| Aretha Franklin |
Franklin performing at President Barack Obama's inauguration in 2009 |
| Background information |
| Birth name |
Aretha Louise Franklin |
| Born |
(1942-03-25) March 25, 1942 (age 70)
Memphis, Tennessee, U.S. |
| Origin |
Detroit, Michigan, U.S. |
| Genres |
Soul, jazz, blues, R&B, gospel, funk, rock |
| Occupations |
Singer, songwriter, pianist |
| Instruments |
Vocals, piano |
| Years active |
1956–present |
| Labels |
Columbia (1960–1966)
Atlantic (1967–1979)
Arista (1980–2003)
Aretha Records (2004–) |
| Associated acts |
Sweet Inspirations, Carolyn Franklin, Erma Franklin, Cissy Houston, Whitney Houston, George Benson, George Michael, Michael McDonald, Eurythmics, Luther Vandross |
Aretha Louise Franklin (born March 25, 1942) is an American musician, singer, songwriter, and pianist. In a recording career that has spanned over half a century, Franklin's repertoire has included gospel, jazz, blues, R&B, pop, rock and funk. Franklin is known as one of the most important popularizers of the soul music genre and is referred to as the Queen of Soul, a title she was given early in her career. Franklin, the daughter of prominent Baptist minister and activist C. L. Franklin, began her singing career singing in her father's church at the age of ten and started recording four years later. After several years in the gospel circuit and with her father's blessing, she formed a secular pop music career at the age of eighteen, signing with Columbia Records, where she was branded by its CEO John Hammond as his most important act since Billie Holiday. Franklin's Columbia period wasn't as successful as hoped and in late 1966, Franklin switched over to Atlantic Records, where she began recording a string of popular hits including "I Never Loved a Man (The Way I Love You)", "(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman", "Think", "Chain of Fools" and what later became her signature song, "Respect".
After a brief lull in 1969, Franklin continued to record a string of popular singles throughout the early 1970s, reaching her peak as an albums artist with 1970's Spirit in the Dark, 1971's Young, Gifted & Black and the 1972 gospel record, Amazing Grace, which later became one of the best-selling gospel albums of all time and was the biggest-selling album in gospel music for over 25 years. Franklin's success in Atlantic peaked after the release of the singles, "Until You Come Back to Me (That's What I'm Gonna Do)", "I'm in Love" and "Giving Him Something He Can Feel" and the 1976 soundtrack to the movie, Sparkle and Franklin left the label in 1980 to sign with Clive Davis' Arista Records label where she switched over from soul and funk music to a more conservative urban adult contemporary sound in the albums, Aretha and Love All the Hurt Away, before regaining commercial success with the 1982 album, Jump to It, produced by R&B hitmaker Luther Vandross. In 1984, Franklin added modern day pop rock and dance elements to her sound, which was integral to the success of her 1985 album, Who's Zoomin' Who?, which spawned the hits "Freeway of Love", "Who's Zoomin' Who" and the Eurythmics featured "Sisters Are Doin' It For Themselves". The 1986 release of Aretha featured her last number-one hit single with the George Michael duet "I Knew You Were Waiting for Me". Afterwards Franklin returned to a lull in her career until the release of 1998's A Rose Is Still a Rose, which incorporated modern day contemporary R&B and which the title track returned Franklin to the top 40 of the pop charts.
Rolling Stone magazine ranked her atop its "100 Greatest Singers of All Time" list,[1] as well as the ninth greatest artist of all time.[2] She has won 18 Grammys and received two honorary Grammys. In 1987, Franklin became the first female artist to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Franklin is planned to be inducted to the GMA Gospel Music Hall of Fame in August 2012.
Franklin was born in Memphis, Tennessee to Barbara (née Siggers) and Clarence LaVaughn Franklin. Franklin's father, Clarence, otherwise known as "C. L." Franklin, was a rising itinerant preacher, who moved to Memphis from Shelby, Mississippi. Within two years after Aretha's birth, however, Franklin's father again moved, this time up north to Buffalo, New York. The initial reasoning behind Franklin's move to Buffalo was because Franklin sought to find better opportunities and reach a bigger church audience as compared to the South. However, it was debated Franklin moved after word reached about him impregnating a teenage member of his Memphis church and he moved north to avoid the scandal and a possible court case.
