Aretha Franklin

The woman that used her voice to help others

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'the Queen of Soul'

On March 25, 1942, Aretha Louise Franklin was born. Clarence LaVaughn "C. L." Franklin and Barbara Siggers gave birth to her in Memphis, Tennessee. Barbara Franklin died on March 7, 1952, just before her daughter's tenth birthday.
C. L. Franklin was known as the man with the "million-dollar voice", infact his sermons earned thousands of dollars in various churches across the country. Due to his success, Mr Franklin friends circle included Martin Luther King Jr., Jackie Wilson, and Cooke .
Franklin was managed by her father since she was 12 years old; he took her on "gospel caravan" tours to perform in churches. Franklin's first single, "Never Grow Old", was released by J.V.B. Records in 1956, accompanied by "You Grow Closer".
In her early years, Franklin toured with The Soul Stirrers and Mavis Staples' family. Dinah Washington told Quincy Jones that Franklin would be "the next one" to emerge from the church.
At 16, Franklin sang at the funeral of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. She was influenced by Marvin Gaye, Ray Charles, and Sam Cooke. Her father hired James Cleveland as a pianist for the Southern California Community Choir.
The single "Today I Sing the Blues" was released in September 1960 and reached number 10 on the Hot Rhythm & Blues Seller chart. Franklin's father C. L. Franklin tried to get Sam Cooke to sign her to RCA, but she was rejected.
The songs Franklin sang for Columbia included standards, vocal jazz, doo-wop, and rhythm and blues. Her first single peaked at number 7 on the R&B chart, making her a new-star female vocalist" in 1961.
In the mid-1960s, Franklin was earning $100,000 per year from countless performances in nightclubs and theaters thanks to the ballads "You Made Me Love You" and "(No, No, No) I'm Losing You".
Franklin moved to Atlantic Records in 1967 after being persuaded by producer Jerry Wexler. The Atlantic records years saw Franklin achieve a series of hits from 1967 to 1972, although they were described as"pro forma and never reached new heights", by Rolling Stone.
"Respect" was Aretha Franklin's first top-ten that was recorded at FAME Studios in Muscle Shoals, Alabama. The version of song with Otis Redding was widely regarded as a Feminist and Civil Rights Anthem.
The first time she toured abroad was in May 1968, when she played at the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam. The same year, Martin Luther King Jr presented her the Drum Beat Award two months before he died.
In 1969, Franklin won the Prix Otis Redding for her albums Lady Soul, Aretha Now, and Aretha in Paris. Franklin was the subject of a criminal impersonation scheme in which Vickie Jones was compelled to impersonate Franklin.
In 1971, Franklin became the first R&B performer to headline Fillmore West. She was also the first artist to release a top-ten single with "Spanish Harlem", "Don't Play That Song (You Lied)", and "Day Dreaming".
Franklin's 1972 album Amazing Grace offered greater than million copies and is one of the best-promoting gospel albums of all time. The live performances have been filmed for a movie, however because of synching problems, also Franklin tried to prevent the movie's distribution following colorism issues in Hollywood. However,in November 2018 the movie was published.
Franklin's profession started out to revel in troubles even as recording the album Hey Now Hey. Franklin persevered having R&B fulfillment with songs such as "Until You Come Back to Me" and "I'm in Love", however through 1975 her albums and songs had been now not pinnacled sellers.
Franklin's first Arista album includes the third-ranked R&B hit "United Together" and the cover of her Grammy-nominated Reading "I Can't Turn You Loose". Franklin's 1982 album Jump to It set a gold record for the first time in seven years.
Who's Zoomin' Who?It is her first Arista album to receive platinum certification. Franklin dubbed the theme song of the TV show A Different World and Together in the 1980s.
According to expert, Franklin’s "Beautiful America" in WWE Wrestling Fever III may be one of the most memorable moments in music history.
In 1989, Franklin filmed a music video for the remake of "Think" and recorded it with Marvin Gaye. In 1990, Franklin sang "I Want to Be Happy" and "Someone Else's Eyes" at the MDA Labor Day TV Marathon.
She returned to the charts in 1993 with "A Deeper Love" and "Willing to Forgive".
Franklin's last Top 40 single was "A Rose Is Still a Rose" in 1998. The album ("A Rose Is Still a Rose" ) was sold more than 500,000 times and received gold certification.
After Luciano Pavarotti became too sick to play an aria in the normal tenor range, she replaced him and sang "Nessun dorma".
The Grammy-winning song "Wonderful" appeared on Franklin's last Arista album, released in 2003. For Super Bowl XL in 2006, Franklin performed "The Star-Spangled Banner" with Aaron Neville and Dr. John.
A recording of Franklin's "Never Gonna Break My Faith" has been released in June 2020 as part of Juneteenth 2020 commemorations with a video visualizing the American Civil Rights Movement. The song has entered the Billboard gospel charts.
At Obama's inauguration, Franklin performed "My Country, 'Tis of Thee". In 2010, she accepted an honorary degree from Yale University. On November 17, 2012, she had a Washington concert called Aretha Franklin: One Night Only.
Her cover of Adele's "Rolling in the Deep" debuted at number 47 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart, making her the first woman to have 100 songs on the chart.
During a performance of "(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman" at the 2015 Kennedy Center Honors, Franklin let go of her fur coat. According to "Rolling Stone", dropping the coat was meaningful because it "echoed back to those times when gospel queens would toss their furs on top of coffins".
Before a Detroit Lions football game in 2016, Franklin sang the national anthem. The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra recorded "A Brand New Me" in November of 2017. Billboard's Top Classical Albums chart placed it at number five.
Franklin gave her final performance on November 7, 2017, at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine in New York City, as part of Elton John's 25th anniversary gala.
Franklin announced her retirement from touring in February 2017. She postponed a few 2018 concerts before cancelling them on the advise of her doctor owing to health and other difficulties.
In 2018, the singer was admitted to a Detroit hospital. She died in her home on August 16 of pancreatic cancer.