Fred Hammond Reveals Festival of Praise 3 Gospel Tour Lineup Featuring Israel Houghton
Gospel music legend Fred Hammond is back, bringing his talented peers together for a third Festival of Praise Tour.
This year he's welcoming Karen Clark Sheard, Regina Belle and Casey J, along with singers who were on last year's tour, Hezekiah Walker and Israel Houghton.
Hammond took to Twitter to announce the lineup for the third annual tour that starts this fall and will feature the comedian Earthquake.
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"Heading in for #festivalofpraise3 media day with @HezekiahWalker #karenclarksheard @ihoughton @reginabelle #caseyj," Hammond wrote. "And I can't forget my man @RealEarthquake. Today will be business and #laughs! It's all about that #festivalofpraise3."
Last year, Hammond put the tour together with gospel music heavyweights Donnie McClurkin, Kim Burrell, Hezekiah Walker, Jessica Reedy, Isaac Carree, Zacardi Cortez and guest appearances by Israel Houghton.
Houghton said in an interview with The Christian Post last November that bringing multiple Grammy, Stellar and Dove award winners on the stage tends to breed competition, but in a healthy way.
"I think the thing that has really stood out about this tour is the sense of camaraderie and unity which is not normal amongst musicians and artists," Houghton told CP last year. "There is always going to be that slight healthy competition of us all inspiring each other to push harder, sing better and all that kind of stuff. The unhealthy part of the competition does not exist on this tour.
"It's just everybody rooting for each other. We're out on stage the entire night together all seven of us. So we're singing backgrounds for whoever is leading, we'll jump into certain sections of their song to sing lead and vice versa," he shared. "It just makes for a very unified beautiful night and people can definitely sense it."
The fact that the singers choose not to perform separately the entire night enables them to form a bond, Hammond said in an interview with the Detroit News last November. "We don't perform separately, it creates a sense of togetherness and unity. I could do it by myself. They could all do it by themselves. But it allows us to see ourselves in a different light and it allows the people to see us in a different light."
The world was able to get a glimpse of this unity during Festival of Praise 2 when McClurkin posted a video of himself visibly crying while mourning the death of his niece as he performed on the tour. McClurkin later spoke about how grateful he was to be touring with people who showed him so much support.
Houghton said in his interview with CP, " I love getting out in front of people, ministering, inspiring and encouraging other people. The visionary Hammond has put together an incredible tour and I was honored to be asked to do it."
For information about the Festival of Praise tour, click here.
