Few gospel artists can boast of the consistency of sales, radio airplay and concert appearances that Fred Hammond has achieved over the course of his career. As a solo artist, founder of the pioneering urban group, Commissioned, and his work with Radical for Christ combined, Fred has sold over 5 million albums and these endeavors have made him a mainstay on Billboard's Gospel Chart top 10, along with frequent appearances on the magazine's Heatseekers and Music Video Sales charts. In addition, as if that were not enough, Hammond's work as a producer has landed him in the #1 spot among gospel producers according to the Gospel Music Round-up.
Throughout his professional career, Hammond has maintained a reputation for excellence, racking up numerous awards and nominations including the Grammy, the BET, N.A.A.C.P. Image, Stellar, Dove, and GMWA Excellence Awards.
Beyond Hammond's individual success, his achievements as CEO of Face to Face Productions have placed him in a class by himself. Since the company's founding in 1992, Hammond has served as producer on more than 80 album projects. With that level of productivity, it is not surprising that the Face to Face sound has dominated the gospel marketplace. Their recent success in bringing the praise and worship format to the African-American church has resulted in the development of a new genre of gospel music, Urban Praise & Worship. As the architect behind the new phenomenon in Gospel music, Fred has become one of the most respected names in the industry. His previous release {Pages of Life} Chapters I & II has exceeded Platinum status and held the #1 position on the Billboard Gospel Charts for over 15 weeks. His latest release Somethin' Bout Love bombarded Billboard's #1 position on the Gospel Charts for over 12 weeks and was hailed as one of the year's best-selling gospel albums for 2004.
The pages continue to turn for the platinum recording artist! Hammond has taken his creative savvy to a higher level with his latest venture, The Gospel. A feature film both Executive Produced and Inspired by Hammond, boasts a stellar cast including Boris Kojo, Nona Gaye, Donnie McClurkin, Yolanda Adams, Hezikiah Walker and Martha Munizzi. Scheduled for release in October 2005, the film is receiving rave reviews by mainstream critics and is just picture proof of Hammond's creative genius!
Hammond who is widely considered the architect of "urban praise and worship" has created a whole new genre of contemporary Gospel music with the establishment of his exciting new label "F. Hammond Music Label". Its debut release entitled "In Case You Missed… And Then Some", featured brand new artists on the F. Hammond Music Label including Joann Rosario, Shea Norman, & The Singletons and has sold well over 200,000 copies.
In addition to Hammond's studio career, he has continued to take his special brand of gospel to audiences around the world, performing an average of 30 weeks per year. Hammond has headlined thousands of concert dates with an average audience attendance of 3,000, in addition to television appearances on the nationally syndicated The Stellar Awards, Lou Rawls Parade of Stars, BET's Celebration of Gospel Music, BET's Walk of Fame, N.A.A.C.P.'s A Tribute to Stevie Wonder, 106 & Park and TBN's highly-rated shows The Pat Boone Show, Praise the Lord, and The 700 Club.
In his second decade in the industry, Hammond shows no signs of slowing down. In 1997, he shared the stage with Kirk Franklin & Yolanda Adams performing before more than 500,000 people on The Tour of Life, the most successful tour in gospel music history! In 1998, he continued to find touring success as the Creative Director and Featured Artist on Walt "Baby" Love's Power 98 Tour, ALW's The Living Proof Tour and ALW's The Shout 2000 Tour.
Hammond continues to take the entertainment industry by storm, writing and directing the smash hit musical drama "Been There, Done That" with America's favorite TV Judge, Greg Mathis. As for Hammond's acting career, this production merely rekindled the fire! In addition to his work on the hit play "Only The Strong", Hammond has debuted in several Daimler-Chrysler commercials and is continuing his work on several theatrical productions and feature films.
So as you can see, Hammond is truly on a mission to exceed the bounds of mediocrity!