Franklin wasn't six yet when her father moved to and eventually settled in Detroit where he built his own church, the New Bethel Baptist Church. Following the move, Franklin's parents separated after a contentious marriage, with Barbara Franklin settling in Buffalo, New York where she became a nurse. Aretha would later recall spending time with her mother at her house in Buffalo during summertime visits though it had been debated Franklin's mother had abandoned her, a charge Franklin has constantly denied. Franklin wasn't yet ten when her mother died suddenly in Buffalo. While she and her siblings attended her funeral, it was said their father either couldn't or refuse to attend. Shortly after her mother was buried, Aretha started singing solos at her father's church.[4] Her father's local celebrity in Detroit helped to attract attention to Franklin's home. Franklin remembered seeing several celebrities and prominent public figures at her house. Among those that would later influenced her music and vocal style included gospel musicians Mahalia Jackson, Clara Ward and The Caravans founder Albertina Walker, while other musicians such as Sam Cooke and Jackie Wilson and fellow preacher Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. also became prominent visitors. Franklin began playing the piano at a young age and knew much of how to play by ear. Franklin recalled that when it came to musical taste, her father wasn't strict, allowing Franklin to listen to a variety of genres including blues, jazz and R&B.
By the mid-fifties, Franklin's father was recording for JVB Records, becoming one of the few preachers to record an album full of sermons, which also included musical performances by the minister along with his choir. In 1956, Franklin started bringing his daughter with him to perform on the gospel circuit. That year, Franklin's father recorded his 14-year-old daughter's gospel performances at a local church and helped Franklin reach a deal with JVB Records where she recorded the album, Songs of Faith, and also released her first single, "Never Grow Old", which would later be reissued by Checker Records numerous times. Franklin's performances on the gospel circuit continued until she reached 17, by then Franklin had a desire to record pop music, something always frowned upon in the ministry. However, her father C. L. approved of her decision, and did the same with his eldest daughter Erma, and helped both daughters reach deals with several record labels outside of Detroit. Prior to signing her first deal, Motown CEO Berry Gordy pursued both Erma and Aretha to sign with Motown. C. L. Franklin, however, passed on the offer thinking the label was too local to promote their talents. Eventually, Aretha settled for Columbia Records.
Franklin's first Columbia single, "Today I Sung the Blues", was released in September 1960, becoming her first charted success, it eventually reached #10 on Billboard's R&B chart. Her debut album Aretha followed in January of the following year, recorded with the Ray Bryant Combo. Franklin's second single, "Operation Heartbreak", repeated the R&B chart success of Franklin's debut single, reaching #7, followed by another R&B top ten single, "Won't Be Long". Franklin's recordings were often compared to that of Dinah Washington and Billie Holiday, singers Franklin admired. Columbia CEO and founder John Hammond, upon hearing Franklin, felt she had what it took to be the next Billie Holiday and recorded Franklin strictly in jazz-influenced pop.
Later Hammond acknowledged that he felt the label didn't understand Franklin's background in gospel music and failed to bring that aspect out in her first secular recordings.[5] Later in 1961, Franklin had her first top 40 single on the pop chart with a ballad rendition of "Rock-A-Bye Your Baby with a Dixie Melody". While Franklin would later say she enjoyed her tenure on Columbia Records, most of the records were considered to be not artistically satisfying to Aretha's style and would later be forgotten about following Franklin's rise to stardom with her earthier R&B recordings with Atlantic. Franklin was placed on the list of jazz magazine Downbeat's top ten best jazz vocalists in 1961, 1962 and 1963. One of her most significant recordings during her early Columbia period was the ballad, "Skylark", recorded in 1962. The song previewed what was to come of Franklin as parts of her gospel singing was showcased in the song.
After a well received tribute album to Dinah Washington, Columbia Records switched paths from their early hopes of jazz stardom to more commercial pop music for Franklin as well as some blues music. The latter music showed up in Franklin's 1964 hit, "Runnin' Out of Fools". Afterwards, Franklin was given covers of Motown hits and other girl group sounding hit singles to record as well as original songs such as "One Step Ahead" and "Cry Like a Baby", which was a top 30 R&B recording and was one of the first hits written by the team of Ashford & Simpson. Following this, Franklin and Columbia opted not to renew their contract. Under the advice of her then-husband and manager, Ted White, Franklin decided to sign with top R&B label, Atlantic Records, signing with them in December 1966. Following her success with Atlantic, Columbia began reissuing Franklin's Columbia material and releasing Columbia recordings that Franklin hadn't released before she left the label in an attempt to capitalize on her success.
After signing with Atlantic, Franklin was sent to the FAME Studios in Muscle Shoals, Alabama to record her first songs with the label alongside the respected Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section. It was in Muscle Shoals that Franklin cut her first Atlantic recording, the blues ballad "I Never Loved a Man (The Way I Love You)".[5] While busy recording another song at the studio, Franklin's husband and one of the musicians got into a drunken argument over Franklin, leading to the couple returning to their house in New York, where they hid for several weeks. Eventually, Franklin returned to record at New York's Atlantic Studios to finish her vocals on the song, "Do Right Woman, Do Right Man". "I Never Loved a Man" would be released in February 1967 and become Franklin's first significant hit single, reaching #9 on the pop chart and #1 on the R&B chart. The b-side, "Do Right Woman", helped Aretha's first Atlantic single to become a double-sided hit on the R&B chart, where it peaked at #37.
