Musical career

Hammond has been active both as a member of the gospel performing group Commissioned, and as a solo artist (currently for Verity Records). He is a multiple Grammy-, Dove-, Stellar-award winner and nominee as a performer, producer and writer.

Hammond first gained recognition while playing bass guitar for the gospel group The Winans. By 1985 he was one of the six original members of the group Commissioned, participating in 10 of the group's 12 albums.

After his time with Commissioned ended, he regained fame in the gospel community after selling millions of albums with his musical group Radical For Christ.

In 2002 Hammond returned to the group Commissioned (now with members Keith Staten, Marvin Sapp, Mitchell Jones, Karl Reid, Michael Williams, and Marcus Cole) to produce the Commissioned Reunion Live album.

Hammond produced Make Me Like The Moon, a stirring gospel ballad co-written by Chanté Moore and Kenny Lattimore for their 2006 double-CD of gospel and R&B love songs entitled Uncovered/Covered (released October 10, 2006 by LaFace/Verity/Zomba Music Group). He also performs with Sean Combs on the album Thank You.

Discography

Albums

Release date	Album	Label	RIAA certification
1985	I'm Going On (Commissioned)	Light Records
1986	Go Tell Somebody (Commissioned)	Light Records
1987	On The Winning Side (Commissioned)	Light Records
1988	Will You Be Ready? (Commissioned)	Light Records
1989	Ordinary Just Won't Do (Commissioned)	Light Records
1990	State of Mind (Commissioned)	Verity Records
1991	Number 7 (Commissioned)	A&M Records
1991	I Am Persuaded	Verity Records
1993	Deliverance	A&M Records
1994	Matters of the Heart (Commissioned)	A&M Records
1995	The Inner Court (Radical for Christ)	Benson Records
December 1, 1995	Gospel Greats (Commissioned)	Benson Records
August 20, 1996	The Spirit of David (Radical for Christ)	Benson Records	Gold - September 19, 2002 (2002-09-19)
April 28, 1998	Pages of Life - Chapters I & II (Radical for Christ)	Verity Records	Gold - September 9, 1998 (1998-09-09) Platinum - April 7, 1999 (1999-04-07) 2x Platinum - October 13, 2006 (2006-10-13)
March 21, 2000	Purpose By Design (Radical for Christ)	Verity Records	Gold - January 19, 2001 (2001-01-19)
March 6, 2001	In Case You Missed It....And Then Some	Verity Records
September 11, 2001	Christmas...Just Remember	Verity Records
April 23, 2002	The Commissioned Reunion Live (Commissioned)	Verity Records
September 10, 2002	Speak Those Things: POL Chapter 3	Verity Records
September 9, 2003	Hooked on the Hits	Verity Records
June 8, 2004	Somethin 'Bout Love	Verity Records	Gold - November 7, 2008
June 13, 2006	Praise & Worship (Commissioned)	Verity/Legacy
October 3, 2006	Free to Worship	Verity Records
September 29, 2009	Love Unstoppable	Verity Records
January 31, 2012	God, Love & Romance	Verity Records
March 26, 2013	United Tenors	Verity Records
November 17, 2014	I Will Trust	RCA Records

Notable singles

Release date	Song	Album	Note
April 28, 1998	Let the Praise Begin	Pages of Life: Chapters 1 and 2	1998 Dove Award winner for Best Contemporary Gospel Song with Radical for Christ
1998	Power	The Prince of Egypt Inspirational Soundtrack	a featured song on the soundtrack for the animated motion picture The Prince of Egypt with Radical for Christ
April 28, 1998	Power	Pages of Life: Chapters 1 and 2	1999 Dove Award winner for Best Contemporary Gospel Song with Radical for Christ
2001	King of Glory		2001 Stellar Awards nominee for Song of the Year
	All Things Are Working	The Gospel Soundtrack	a featured song on the soundtrack for the motion picture The Gospel
2004	Celebrate (He Lives)		2004 Grammy Awards nominee for Best Gospel Performance with Noel Hall and Darryl Dixon
2005	Celebrate (He Lives)		2005 Stellar Awards nominee for Song of the Year with Noel Hall and Darryl Dixon
2007	Better Than That, with The Singletons		2007 Stellar Awards nominee for Song of the Year
2003	We Have Not Forgotten	Soulful	a duet performed on Ruben Studdard's debut album Soulful
November 22, 2005	By Faith - with Sean Combs	Hurricane Relief: Come Together Now

