Gospel Music Makes Vegas History: Fred Hammond Talks Unprecedented New Strip Residency

After 60 years, gospel music is getting a residency on the Vegas Strip once again. The Legends of Gospel residency kicks off October 8th at Virgin's Hotel in Las Vegas featuring the Clark sisters, Dietrich Haddon and urban praise architect Fred Hammon. And I spoke to Mr. Hammon today. Yeah, man, this is absolutely great. And to be considered, man, I'm very honored. And, you know, it's normal for us because we always work together in other cities. But now we get to come and do it in Vegas. And you get to chill there for a minute. You don't have to keep moving around from city to city. That's right. That's a good thing. You know what I'm saying? You got a little break in between and you get back out. And is this a reminder of just how important your music is where it's not limited to just say one city or more religion based or religious based city or religious based crowd. But there's a place for contemporary gospel, gospel music today in 2026 in Las Vegas. This is it just lets me know that it's the grace of God that has been over my music because I want to just inspire people. That's all I want to do. I didn't want to be a star. My mother never put me up on the picnic table at the family union saying now it's time for you to sing. I didn't want to sing when I was a kid. I was embarrassed. I wanted to stay on the base, play the drums in the background. And God pushed me to the front. As a matter of fact, to make it even more crazy, I wasn't even supposed to be here. My mother had an abortion and it didn't work. And so now it makes it more special for me that when people are singing No Weapon or this and the other, it's God saying, I told you I needed you here. I wanted you here. I had a plan for you here. So it's going to Vegas. And while they pull the slots, when they finish, they can come on in. If they got little tips, we're going to sound better. If you had a little communion before you come on. And when you share your testimony, your story, your journey, how does that help people that you may be ministering with to your music? It blesses me. It helps people. And when I see that they're getting something out of it, not just singing acrobatics and calisthenics and just jumping around. But when it connects with them in the audience and you see the tears and you see that the message is hitting, that is a blessing to me. And that's how I can tell. And when they're singing the songs, I don't like to go to a concert where people watching me sing. I didn't do it for them. I wrote these songs for people to sing with me. Well, remember, I told you that my mother and them had a hard time. She had me out of wedlock and she lost her other family. She lost two daughters in a divorce. And so therefore, my first life started out with levels of rejection and very hard issues growing up. And so what the Lord says, for your pain, I'll give you double. In other words, so now where I grew up, now he's like saying, now I want you to receive the better end. Your ladder is gonna be greater than your former. And that's what it is. So it's a beautiful thing. I don't take it for granted, man, at all. When I see these kids doing it on TikTok and they're singing blessed and great and glory to glory and no weapon. And these are kids, I don't even know all the gins. I know that there's millennials, and then there's Z, and then there's something else after that. And then, but when I see them doing it and they're dancing to it, I just say grace. When people ask me, I just say this is grace of God. When I look at the fruit, the beautiful thing is the Lord protected me from even knowing all of this stuff when I was a kid. I had no clue of any of it. So he protected my mind. So by the time, I'm a very reasonable person. Meaning, I look at where I'm at and I'm like, well, it worked out. It worked out. So amen, I give God that much glory. But I don't have to dwell on the former things and say, man, that was true of modernity. I don't have to dwell on that. I'm like, but look where the Lord had brought me from. Look where you brought me. And I concentrate on that. And that's what I want to tell people. Yeah, you had trauma. You had some issues going on in your life. It don't have to haunt you and keep you a prisoner. It don't have to have free rent in your head. You know what you can say? Yeah, that's what it was. But look what the Lord has done now. How you like me now? There you go, there you go. And for those who attend this residency in Las Vegas, which begins October 8th at the theater at the Virgin Hotels, what can they expect with your show? Can they expect a spectacular, good old gospel music? What will be the focus? Will there be theatrics? Will there be fireworks? What have you? Well, that would be my hope. There's another production company handling that. And I'm responsible for what chords is played, what beat is playing, what notes are sung. So whatever they put around me, I'm gonna let them do that. But when I hit it, we're just going wham, wham, wham, wham, wham, wham. And I'm gonna tell a story through praise, through inspiration, through worship. We're gonna go on a roller coaster.