In April, Atlantic issued her second single, the Otis Redding song, "Respect"[5], which was re-arranged by the song's producers Jerry Wexler and Arif Mardin and Aretha into a gospel-sounding shouter with Franklin later incorporating call and response vocals with her two sisters, Erma and Carolyn present. With Wexler's allowance, Franklin added in the ad-lib, "r-e-s-p-e-c-t, find out what it means to me, r-e-s-p-e-c-t, take care, TCB", which led to her sisters afterwards shouting out, "sock it to me" repeatedly. Franklin would later insist the song's alleged sexual overtones were not what people insisted saying it was simply a female's response to her lover to show her respect. The song became a simultaneous #1 hit on the pop and R&B charts. Both songs helped its parent album, I Never Loved a Man the Way I Love You, to reach the top ten of the pop albums chart. Franklin's version of "Respect" later was hailed as a 1960s anthem. Franklin's hit streak continued throughout 1967 and 1968 with songs such as "Baby I Love You", "(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman" and "Chain of Fools".[5] "Respect" later won Franklin her first two Grammys. She eventually won eight consecutive Grammys under the Best Female R&B Vocal Performance category.[6]
During a 1967 performance in a Chicago dance, deejay Pervis Spann crowned Franklin a tiara and announced her as "Lady Soul". Franklin's hit streak continued with songs such as "Think" (also referred sometimes as "Freedom" due to Franklin's repeats of the word), "Ain't No Way", "(Sweet Sweet Baby) Since You've Been Gone", "The House That Jack Built" and "I Say a Little Prayer". Due to Franklin's earthier hits, her rendition of the latter song generated mild controversy due to her recording what had been strictly a sweet pop song recorded by Franklin's friend Dionne Warwick, however, the song turned out to be a huge success, eventually becoming a bigger hit in the UK where it reached #4. Franklin's albums such as Lady Soul (taken from the title she was given to in 1967) and Aretha Now became successful albums with Lady Soul boasting three top ten singles. Though she wouldn't take part in the civil rights movement of that time period, Franklin's songs, including "Respect" and "Think", were often used as a means of protest. Franklin insists however that she recorded the songs for fun as she was allowed to freely experiment with vocal styles in the studio. Around this time, Franklin used other background singers, including New Jersey backing group The Sweet Inspirations, to help her on recordings.
Franklin's hit streak was more modest throughout 1969 while Aretha battled personal problems including her filing for divorce from Ted White after eight years of an acrimonious marriage. After a break from the studio, she returned in mid-1969 and recorded "Share Your Love with Me" and the self-penned composition "Call Me", which was released in late 1969 and early 1970 respectively and returned Franklin to #1 on the R&B chart. Franklin also reinvented her style of dress and, as was the trend at the time, she wore an Afro hairstyle and adapted traditional African garb, influenced by the black nationalist movement that had started in the late 1960s. Franklin's success continued with her hit renditions of rock songs such as "The Weight", "Let It Be" and "Eleanor Rigby". Franklin's next album, Spirit in the Dark, included the hits "Spirit in the Dark" and "Don't Play That Song (You Lied)", which became a hit in the UK where Franklin promoted the single. The following year, Franklin became the first black artist to perform at Bill Graham's Fillmore West[7] where she later released a live album from the performance. Following these triumphs, Franklin was beginning to be referred to as "The Queen of Soul", a title which she's kept since.
Following the release of the 1971 hits, "Spanish Harlem" and the self-penned number "Rock Steady", Franklin issued the acclaimed Young, Gifted and Black album in early 1972 and had a follow-up hit with the ballad, "Day Dreaming". The album was also noted for Franklin recording the first cover of an Elton John song with Elton's song, "Border Song". Later in 1972, Franklin released her first gospel album in sixteen years with the Amazing Grace album, which became her most successful album in Atlantic Records, later reportedly selling over two million copies making it at that time the best-selling gospel album of all time. That record has since passed but Franklin's album still remains a huge seller. Franklin's success continued the following year with the release of the ballad, "Angel", which was co-penned by her sister Carolyn. The song was co-produced by Franklin and Quincy Jones, who together produced the concept album, Hey Now Hey (The Other Side of the Sky), which had initially started off as a jazz album. Though some noted the album for its risky experimentation of different styles, it wasn't totally received well by the Atlantic staff and some fans didn't know what to make of its direction. Following its release, Franklin began producing her own Atlantic albums after a renegotiation of her contract with the label. One of the first albums she released following her new deal was Let Me In Your Life, in 1974. The album returned Franklin, who was now adapting a more glamorous figure, to the top 40 thanks to the hits, "Until You Come Back to Me (That's What I'm Gonna Do)" and "I'm in Love" and a sensual cover of the Marvin Gaye single, "Ain't Nothing Like the Real Thing".
