Gospel star Fred Hammond will soon come to a city near you on the McDonald’s Inspiration Celebration Gospel tour. Now in its sixth year, Hammond will star with Byron Cage. J Moss, Myron Butler, Canton Jones, Vashawn Mitchell and 21:03 also appear in selected cities. The free concerts are in conjunction with McDonald’s 365 Black initiatives which contribute to local communities throughout the year.
Hammond says working with McDonald’s was a natural fit, as he worked for the company as a teenager, an experience he attributes to helping him get a great start in life.
“I worked at McDonalds when I was in the eleventh grade for eleven months,” Hammond told Rollingout.com. “And that’s how I got my start, right there, learning how to mop floors and throw away boxes. I didn’t know there was a procedure on how to throw away a box. But you had to fold it a certain way, crush it a certain way, and it had to be neat so you can maximize space. Then they can move you up to a fry station and then over there to the Quarter Pounder grill, and now they got me on the main grill. I was on the grill for like a year. Then I went into my senior year and decided to concentrate on school, but it was a great time. I enjoyed it, I was proud about it, so when this opportunity came up again, it was like full circle. Now, I can tell young people and parents that this is a great opportunity. You never know what it’s going to build. It prepared me for the military, and ultimately, prepared me for life.”
Here are the cities for this year’s tour:
June 14 – Birmingham, Birmingham-Jefferson Convention Center
June 15 – Jackson, Jackson Convention Complex
June 16 – Dallas, Friendship West Baptist Church
June 21 – Philadelphia, Deliverance Evangelistic Church
June 22 – Detroit, Greater Grace Temple
June 23 – Chicago, Chicago Gospel Music Festival
June 29 – Atlanta, Full Gospel Conference
June 30 – Ft. Washington, Md., Ebenezer AME Church
Although many of these tour dates have sold out, go to mcdonaldsgospeltour.com for information on availability. Fred Hammond talks about the tour below.