Billboard chart history

Albums

Year	Album	Chart	Peak
1994	Matters of the Heart - (Commissioned)	Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums	65
2002	Speak Those Things: POL Chapter 3	Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums	29
2002	Speak Those Things: POL Chapter 3	Billboard 200	38
2004	Somethin' 'Bout Love	Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums	4
2004	Somethin' 'Bout Love	Billboard 200	35
2006	Free to Worship	Billboard 200	29
2009	Love Unstoppable	Billboard 200	25
2009	Love Unstoppable	Top Gospel Albums	1
2012	God, Love & Romance	Billboard 200	8
2012	God, Love & Romance	Top Gospel Albums	1
2013	United Tenors	Billboard 200	39
2013	United Tenors	Top Gospel Albums	1

Awards

Award wins

Year	Award-giving body	Award category	Song /Album title
1992	Dove Awards	Inspirational Album	Generation to Generation (with Larnelle Harris, Matthew Ward, Glad, 4Him, Dallas Holm, Kelly Nelon Thompson, Billy & Sarah Gaines, and Dana Key)
1992	Dove Awards	Contemporary Gospel Album	Handel's Messiah: A Soulful Celebration (with Mervyn Warren, George Duke, David Pack, Patti Austin, Take 6, Gary Hines, Robert Sadin, Richard Smallwood, and The Yellowjackets)
1998	Dove Awards	Contemporary Gospel Song	Let the Praise Begin (with Radical for Christ)
1999	Dove Awards	Contemporary Gospel Song	Power (with Radical For Christ)
2000	Dove Awards	Contemporary Gospel Album	Purpose By Design (with Radical for Christ)
2001	Stellar Awards	Male Vocalist of the Year	Purpose by Design
2001	Stellar Awards	Producer of the Year	Purpose by Design (with Radical For Christ)
2001	Stellar Awards	Contemporary Male Vocalist of the Year	Purpose By Design (with Radical For Christ)
2001	Dove Awards	Urban Album	Just Remember Christmas
2005	Stellar Awards	Producer of the Year	Somethin' 'Bout Love
2008	Grammy Awards	Best Contemporary R&B Gospel Album	Free To Worship