By the release of 1974's With Everything I Feel in Me and 1975's You, however, Franklin's success had started to peak. Having relocated to Los Angeles, Franklin's recordings suffered from dismal promotion and changing musical tastes as soul music started to lose its popularity with pop fans in the emergence of different genres such as hard rock, heavy metal, funk and disco. The albums weren't hits and no song from any of those albums were huge hits, leading to a fallout between Franklin and Atlantic Records, which had started with the label's embrace of British hard rock group Led Zeppelin and softer R&B vocalist Roberta Flack, no longer making Franklin the top priority artist she had been since signing with the label. To make matters worse, in 1976, her eight-year streak of winning a Grammy for Best Female R&B Vocal Performance, was broken by Natalie Cole. However, that year, Franklin found renewed success with the Curtis Mayfield production, Sparkle, which spawned the #1 R&B hit, "Giving Him Something He Can Feel" and going gold.
However, the success wouldn't last long. Franklin's next three albums, the Lamont Dozier and Carole Bayer Sager-produced Sweet Passion, the Mayfield produced Almighty Fire and the Van McCoy-produced La Diva tanked on the charts and no single released from those albums charted on the Hot 100 during this tumultuous period. Franklin continued performing in the US and worldwide but was now building a reputation on living comfortably off royalties so that she only performed on occasion rather than as normal procedure. Aretha would later win the masters off her post-1974 Atlantic recordings. Following the release of La Diva in 1979, Atlantic decided not to renew her contract.
In 1980, Franklin gained something of a new audience after a cameo appearance in The Blues Brothers film where she appeared as the wife of Matt "Guitar" Murphy and engages in a brief war of words with Dan Aykroyd's and John Belushi's characters Elwood and Jake Blues, over Murphy leaving his restaurant to perform with them again in which Franklin afterwards performed "Think". Afterwards, Franklin signed a contract with Clive Davis' Arista Records label. Later in 1980, she issued the Aretha album, which featured a minor hit, "United Together", which became a #3 R&B hit. The music on Aretha and its 1981 follow-up, Love All the Hurt Away, furthered Franklin away from earthy soul and into a more glossier and conservative form of R&B music labeled as urban contemporary. The title track off her 1981 album produced another R&B hit with duet vocals provided by George Benson.
In 1982, Franklin returned to the top of the R&B charts with the Jump to It album boasted by the success of the title track, which became her first number-one R&B single in five years. The album also became her first to go gold after her first two Arista albums had failed to reach that position. The album was produced by then R&B hitmaker Luther Vandross, who was then called in to produce Franklin's follow-up, 1983's Get It Right. However, that record failed, selling less than 200,000 copies, despite the title track becoming another number-one R&B hit for Franklin.
Following its release and the subsequent death of her minister father, C. L., in 1984, Franklin laid low for a few months before returning to the studio in her native Detroit to record her next Arista album which was later titled, Who's Zoomin' Who? The inspiration behind the making of the album was due to Aretha listening to the radio and liking what she heard and opted for "a younger sound".[8] This album was produced by rising producer Narada Michael Walden. The album included dance, pop and modern rock elements and would return Franklin to the top ten of the pop charts. "Freeway of Love" became her biggest hit in years reaching #3 on the pop chart and #1 R&B while the follow-up, "Who's Zoomin' Who" reached #7 pop and #2 R&B and was co-penned by Franklin, partly because she inspired the song title. A third single, "Sisters Are Doin' It For Themselves", featuring the Eurythmics, peaked at #18 on the pop charts. The videos for "Freeway of Love" and "Sisters" made Franklin popular with music video audiences and her success was compared to another sixties R&B contemporary, Tina Turner's own groundbreaking success years after leaving Ike Turner.
Franklin followed up this success with the Aretha album in 1986. The album spawned another series of hits including "Jimmy Lee", a cover of the Rolling Stones hit "Jumpin' Jack Flash" and the #1 George Michael duet, "I Knew You Were Waiting for Me" later going gold. To help promote the album, Franklin filmed a Showtime concert TV special. Around this time, Franklin also contributed her voice to several TV networks including a theme song for ABC TV titled "Together" in 1986[9] and the hit series, "A Different World", where her rendition of the theme song remained part of the show from its second season in 1988 through its fifth season in 1992. However, Franklin's success was not as long lasting. Due to an accident in a plane she suffered in 1983, Franklin missed schedule for performances overseas which caused a pain for Arista promoters overseas. Also a problem was Franklin's vocals, which was starting to hamper after years of cigarette smoking. Franklin started adapting to a raspier, low tone starting with performances in 1982 and 1983. In spite of this, she remained a popular concert draw. In 1987, Franklin recorded her first gospel album in fifteen years, One Lord, One Faith, One Baptism, in hopes of having similar success with that record as she had had with Amazing Grace. However, the album failed to find an audience. Franklin returned to the pop charts in 1989 with the release of the Elton John duet, "Through the Storm" and the subsequent release of the album of the same name. However, the album failed to become a success and a much publicized duet with fellow label mate and chart-topping singer Whitney Houston titled "It Isn't, It Wasn't, It Ain't Never Gonna Be" failed to bring much notice peaking below the top 40.
