Commissioned (gospel group)

Commissioned
Origin	Detroit, Michigan, U.S.
Genres	Gospel, contemporary Christian, inspirational/worship
Years active	1984–2006, 2011, 2013
Members	Fred Hammond Keith Staten Michael Brooks Mitchell Jones Karl Reid Marvin Sapp Maxx Frank Montrell Darrett Marcus Cole Chris Poole Michael Williams

Commissioned is an American, Urban Contemporary Gospel group. The group recorded twelve albums over a period of seventeen years.

Group composition

Originally from Detroit, Michigan, the six original members were Fred Hammond, Mitchell Jones, Keith Staten, Karl Reid, Michael Brooks, and Michael Williams formed a group in 1982, 2 years after Fred Hammond played bass for The Winans. In 1991 Staten and Brooks left the group and were replaced by Marvin Sapp, Maxx Frank, and Eddie Howard, Jr.. By 1994 Howard had left the group and Williams left a year later. Hammond also left to pursue a career with the choir Radical For Christ. He was replaced by Montrell Darrett. By 1999, Marcus Cole and Chris Poole had taken the place of Sapp and Darrett on the group's last studio album. In 2002 Commissioned released a reunion album recorded live at the Straightgate Church in Detroit, MI on October 26, 2001 which brought back most of the group's former members and featured most of its greatest hits. The group performed live on stage during the 2002 Stellar Awards in Atlanta, Georgia.^[1] In 2011, They were honored at the BMI Awards after the Stellar Awards. Gospel singers such as Dawkins & Dawkins, Deitrick Haddon, Marvin Sapp, The Soul Seekers, The Clark Sisters, and Men of Standard sang musical tributes. The members who were present at the event were Fred Hammond, Keith Staten, Marvin Sapp, Mitchell Jones, Karl Reid, Michael Williams, Michael Brooks, Maxx Frank, Montrell Darrett, and Marcus Cole. The group sang their song "Victory" from their sophomore record, Go Tell Somebody.

The R&B group Silk remade the Commissioned ballad Cry On for the 1994 soundtrack for the movie Blankman.

Discography

Albums

Release date	Album title[2]	Label	RIAA certification
1985	I'm Going On	Light Records
1986	Go Tell Somebody	Light Records
1987	On The Winning Side	Light Records
1988	Will You Be Ready?	Light Records
1989	Ordinary Just Won't Do	Light Records
1990	State of Mind	Benson/Verity Records
1991	Number 7	Benson Records
1994	Matters of the Heart	Benson Records
March 1, 1996	Irreplaceable Love	Benson Records
October 12, 1999	Time and Seasons	Verity Records
April 23, 2002	The Commissioned Reunion Live	Verity Records

Compilations

Release date	Album title[3]	Label	RIAA certification
1991	A Collection	Light Records
1993	Commissioned Complete	Platinum Records
1994	Go Tell Somebody/I'm Going On	Light Records
1995	The Light Years	CGI Records
1995	Gospel Greats	Benson Records
1999	The Best of Commissioned	Verity Records
2002	Mega 3 Collection	Light Records
2003	Essential	BMG Special Products
2006	The Definitive 16 Greatest Hits	Intersound Records

Singles

Release date	Single title[4]	Label	RIAA certification
1994	Love is the Way	A&M Records
1995	One Man	ZYX Records

Commissioned also performs on the J2K: Jesus 2000 project and the With This Ring projects.

Performance videos

Release date	Video / DVD title[5][6]	Label
1991	In Concert (Live) ^(VHS)	Mercury Video
1998	Matters of the Heart (Video/Live) ^(VHS)	Verity Records
1998	Commissioned: Live in Concert ^(VHS)	Xenon Entertainment Group
1998	Number 7 ^(VHS)	Verity Records
2002	The Commissioned Reunion: Live ^(Video/DVD)	Verity Records

Billboard chart history

Albums

Year	Album title	Chart name[7]	Peak position
1985	Go Tell Somebody' / I'm Going On	Top Gospel Albums	5
	I'm Going On	Top Gospel Albums	11
1986	Go Tell Somebody'	Top Gospel Albums	2
1987	On the Winning Side	Top Gospel Albums	6
1988		Top Contemporary Christian	24
1989	Will You Be Ready?	Top Contemporary Christian	26
		Top Gospel Albums	29
1990	Ordinary Just Won't Do	Top Contemporary Christian	28
		Top Gospel Albums	4
	State of Mind	Top Contemporary Christian	19
		Top Gospel Albums	4
1991	Number 7	Top Contemporary Christian	22
		Top Gospel Albums	7
	Matters of the Heart	Top Contemporary Christian	13
		Top Gospel Albums	13
1994		Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums	65
1996	Irreplaceable Love	Heatseekers	19
		Top Contemporary Christian	9
		Top Gospel Albums	3
1994	The Best of Commissioned	Top Gospel	29
2000	Time and Seasons	Heatseekers	28
		Top Contemporary Christian	13
		Top Gospel Albums	6
2002	The Commissioned Reunion: Live (Video/DVD)	The Billboard 200	100
		Top Contemporary Christian	8
		Top Gospel Albums	3

Awards

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?
1991	Grammy Awards	Best Pop Gospel Album	Shakin' the House...Live - Carman & Commissioned (& the Christ Church Choir)
1994	Grammy Awards	Best Contemporary Soul Gospel Album	Matters of the Heart
2001	Stellar Awards	Contemporary Group/Duo of the Year	Time & Seasons
2002	Stellar Awards	Producer of the Year (Israel humphrey)	Commissioned Reunion Live
2002	Stellar Awards	Group/Duo of the Year	Commissioned Reunion Live
2002	Stellar Awards	Contemporary Group/Duo of the Year	Commissioned Reunion Live
2002	Stellar Awards	Contemporary CD of the Year	Commissioned Reunion Live
2002	Stellar Awards	Special Event CD of the Year	Commissioned Reunion Live
2002	Grammy Awards	Best Contemporary Soul Gospel Album	Commissioned Reunion Live

The Members Of Commissioned

• Fred Hammond: Lead Vocals, Background Vocals, Bass Guitar (1982-1994, 2001-2002, 2011, 2013)
• Keith Staten: Lead Vocals, Background Vocals (1984-1991, 2001-2002, 2011, 2013)
• Mitchell Jones: Lead Vocals, Background Vocals (1982-2002, 2011, 2013)
• Karl Reid: Lead Vocals, Background Vocals (1984-2002, 2011, 2013)
• Eddie Howard, Jr: Background Vocals, Keyboards (1991)
• Marvin Sapp: Lead Vocals, Background Vocals (1991-1996, 2001-2002, 2011, 2013)
• Michael Williams: Drums (1982-1994, 2001-2002, 2011)
• Marcus Cole: Lead Vocals, Background Vocals (1996-2002, 2013)
• Michael Brooks: Keyboards (1982-1991)
• Montrell Darrett: Lead Vocals, Background Vocals (1996)
• Chris Poole (1999-2000)(Deceased)
• Maxx Frank: Keyboards (1990-1997)

Footnotes

1. Cummings, Tony. "17th Annual Stellar Award Winners (2002)". GospelFlava. Retrieved 2007-01-10.
2. "allmusic Discography". Retrieved 2007-05-31.
3. "allmusic Discography". Retrieved 2007-05-31.
4. "allmusic Discography". Retrieved 2007-05-31.
5. "allmusic Filmography". Retrieved 2007-05-31.
6. "allmovie Filmography". Retrieved 2007-05-31.
7. "allmusic Charts & Awards". Retrieved 2007-05-31.