Award nominations

Year	Award-giving body	Award category	Song /Album title
1989	Grammy Awards	Best Soul Gospel Performance - Duo, Group, Choir or Chorus	Will You Be Ready? (Commissioned)
1991	Grammy Awards	Best Pop Gospel Album	Shakin' the House...Live - Carman & Commissioned (& the Christ Church Choir) (Commissioned)
1992	Dove Awards	Inspirational Album (Winner)	Generation to Generation (with Larnelle Harris, Matthew Ward, Glad, 4Him, Dallas Holm, Kelly Nelon Thompson, Billy & Sarah Gaines, and Dana Key)
1992	Dove Awards	Contemporary Gospel Album (Winner)	Handel's Messiah: A Soulful Celebration (with Mervyn Warren, George Duke, David Pack, Patti Austin, Take 6, Gary Hines, Robert Sadin, Richard Smallwood, and The Yellowjackets,)
1994	Grammy Awards	Best Contemporary Soul Gospel Album	Matters of the Heart (Commissioned)
1996	Grammy Awards	Best Contemporary Soul Gospel Album	Shakin' the House (with Hezekiah Walker and Yolanda Adams)
1998	Grammy Awards	Contemporary Soul Gospel Album	Pages of Life: Chapters 1 and 2 (with Radical for Christ)
1998	Dove Awards	Contemporary Gospel Song (Winner)	Let the Praise Begin (with Radical for Christ)
1999	Dove Awards	Contemporary Gospel Song (Winner)	Power (with Radical For Christ)
2000	Dove Awards	Contemporary Gospel Album (Winner)	Purpose By Design (with Radical for Christ)
2000	Soul Train Awards	Best Gospel Album	Pages of Life Chapter 1 and 2
2001	Grammy Awards	Best Contemporary Soul Gospel Album	In Case You Missed It...And Then Some
2001	Stellar Awards	Male Vocalist of the Year (Winner)	Purpose by Design
2001	Stellar Awards	Choir of the Year	Purpose by Design (with Radical For Christ)
2001	Stellar Awards	Producer of the Year (Winner)	Purpose by Design (with Radical For Christ)
2001	Stellar Awards	Producer of the Year	Mountain High...Valley Low (with Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis, Jarren Campbell, Richard Smallwood and Kevin Bond)
2001	Stellar Awards	Contemporary Group/Duo of the Year	Purpose By Design (with Radical For Christ)
2001	Stellar Awards	CD of the Year	Purpose By Design (with Radical For Christ)
2001	Stellar Awards	Contemporary Male Vocalist of the Year (Winner)	Purpose By Design (with Radical For Christ)
2001	Stellar Awards	Contemporary Choir of the Year	Purpose By Design (with Radical For Christ)
2001	Dove Awards	Urban Album (Winner)	Just Remember...Christmas
2002	Stellar Awards	Song of the Year	King of Glory
2002	Grammy Awards	Best Contemporary Soul Gospel Album	Speak Those Things: POL Chapter 3
2002	Stellar Awards	Producer of the Year	Commissioned Reunion Live
2002	Stellar Awards	Group/Duo of the Year	Commissioned Reunion Live (Commissioned)
2002	Stellar Awards	Contemporary Group/Duo of the Year	Commissioned Reunion Live (Commissioned)
2002	Stellar Awards	Contemporary CD of the Year	Commissioned Reunion Live (Commissioned)
2002	Stellar Awards	Special Event CD of the Year	Commissioned Reunion Live (Commissioned)
2002	Grammy Awards	Best Contemporary Soul Gospel Album	Commissioned Reunion Live (Commissioned)
2002	Stellar Awards	Contemporary Male Vocalist of the Year	Fred Hammond Christmas...Just Remember
2003	Stellar Awards	Contemporary Male Vocalist of the Year	Speak Those Things: POL Chapter 3
2004	Grammy Awards	Contemporary Gospel Album of the Year	Somethin' Bout Love
2004	Grammy Awards	Contemporary Gospel Song of the Year	Celebrate (He Lives) (with Noel Hall and Darryl Dixon)
2004	Grammy Awards	Best Contemporary Soul Gospel Album	Somethin' 'bout Love
2004	Grammy Awards	Best Gospel Performance	Celebrate (He Lives)
2005	Stellar Awards	Artist of the Year	Somethin' 'Bout Love
2005	Stellar Awards	Song of the Year	Celebrate (He Lives) (with Noel Hall and Darryl Dixon)
2005	Stellar Awards	Producer of the Year (Winner)	Somethin' 'Bout Love
2005	Stellar Awards	CD of the Year	Somethin' 'Bout Love
2005	Stellar Awards	Contemporary Male Vocalist of the Year	Somethin' 'Bout Love
2005	Stellar Awards	Contemporary CD of the Year	Somethin' 'Bout Love
2007	Stellar Awards	Producer of the Year	Better Than That (The Singletons)
2008	Grammy Awards	Best Contemporary R&B Gospel Album (Winner)	Free To Worship

Personal life

Hammond has two children who have appeared on his 2009 album, Love Unstoppable. Hammond divorced his wife of 18 years, Kim, in 2004, and he currently resides in Cedar Hill, Texas.

Hammond revealed on the Donnie McClurkin Show that his mother confessed to him three months before she died that she had attempted to have him aborted. The procedure, done in 1960, before abortions were legal, failed. Hammond's mother returned for a second attempt but decided against the procedure; Hammond was later born in December 1960.

[ Source: Wikipedia ]