Franklin's attempt at revamping her sound with new jack swing productions in the 1991 album, What You See Is What You Sweat was badly received and was another commercial failure. Following this, Franklin quit chain smoking and spent the next several years reviving parts of her vocal style. In 1994, she contributed to the Sister Act 2: Back in the Habit soundtrack recording the dance song, "A Deeper Love", which became Franklin's biggest single in years reaching #5 in the UK. Later that year, following the release of an Arista best-of, Franklin recorded the Babyface compositions, "Honey" and "Willing to Forgive", with the latter single becoming her first top 40 single in five years. Franklin later contributed vocals to the Waiting to Exhale soundtrack recording the song "It Hurts Like Hell" and following a couple years on the road, recorded the hit album, A Rose Is Still a Rose, which success was mainly due to the success of its title track, which became her last top 40 single on the Billboard Hot 100 nearly 40 years after recording her first one. Throughout 1998, Franklin had success with TV performances including the 1998 Grammys when she performed Luciano Pavarotti's rendition of the opera ballad, "Nessun Dorma", generating a standing ovation at the end of her performance, and a show-stopping performance at VH-1's Divas Live.
Franklin performing on April 21, 2007 at the Nokia Theater in Dallas, Texas.
In 1999, Franklin issued her autobiography, Aretha: From These Roots. Franklin would not release her next album until 2003 when she issued the album, So Damn Happy. In between then, she contributed to albums and songs by several artists including K-Ci and JoJo on a song titled "Angel", and Mary J. Blige on the song, "Don't Waste Your Time", featured on Blige's 1999 album, Mary. The So Damn Happy album featured a minor R&B hit with "Wonderful", which later nabbed Franklin another Grammy. After the release of So Damn Happy, Franklin decided to not renew her contract with Arista after 23 years with the label. In 2004, she began work on her album, A Woman Falling Out of Love, due to be the first release off her dormant Aretha's Records, in 2005. In the meantime, Arista released a duets compilation, 2007's Jewels in the Crown: All-Star Duets with the Queen, which featured another minor R&B hit with the Fantasia duet, "Put You Up on Game". That same year, Franklin issued her first Christmas album, This Christmas, Aretha, which was initially released as a Borders Group exclusive and was later issued on the DMI label.
In 2008, she won her 18th career Grammy in the gospel category on the song "Never Break My Faith" with Mary J. Blige. A year after, she received news for performing at the inauguration for then newly elected President Barack Obama performing the song "My Country 'Tis of Thee", with her attire, including her church hat, becoming a popular item online and the subject of several internet memes. The following year, Franklin received an honorary music degree from Yale.[10] By 2010, Franklin announced that she had sold her rights to movie producers to produce a biopic on her in which would be loosely based off Franklin's 1999 memoirs, Aretha: From These Roots. Franklin had initially planned for Halle Berry to play her in the featured role but Berry turned down her offer in January 2011. Franklin has since picked singer Audra McDonald to play her.
In May 2011, commemorating on her 50th anniversary since the release of her first non-gospel recording, Franklin issued her 38th studio release, A Woman Falling Out of Love through WalMart. Franklin recorded two duets with longtime friend, Ronald Isley of The Isley Brothers, recording "The Way We Were" on Aretha's album, while recording "You've Got a Friend" on Isley's record, Mr. I. Later in September, Franklin contributed duet vocals to the Tony Bennett rendition of "How Do You Keep The Music Playing" off his Duets II album.
Aretha, by her own admission grew up fast as a child and discovered boys at the age of thirteen, getting pregnant just three months after becoming a teenager. A relationship with one boy led to the birth of her first son, Clarence, named after her father, on March 28, 1956, just three days after she turned 14. In January 1957, before reaching 15, Franklin had another son, Edward, with another boy.[11] She never identified by name the father of either child. Her grandmother, Rachel, raised the boys while Aretha pursued her singing career. Rachel lived in a guest house behind C.L. Franklin's LaSalle Street home. (The Franklin family moved from their home on Boston Street in Detroit's North End section to LaSalle Street during the late 1950s.)
