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Frederick William Hammond^[1] (born December 27, 1960)^[2] is an Americangospel singer,bass guitar player, and record producer. He is regarded as one of the most popular figures incontemporary gospel music.^[3][4][5] He is known for using a variety of different styles in his music such asR&B,hip-hop, anddisco.

Hammond has been active both as a member of the gospel performing groupCommissioned, and as a solo artist (currently forVerity Records). He is a multipleGrammy,Dove, andStellar award winner and nominee as a performer, producer, and writer.^{[citation needed]}

Hammond first gained recognition while playing bass guitar for the gospel groupThe Winans.^[2] By 1985, he was one of the six original members of the group Commissioned, participating in 10 of the group's 12 albums.^{[citation needed]}

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.^{[citation needed]}

In 2002, Hammond returned to the group Commissioned (now with membersKeith Staten,Marvin Sapp,Mitchell Jones,Karl Reid,Michael Williams, andMarcus Cole) to produce theCommissioned Reunion Live album.^{[citation needed]}

Hammond produced "Make Me Like the Moon", a gospel ballad co-written byChanté Moore andKenny Lattimore for their 2006 double-CD ofgospel andR&B love songs entitledUncovered/Covered (released October 10, 2006, byLaFace/Verity/Zomba Music Group). He also performs withSean Combs on the unreleased album,Thank You.^{[citation needed]}

Hammond has two children who have appeared on his 2009 album,Love Unstoppable. Hammond divorced his wife of 18 years, Kim, in 2004,^[7] and he currently resides inCedar Hill, Texas.^{[citation needed]}

Hammond revealed on theDonnie McClurkin Show that his mother confessed to him three months before she died that she tried to get anabortion when she was pregnant with him, and theprocedure, 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.^[8]

According to Fred Hammond in an interview with Tim Ross, his father is Bishop Charles Watkins (now deceased), a former gospel artist and a former full bishop in the Pentecostal Assemblies of the World, Inc. (Headquartered in Indianapolis, Indiana)

Hammond is an honorary member ofPhi Beta Sigma fraternity^[9]

• Fred Hammond atIMDb
• Fred Hammond atAllMusic

• 1960 births
• Living people
• African-American guitarists
• American gospel singers
• Urban contemporary gospel musicians
• Singers from Detroit
• People from Cedar Hill, Texas
• 20th-century American bass guitarists
• 20th-century African-American musicians
• 21st-century African-American musicians

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