Aretha Louise Franklin (/əˈriːθə/ ə-REE-thə; March 25, 1942 – August 16, 2018) was an American singer, songwriter and pianist. Referred to as the “Queen of Soul“, she has twice been placed ninth in Rolling Stone‘s “100 Greatest Artists of All Time”. With global sales of over 75 million records, Franklin is one of the world’s best-selling music artists.
As a child, Franklin was noticed for her gospel singing at New Bethel Baptist Church in Detroit, Michigan, where her father C. L. Franklin was a minister. At the age of 18, she was signed as a recording artist for Columbia Records. While her career did not immediately flourish, Franklin found acclaim and commercial success once she signed with Atlantic Records in 1966. Hit songs such as “I Never Loved a Man (The Way I Love You)“, “Respect“, “(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman“, “Chain of Fools“, “Think“, and “I Say a Little Prayer“, propelled Franklin past her musical peers.
Franklin won 18 Grammy Awards (out of 44 nominations), including the first eight awards given for Best Female R&B Vocal Performance (1968–1975), a Grammy Awards Living Legend honor and Lifetime Achievement Award.
Franklin received numerous honors throughout her career. She was awarded the National Medal of Arts and the Presidential Medal of Freedom. In 1987, she became the first female artist to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. She also was inducted into the UK Music Hall of Fame in 2005 and into the Gospel Music Hall of Fame in 2012. In 2010, Rolling Stone ranked Franklin number one on its list of the “100 Greatest Singers of All Time”. In 2019, the Pulitzer Prize jury awarded the songwriter a posthumous special citation “for her indelible contribution to American music and culture for more than five decades”. In 2020, Franklin was inducted into the National Women’s Hall of Fame. In 2022, Rolling Stone ranked Franklin number one on its list of the “200 Greatest Singers of All Time”.
“Wikiwand – Aretha Franklin.” Wikiwand, http://www.wikiwand.com/en/Aretha_Franklin.
20 Best Songs
Aretha Franklin – Respect (Official Lyric Video)
(null)
Musician Aretha Franklin recording at the piano at Columbia Studios…
Musician Aretha Franklin recording at the piano at Columbia Studios in 1962 in New York. Get premium, high resolution news photos at Getty Images
RESPECT – movie trailer
RESPECT | Official Trailer | MGM Studios
(null)
Legacy of the Queen of Soul
Museum Curators Reflect on the Legacy of the Queen of Soul
Aretha Franklin was no one’s understudy. But when the Queen of Soul took the stage at the 1998 Grammy Awards, she was not the singer audiences expected. At the eleventh hour, operatic legend Luciano Pavarotti had called to cancel his long-awaited headliner performance of “Nessun dorma” (None Shall Sleep) due to illness-and with no warning or preparation, Franklin agreed to step in.