Franklin had a third son, Ted White, Jr. (sometimes referred to as Teddy Richards), with her manager and former family friend Ted White, Sr., born in 1964. Teddy is the musical director and guitarist of his mother's touring band.[12] A relationship with road manager Ken Cunningham produced a fourth son, Kecalf, who was named after the first initials of their parents' names.[13] Kecalf, her youngest-born child, was born three days after his mother's 28th birthday. In 2010, Aretha's son Edward was attacked by three people at a Detroit gas station near Plymouth Road and Evergreen.[14][15] Kecalf Franklin, Aretha's youngest son, is currently a rapper and produces gospel recordings.[16]
Aretha Franklin and William Wilkerson watching Roger Federer at the
2011 US Open.
Against her father's wishes, Aretha married her first husband, Ted White, in front of a justice of the peace in Ohio in 1961 when she was nineteen. White later replaced Aretha's father as her manager in 1967. According to close friends, White was physically abusive and it's suggested White's physical abuse and philandering were the cause of Franklin's heart-wrenching vocals on her best-known recordings during the Atlantic years. Her producer, Jerry Wexler once called Franklin "the lady of mysterious sorrows" since Aretha didn't tell anyone her personal story. Following a 1968 cover article in Time magazine in which her abusive marriage and a claim that her mother abandoned her at a young age led Franklin to not give any interviews to media groups and increasing her privacy.
After ending her affair with Ken Cunningham after a seven-year on-again, off-again relationship, Franklin married actor Glynn Turman on April 11, 1978 at her father's New Bethel Baptist Church with her father presiding over the ceremony. Aretha became a surrogate stepmother to Turman's three children from a previous marriage. Due to their schedules, however, it wasn't long before their marriage fell apart despite living together in Franklin's mansion in Encino. In late 1982, Franklin and Turman separated after only four years, eventually divorcing in early 1984. In early 2012, it was reported that Franklin was set to walk down the aisle a third time with her longtime companion Willie Wilkerson.[17][18] Franklin and Wilkerson had plans to marry in 1987 but later nixed those plans. Within a month after Aretha had announced the wedding this year, she nixed the plans again.
Franklin's sisters Erma Franklin and Carolyn Franklin were professional singers and sang as backup for Aretha during her initial success at Atlantic. Her brother, the Reverend Cecil Franklin, took over as her manager after her divorce from Ted White was finalized. Cecil remained her manager until his death from cancer on December 26, 1989. Younger sister Carolyn preceded Cecil in death in early 1988 from breast cancer while Erma Franklin later died from throat cancer in 2002. Franklin's eldest half-brother, Vaughn (born December 24, 1934) and elder half-sister Carl Kelley (née Jennings; born 1940) are still alive. Kelley is C.L. Franklin's daughter by Mildred Jennings, a then 12-year-old congregant of New Salem Baptist Church of Memphis, Tennessee, where C.L. was pastor in the late 1930s and early 1940s.[19] Franklin was close to her minister father, C. L. Franklin. C. L. served as Franklin's first manager, a position he gave up to Ted White around 1967. Aretha was performing in Las Vegas on June 10, 1979 when her father was shot by attempted robbers at his LaSalle Street home in Detroit. Aretha and her family returned their father back to his home six months after the shooting left him in a coma. Aretha moved back to Detroit at the end of 1982 to assist with the care of her father, who died in a nursing home on July 27, 1984.
Aretha's relationship with road manager Ken Cunningham was on and off from 1969 until a final breakup in 1976. During one breakup in 1971, Franklin, living back in northwest Detroit, had a brief liaison with Temptations star Dennis Edwards. The relationship inspired Franklin's hit, "Day Dreaming". Franklin and Edwards' romance cooled quickly but they've remained friends. Aretha is also friendly with many of her Detroit peers that went on to be music superstars including Smokey Robinson and Stevie Wonder. She was friendly with members of the Four Tops as well, later singing with them on several records in the 1980s. Franklin also had a close friendship with Sam Cooke after meeting as gospel performers. Following Cooke's death, Franklin recorded his songs "A Change Is Gonna Come" and "You Send Me".
