Commissioned (gospel group)

Commissioned
Commissioned
Origin	Detroit, Michigan, U.S.
Genres	Gospel, contemporary Christian, contemporary worship, urban gospel
Years active	1983–2006, 2011, 2013, 2017–present
Labels	Light; Benson; Verity; Intersound; Platinum;
Members	Parkes Stewart; Mitchell Jones; Karl Reid; Michael Williams
Past members	Fred Hammond; Marvin Sapp; Keith Staten; Maxx Frank; Montrell Darrett; Chris Poole (deceased); Eddie Howard, Jr.; Michael Brooks (deceased) ; Marcus Cole

Commissioned is an American urban contemporary gospel group from Detroit, Michigan. Members included Fred Hammond, Keith Staten, Karl Reid, Mitchell Jones, Marvin Sapp, Marcus Cole and Montrell Darrett.

The group recorded twelve albums over a period of seventeen years, and were nominated for Grammy and Stellar awards.

Group history

The group originates from Detroit, Michigan. The six original members were Fred Hammond, Mitchell Jones, Keith Staten, Karl Reid, Michael Brooks and Michael Williams. The group formed in 1982, two years after Hammond played bass for The Winans. In 1990, Staten and Brooks left the group and were replaced with 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, Frank and Darrett on the group's last studio album.

The R&B group Silk covered the Commissioned ballad "Cry On" on the movie soundtrack for Blankman (1994).

In 2002, Commissioned released a reunion album, which was recorded live at the Straightgate Church in Detroit, Michigan on October 26, 2001. Most of the group's former members reunited, 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 artists sang musical tributes, including: Dawkins & Dawkins, Deitrick Haddon, Marvin Sapp, The Soul Seekers, The Clark Sisters and Men of Standard. The members who were present at the event were Hammond, Staten, Sapp, Jones, Reid, Williams, Frank, Darrett, Cole and Brooks. The group sang "Victory" from their sophomore record, Go Tell Somebody.

Hammond, Brooks, Staten, Sapp, Reid, Jones and Williams performed another reunion concert in 2019. It was hosted by the Pentecostal Assemblies of the World Incorporated. The group was invited to perform to celebrate the 104th Summer Convention of the P.A.W. Inc.

Discography

Albums

Release date	Album title^[2]	Label
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 Records
1991	Number 7	Benson Records
1994	Matters of the Heart	Benson Records
1996	Irreplaceable Love	Benson Records
1999	Time and Seasons	Verity Records
2002	The Commissioned Reunion Live	Verity Records

Compilations

Release date	Album title^[2]	Label
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 Music
2003	Legends of Gospel	Compendia Media Group
2006	The Definitive 16 Greatest Hits	Intersound Records

Singles

Release date	Single title^[2]	Label	RIAA certification
1994	Love is the Way	A&M Records

Guest appearances

List of non-single songs with guest appearances by Commissioned
Title^[2]	Year	Album	Artist(s)
"Before It Falls Down"	2000	J2K - Jesus 2000	Various
"All Because of You"	2001	With This Ring	Various
"What Child is This"	2013	Christmas Card	Marvin Sapp
"Honor The King"	2013	Christmas Card	Marvin Sapp

Performance videos

Release date	Video / DVD title^[3]^[4]	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 Pictures
1998	Number 7 (VHS)	Verity Records
2002	The Commissioned Reunion: Live (video/DVD)	Verity Records
2005	The Winans: The Lost Concert (video/DVD)	Xenon Pictures

Billboard chart history

Albums

Year	Album title	Chart name^[5]	Peak position
1985	Go Tell Somebody / I'm Going On	Top Gospel Albums	5
1985	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	On the Winning Side	Top Contemporary Christian	24
1989	Will You Be Ready?	Top Contemporary Christian	26
1989	Will You Be Ready?	Top Gospel Albums	29
1990	Ordinary Just Won't Do	Top Contemporary Christian	28
	Ordinary Just Won't Do	Top Gospel Albums	4
	State of Mind	Top Contemporary Christian	19
	State of Mind	Top Gospel Albums	4
1991	Number 7	Top Contemporary Christian	22
1991	Number 7	Top Gospel Albums	7
1994	Matters of the Heart	Top Contemporary Christian	13
		Top Gospel Albums	13
		Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums	65
1996	Irreplaceable Love	Heatseekers	19
		Top Contemporary Christian	9
		Top Gospel Albums	3
1999	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

Members

Fred Hammond: lead vocals, background vocals, bass guitar (1982-1994, 2001–2002, 2011, 2013, 2018–2022)
Keith Staten: lead vocals, background vocals (1982-1990, 2001–2002, 2011, 2013, 2017–2024)
Mitchell Jones: lead vocals, background vocals (1982-2002, 2011, 2013, 2017-present)
Karl Reid: lead vocals, background vocals (1982-2002, 2011, 2013, 2017-present)
Eddie Howard, Jr: keyboards (1990-1994)
Marvin Sapp: lead vocals, background vocals (1990-1996, 2001–2002, 2011, 2013, 2018–2023)
Michael Williams: drums (1982-1994, 2001–2002, 2011, 2018-present)
Marcus Cole: lead vocals, background vocals (1996-2002, 2013, 2017–2019, 2022-2024)
Michael Brooks: keyboards (1982-1990, 2018–2024) (died 2024)
Montrell Darrett: lead vocals, background vocals (1995-1996)
Chris Poole: lead vocals, backgrounds vocals (1999-2000) (deceased)
Maxx Frank: keyboards, B3 organ, mixing (1990-1996)
Parkes Stewart: lead vocals, background vocals (2023-present)

Footnotes

^ Cummings, Tony. "17th Annual Stellar Award Winners (2002)". GospelFlava. Retrieved 2007-01-10.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d "allmusic Discography". Retrieved 2007-05-31.
^ "allmusic Filmography". Retrieved 2007-05-31.
^ "allmovie Filmography". Retrieved 2007-05-31.
^ "allmusic Charts & Awards". Retrieved 2007-05-31.

[1] Cummings, Tony. "17th Annual Stellar Award Winners (2002)". GospelFlava. Retrieved 2007-01-10.

[allmusic1-2] "allmusic Discography". Retrieved 2007-05-31.

[3] "allmusic Filmography". Retrieved 2007-05-31.

[4] "allmovie Filmography". Retrieved 2007-05-31.

[5] "allmusic Charts & Awards". Retrieved 2007-05-31.

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