Born on January 22, 1915, Franklin released 76 live recordings of his sermons and music over the years. Married to Barbara Siggers, a church pianist, they had five children together: Erma Franklin, Cecil, Vaughn, Carolyn Franklin and Aretha Franklin.
Tragically, he was shot during a robbery attempt at his house in Detroit in June 1979. He remained in a coma for 5 years and died on July 27, 1984
In 1993, one of his sermons was sampled by House artist Green Velvet in his track "Preacherman". By playing on the double entendre (House as a game children play and House music), Green Velvet delivered one of the most memorable House tracks of all times.
In 1995, Kenny Dope (under the alias of Bucketheads, The) resampled the introduction of "Preacherman" for his famous "The Bomb".