Franklin grew close with Sweet Inspirations founder Cissy Houston, who sang background on Franklin's "Ain't No Way".[20] Due to this friendship, she was later made honorary aunt of Cissy's daughter, Whitney Houston, who often referred to Franklin as "Auntie Ree".[21] Franklin recalled meeting Whitney at either 8 or 9 years old when Whitney's mother brought her to a recording studio.[22] Sometime in the 1980s, a PR mistake listed Franklin as Houston's godmother. On February 11, 2012, Whitney Houston died in Beverly Hills from unknown causes.[23] Aretha was devastated by her death and said it was "so stunning and unbelievable".[23] She planned to perform at the memorial service on February 18, but her representative claimed that Aretha was "ill" and was "not performing at the memorial service", though she later performed at New York's Radio City Music Hall on the same night.[24][25]
Franklin acknowledged her issues with her weight in the past even telling an interviewer from Jet magazine that she was always trying to lose weight. Before undergoing surgery for an undisclosed ailment that halted her schedule in 2010, Franklin had begun losing weight. According to the singer in 2011, she said she had lost up to 85 lbs in weight following her surgery. In the past, Franklin had went through periods of yo-yo dieting, at one time, losing over 100 pounds showing off her weight loss on the cover of Ebony magazine in 1974. Franklin managed to keep the weight off until after 1982. After another slim period in the early '90s, and after quitting cigarettes cold turkey in 1991, Franklin's weight started to balloon up. In 2010, Franklin suffered a pain in her side which she said, "was so hard it almost brought me to my knees." After continuing a concert tour, the pain recurred, and she subsequently underwent surgery for an undisclosed ailment in October 2010, ending several engagements with Condoleeza Rice. At this time, rumors surfaced that she was suffering from pancreatic cancer. In discussing the events in 2011, she has said that this was not the case and that her doctor told her, "the surgery that you just had is going to add 15 to 20 more years to your life."[26]
Franklin’s music and civil rights involvement cannot be separated for it was through music, which Franklin was able to reach out to so many and empower those who had felt so long oppressed.
Aretha Franklin first became connected with the civil rights movement through her father, Reverend C.L. Franklin. Rev. Franklin was an influential preacher who traveled the country as well as recorded a weekly sermon for the radio station, WLAC, which reached 65 percent of the African-American population. It was these same tours that Aretha would begin her singing career.[27] Rev. Franklin would also introduce Aretha to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. starting a life long friendship between the two.
It was Franklin's soulful sound, which would become the driving anthem of the civil rights movement or as poet Nikki Giovanni put it “the voice of the civil rights movement, the voice of the black America”.[28]
Through Franklin’s album ‘I Never Loved A Man The Way I Love You’, hit ‘Respect’ rose to the top. Her strong voice asking for something as simple as respect reflects the cries of the civil rights movement. Her lyrics mirror that of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s ‘I Have A Dream’ speech. Most notably the lines “Now is the time to lift our nation from the quicksands of racial injustice to the solid rock of brotherhood. Now is the time to make justice a reality for all of God’s children”.[29] While the civil rights movement was already in motion before Franklin became a prominent figure she had now lent it a soundtrack.
Franklin did not have to do much to help propel the civil rights movement. “Her own sense of pride and her dignified stance, she represented the new black woman of the late 1960s”.[13] Franklin’s own sound and presence were enough to reflect the ideas of the movement and were what caused her to become a notable figure in the cause.
Franklin was not actively heading demonstrations or participating in sit-ins, but she was able to do her part and use her talent to help the movement. She would numerous times perform at rallies with King, lending her voice and fame to pull in crowds. Franklin is a registered Democrat.[30]
- On June 28, 1968 she became the second African-American woman to appear on the cover of TIME magazine.[31]
- On August 1, 1968, she sang the National Anthem at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago, IL.
- In 1985, then-Gov. James Blanchard of Michigan declared her voice “a natural resource” during a ceremony that marked her 25 years in show business.
- Aretha Franklin is one of three musicians, along with Madonna & Marvin Gaye, to have singles peak at each of the top 10 positions on the US Billboard Hot 100.
- On January 20, 1987, she became the first woman to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.[32]
- On March 29, 1987, Franklin sang "America the Beautiful" at WrestleMania III.
- In September 1999, she was awarded The National Medal of Arts by President Clinton.
- In 2004, Rolling Stone ranked her ninth on their list of the 100 Greatest Artists of All Time.[33]
- In 2005, she was awarded The Presidential Medal of Freedom by President George W. Bush.
- In 2005, she became the second woman (Madonna being the first) to be inducted into the UK Music Hall of Fame.
- In 2005, Franklin was inducted into the Michigan Rock and Roll Legends Hall of Fame.[34]
- On February 6, 2006, she performed, along with Aaron Neville, "The Star-Spangled Banner" at Super Bowl XL.
- On May 13, 2006, she was presented with an honorary Doctor of Music degree by the Berklee College of Music.
- On April 1, 2007 Aretha sang "America the Beautiful" at WrestleMania 23.
- On May 14, 2007, she was presented with an honorary Doctor of Music degree from the University of Pennsylvania.
- In 2007, Aretha Franklin's recording of "Respect" was voted a Legendary Michigan Song.[35]
- Is an honorary member of Delta Sigma Theta sorority
- On February 8, 2008, Franklin was honored as MusiCares "Person of the Year".
- On February 14, 2008, Franklin was given the Vanguard award at the NAACP Image awards.
- On May 4, 2008, Franklin was given the Key to the City of Memphis at the 2008 "Memphis in May International Music Festival" by Mayor Dr. Willie Herenton during her performance onstage.
