, 1960) is an American gospel singer, bass guitar player, and record producer. He is regarded as one of the most popular figures in contemporary gospel music. He is known for using a variety of differe ...

Keith Staten Keith Anthony Staten (born January 25, 1964) is an American gospel musician. He started his solo music career, in 1990, with the release of, ''From the Heart'', by Lection Records. This was his breakthrough release upon the ''Billboard'' magazi ...

Marvin Sapp Bishop Marvin Louis Sapp Sr. (born January 28, 1967) is an American Gospel music singer-songwriter who recorded with the group Commissioned during the 1990s before beginning a record-breaking solo career. Sapp is also the founder and former sen ...

Marcus Cole The list of ''Babylon 5'' characters contains characters from the entire ''Babylon 5'' universe. The Babylon station was conceived as a political and cultural meeting place. As such, one of the show's many themes is the cultural and social intera ...

and

Montrell Darrett Montrel Darrett (born as Charles Joseph Montrel Darrett, November 4, 1969 in Evansville, IN) is an American singer, songwriter, composer, musician, actor, producer, screenwriter, artist and fashion designer. He is the founder and CEO of Urban Ico ...

. The group recorded twelve albums over a period of seventeen years, and were nominated for

Grammy The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pre ...

and Stellar awards.

Group history

The group originates from

, Michigan. The six original members were

, Mitchell Jones,

, Karl Reid, Michael Brooks and Michael Williams. The group formed in 1982, two years after Hammond played bass for

The Winans The Winans are an American gospel quartet from Detroit, Michigan consisting of brothers Marvin, Carvin, Michael and Ronald Winans. Members ''Please refer to the Winans family page for more detail on the individual members.'' About: Origins & Mus ...

. In 1990, Staten and Brooks left the group and were replaced with

, Maxx Frank and Eddie Howard, Jr. By 1994, Howard had left the group, and Williams left a year later. Hammond also left to pursue a career with the choir Radical For Christ. He was replaced by

. By 1999,

and Chris Poole had taken the place of Sapp, Frank and Darrett on the group's last studio album. The R&B group

Silk Silk is a natural protein fiber, some forms of which can be woven into textiles. The protein fiber of silk is composed mainly of fibroin and is produced by certain insect larvae to form cocoons. The best-known silk is obtained from the coc ...

covered Cover or covers may refer to: Packaging * Another name for a lid * Cover (philately), generic term for envelope or package * Album cover, the front of the packaging * Book cover or magazine cover ** Book design ** Back cover copy, part of co ...

the Commissioned ballad "Cry On" on the movie soundtrack for ''

Blankman ''Blankman'' is a 1994 American superhero comedy parody film directed by Mike Binder and starring Damon Wayans and David Alan Grier. It was written by Wayans and J. F. Lawton. Plot As kids, Darryl and Kevin Walker grew up as fans of the te ...

'' (1994). In 2002, Commissioned released a reunion album, which was recorded live at the Straightgate Church in Detroit, Michigan on October 26, 2001. Most of the group's former members reunited, and featured most of its greatest hits. The group performed live on stage during the 2002

Stellar Awards A Stellar Award is an award presented by SAGMA to recognize achievements in the Gospel music, gospel music industry.Sagma< ...

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...

, Georgia. In 2011, they were honored at the BMI Awards after the Stellar Awards. Gospel artists sang musical tributes, including:

Dawkins & Dawkins Dawkins & Dawkins is an American gospel music and Christian R&B duo from Davenport, Iowa, who are currently signed to Light Records. The group consist of two brothers, Anson Dawkins and Eric Dawkins. The first album, ''Dawkins & Dawkins'', was ...

Deitrick Haddon Deitrick Vaughn Haddon (born May 17, 1973) is an American gospel singer, songwriter, pianist, arranger, record producer, pastor, and actor. He is best known for progressive gospel, and contemporary styles of music. He is also one of the cast memb ...

, Marvin Sapp,

The Soul Seekers The Soul Seekers is an American gospel music group signed to RCA Inspiration, through their affiliation with GospoCentric Records. The group consist of nine members, who are the following; Charlie Bereal, Craig Brockman, Johnteris Tate, Warryn C ...

The Clark Sisters The Clark Sisters are an American gospel vocal group consisting of five sisters: Jacky Clark Chisholm (born 1948), Denise "Niecy" Clark-Bradford (born 1953), Elbernita "Twinkie" Clark (born 1954), Dorinda Clark-Cole (born 1957), and Karen Cla ...

and

Men of Standard Men of Standard is an American gospel group. Musical career The group spent the bulk of their tenure as signees to the Malaco Records subsidiary Muscle Shoals. Their album released on Columbia Records/Sony Gospel features production from Warryn ...

. The members who were present at the event were Hammond, Staten, Sapp, Jones, Reid, Williams, Frank, Darrett, Cole and Brooks. The group sang "Victory" from their sophomore record, ''Go Tell Somebody''. Hammond, Brooks, Staten, Sapp, Reid, Jones and Williams performed another reunion concert in 2019. It was hosted by the

Pentecostal Assemblies of the World The Pentecostal Assemblies of the World, Inc. (P.A.W.) is one of the world's largest Oneness Pentecostal denominations, and is headquartered in Indianapolis, Indiana. While it began in 1906 with Trinitarian beliefs, it was re-organized in 1916 as ...

Incorporated. The group was invited to perform to celebrate the 104th Summer Convention of the P.A.W. Inc.

Discography

Albums

Compilations

Singles

Guest appearances

Performance videos

''Billboard'' chart history

Albums

Awards

Nominations

Members

: lead vocals, background vocals, bass guitar (1982-1994, 2001–2002, 2011, 2013, 2018–present) *

: lead vocals, background vocals (1982-1990, 2001–2002, 2011, 2013, 2017–present) * Mitchell Jones: lead vocals, background vocals (1982-2002, 2011, 2013, 2017-present) * Karl Reid: lead vocals, background vocals (1982-2002, 2011, 2013, 2017-present) * Eddie Howard, Jr: keyboards (1990-1994) *

: lead vocals, background vocals (1990-1996, 2001–2002, 2011, 2013, 2018–present) * Michael Williams: drums (1982-1994, 2001–2002, 2011, 2018-present) *

: lead vocals, background vocals (1996-2002, 2013, 2017–2019, 2022-present) * Michael Brooks: keyboards (1982-1990, 2018–present) *

: lead vocals, background vocals (1995-1996) * Chris Poole (1999-2000) (deceased) * Maxx Frank: keyboards, B3 organ, mixing (1990-1996)

Footnotes

{{Authority control American gospel musical groups Musical groups from Detroit Musical groups established in 1984 Musical groups disestablished in 2011 1984 establishments in Michigan 2011 disestablishments in the United States African-American musical groups