Fred Hammond

Official Biography

(courtesy of FredHammondMusic.com)

For more than 21 years, gospel listeners around the world have known Fred Hammond as a talented songwriter, bassist and vocalist. Throughout that time, he has been known within the music industry as a gifted musical arranger and producer. But, his work with Face to Face Productions Corporation, the company for which he is both founder and CEO, has earned him the title the "Babyface" of gospel.

Few gospel artists can boast of the consistency of sales, radio airplay and concert appearances which Hammond has achieved over the course of his career. As a solo artist and member of the pioneering urban group, Commissioned, he has sold nearly 2 million albums. Since retiring from that group in 1995, his work with Radical for Christ has 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 life, Hammond has maintained a reputation for excellence, racking up numerous awards and nominations, as the leader of the two chart-busting musical acts, Commissioned and more recently, Fred Hammond & Radical for Christ. His projects have received and been nominated for every major award including the Grammy, and the 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 reached Platinum status and held the #1 position on the Billboard Gospel Charts for over 15 weeks and remains on Billboard's Gospel Charts. His latest release Somethin' Bout Love (June 04) bombarded Billboard's #1 position on the Billboard Gospel Charts for over 12 weeks and is being hailed as one of the year's best-selling gospel albums as it vastly approaches gold status!

The pages continue to turn in this new millennium for the platinum recording artist. Hammond is taking his music savvy to a higher level with his latest business venture "F. Hammond Music Label". "F. Hammond Music Label" is a unique partnership between Hammond and his record label Verity Records. Hammond who is widely considered the architect of "urban praise and worship" is creating a whole new genre of contemporary Gospel music with the establishment of this exciting new label. Its debut release entitled "In Case You Missed¡¦ And Then Some" features some brand new artists on the F. Hammond Music Label and sold well over 100,000 copies. The label also features Joann Rosario, The Singletons and Shea Norman, whose projects are taking the industry by storm!

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 and his group, Radical for Christ 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, Walk of Fame, 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 & the Family and Yolanda Adams 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 featured artist on Walt "Baby" Love's Power 98 Gospel Tour and has headlined several other successful tours including The Living Proof Tour, The Shout 2000 Tour and his most recent endeavor the smash hit musical drama "Been There, Done That" with America's favorite TV Judge, 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 currently in negotiations for a movie deal.

So as you can see, Hammond is truly on a mission to exceed the bounds of mediocrity!