''Long Live Love'' is the twelfth

studio album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as Digital distribution#Music, digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early ...

by American musician

Kirk Franklin Kirk Dewayne Franklin (born January 26, 1970) is an American songwriter, choir director, gospel singer, and rapper. He is best known for leading urban contemporary gospel ensembles such as The Family, God's Property, and One Nation Crew (1NC) a ...

RCA Inspiration RCA Inspiration (formerly Verity Gospel Music Group) is a gospel music group operating under Sony Music. History Inception In late 2002, BMG completed the purchase of the Zomba Group for US$2.74 billion and as a part of that deal, acquired the g ...

, a division of

RCA Records RCA Records is an American record label currently owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America. It is one of Sony Music's four flagship labels, alongside RCA's former long-time rival Columbia Records; also A ...

, alongside Fo Yo Soul Recordings released the album on May 31, 2019. It debuted at number-one on the US

Top Gospel Albums The ''Billboard'' charts tabulate the relative weekly popularity of songs and albums in the United States and elsewhere. The results are published in ''Billboard'' magazine. ''Billboard'' biz, the online extension of the ''Billboard'' charts, pr ...

chart, becoming his 13th release to top the chart, with 20,000 equivalent album units earned in its first week. With this, Franklin became the first artist to simultaneously top all five Billboard gospel charts: Top Gospel Albums,

Hot Gospel Songs The ''Billboard'' charts tabulate the relative weekly popularity of songs and albums in the United States and elsewhere. The results are published in '' Billboard'' magazine. ''Billboard'' biz, the online extension of the ''Billboard'' charts, p ...

Gospel Airplay The ''Billboard'' charts tabulate the relative weekly popularity of songs and albums in the United States and elsewhere. The results are published in ''Billboard'' magazine. ''Billboard'' biz, the online extension of the ''Billboard'' charts, pr ...

, Gospel Streaming Songs and Gospel Digital Song Sales. The album received two Grammys at the

62nd Annual Grammy Awards The 62nd Annual Grammy Awards ceremony was held on January 26, 2020, at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. It recognized the best recordings, compositions, and artists of the eligibility year, running from October 1, 2018, to August 31, 2019. Al ...

, where it won

Best Gospel Album The Grammy Award for Best Gospel Album is an honor presented at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards, to recording artists for quality albums in the Gospel music genre. Honors in s ...

and the single "Love Theory" won

Best Gospel Song The Grammy Award for Best Gospel Song is an honor presented at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards, to recording artists for quality songs in the gospel music genre. Honors in seve ...

Background

Following the release of the first single, "Love Theory", the title of the album was announced in March 2019 along with its release date and an upcoming tour in support of the album.

Critical reception

Timothy Yap of Hallels.com gave the album a positive review, rating the album 4 stars out of 5. In his review he said " It canvasses a plethora of topics from social hatred to idolatry to the Cross. It exposes us to all sub-genres of Gospel music" from old school choir to soul-massaging ballads. In short, this album contains everything we love about Franklin."

Track listing

Personnel

Musicians

* Kirk Franklin: Keyboards *

Shaun Martin Shaun Martin is an American composer, arranger, producer, and multi-instrumental musician. Martin is a member of the jazz fusion band Snarky Puppy, as well as music director for Gospel music star Kirk Franklin, and former Minister of Music at Dal ...

: Keyboards, Programming, Additional Keyboards * Mark Lettieri: Guitar * Kermit Wells: Hammond B-3 * Matthew Ramsey: Bass * Caziah Franklin: Drums * Maxwell Stark: Programming * Johnnie Murray: Guitar * Mike Bereal: Hammond B-3 * Keith Taylor: Bass * Terry Baker: Drums * Philip Lassiter: Trumpet * Doug DeHays: Saxophone * Erik Hughes: Trombone

Vocalists

* Anaysha Figueroa * Charmaine Broome * Melodie Rose * Amber Bullock * Darian Yancey * Minon Sarten * Emerald Boyd * Sharon Willingham * Deon Yancey * Eric Dawkins * Isaac Carree * Michael Bethany

Charts

References

{{Authority control 2019 albums Grammy Award for Best Gospel Album Kirk Franklin albums RCA Records albums