Throwback Thursday: Kirk Franklin – “Lean on Me” (featuring Gerald Levert, Crystal Lewis, Mary J. Blige and Bono) [Live at the 41st Grammy Awards]
Have you ever gone to church on a Thursday? Well, there’s a first time for everything.
In September of 1998, Kirk Franklin released “Lean on Me” as the lead single of his fifth studio album, The Nu Nation Project. Lyrically and thematically, the song feels very much like a church-ified reworking of Bill Withers’ “Lean on Me”, but sonically, it is very much your standard gospel song.
Kirk Franklin wrote the song and co-produced it with Dan Shea. Though he’s officially the only credited artist, he enlisted R. Kelly, Crystal Lewis, Mary J. Blige and Bono to take on lead vocal duties. Yes, I know what you’re thinking, and it is certainly unfortunate that we can’t fully enjoy a lot of amazing music because R. Kelly turned out to be a complete monster.
For what it’s worth, the video below is from the live performance of the song at the 1999 Grammy Awards, where Gerald LeVert took R. Kelly’s verse and background singer Dalon Collins took his line on the bridge. And while we’re on the topic of the Grammys, I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention that the song was a Song of the Year nominee that year.
Fun fact: Before they were starring on Tyler Perry movies, David and Tamela Mann were members of Kirk Franklins choir, The Family. And on “Lean on Me,” Tamela gives us the best ad libs on the track.
Kirk Franklin makes the kind of gospel music that can turn a heathen into a believer, and for that, he will remain the goat in that genre (his lack of singing talent notwithstanding). Click play and give praise.
No Comments