- On September 13, 2008, Franklin was ranked No. 19 on the Billboard Hot 100 All-Time Top Artists list by Billboard.[36]
- November 2008, Franklin was named by Rolling Stone as the No. 1 all-time best singer of the rock era, according to the magazine's survey of 179 musicians, producers, Rolling Stone editors, and other music industry insiders.[37]
- On January 20, 2009, Franklin performed "My Country, 'Tis of Thee" during the inauguration ceremony of Barack Obama.
- On May 23, 2010, Franklin received an Honorary Doctorate in Music from Yale University.[38]
- On June 1, 2010, Aretha Franklin's recording of "Chain Of Fools" was voted a Legendary Michigan Song.[35]
- On February 13, 2011, the Grammy Awards paid tribute to Franklin with a medley of her classics by fellow singers Christina Aguilera, Florence Welch, Jennifer Hudson, Martina McBride and Yolanda Adams[39]
- On October 16, 2011, Franklin sang "Precious Lord (Take My Hand)" for Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s memorial dedication ceremony in Washington, D.C.
- On August 14, 2012, Franklin will be inducted to the GMA Gospel Music Hall of Fame.
Franklin has won 18[40] performance Grammy Awards,[41] and two honorary Grammys: the Grammy Legend Award (1991) and the Recording Academy Lifetime Achievement Award (1994).[42]
She holds the record[citation needed] for most Best Female R&B Vocal Performance awards, with eleven to her name (including eight consecutive awards from 1968 to 1975 – the first eight awarded in that category).
| Aretha Franklin's 18 Grammy Award Wins |
| # |
Year |
Category |
Genre |
Title |
| 1 |
1968 |
Best Rhythm & Blues Recording |
R&B |
Respect |
| 2 |
1968 |
Best Female R&B Vocal Performance |
R&B |
Respect |
| 3 |
1969 |
Best Female R&B Vocal Performance |
R&B |
Chain Of Fools |
| 4 |
1970 |
Best Female R&B Vocal Performance |
R&B |
Share Your Love With Me |
| 5 |
1971 |
Best Female R&B Vocal Performance |
R&B |
Don't Play That Song For Me |
| 6 |
1972 |
Best Female R&B Vocal Performance |
R&B |
Bridge Over Troubled Water |
| 7 |
1973 |
Best Female R&B Vocal Performance |
R&B |
Young, Gifted and Black (album) |
| 8 |
1973 |
Best Soul Gospel Performance |
Gospel |
Amazing Grace (album) |
| 9 |
1974 |
Best Female R&B Vocal Performance |
R&B |
Master Of Eyes |
| 10 |
1975 |
Best Female R&B Vocal Performance |
R&B |
Ain't Nothing Like The Real Thing |
| 11 |
1982 |
Best Female R&B Vocal Performance |
R&B |
Hold On...I'm Comin' (album track) |
| 12 |
1986 |
Best Female R&B Vocal Performance |
R&B |
Freeway Of Love |
| 13 |
1988 |
Best Female R&B Vocal Performance |
R&B |
Aretha (album) |
| 14 |
1988 |
Best R&B Performance – Duo Or Group with Vocals |
R&B |
I Knew You Were Waiting (For Me) (with George Michael) |
| 15 |
1989 |
Best Soul Gospel Performance – Female |
Gospel |
One Lord, One Faith, One Baptism (album) |
| * |
1991 |
Living Legend Award |
Special |
|
| * |
1994 |
Lifetime Achievement Award |
Special |
|
| 16 |
2004 |
Best Traditional R&B Vocal Performance |
R&B |
Wonderful |
| 17 |
2006 |
Best Traditional R&B Vocal Performance |
R&B |
A House Is Not A Home |
| 18 |
2008 |
Best Gospel-Soul Vocal Performance by a Duo or Group |
Gospel |
Never Gonna Break My Faith (with Mary J. Blige) |
Source:[43]
Source:[43]
- The Blues Brothers (1980)
- Motown 40: The Music Is Forever (1998) (ABC-TV documentary)
- Blues Brothers 2000 (1998)
- DIVAS LIVE (1998)
- Immaculate Funk (2000) (documentary)
- Rhythm, Love and Soul (2002)
- Tom Dowd & the Language of Music (2003) (documentary)
- Singing in the Shadow: The Children of Rock Royalty (2003) (documentary)
- From The Heart / The Four Tops 50th Anniversary and Celebration (2004)
- Atlantic Records: The House that Ahmet Built (2007) (documentary)
- ^ "100 Greatest Singers of All Time". Rolling Stone (1066): 73. November 27, 2008. http://www.rollingstone.com/music/lists/6027/32782/32784. Retrieved October 6, 2010.
- ^ Waxler, Jerry. "100 Greatest Artists of All Time". Rolling Stone. Wenner Media LLC. http://www.rollingstone.com/music/lists/100-greatest-artists-of-all-time-19691231/aretha-franklin-19691231. Retrieved April 19, 2012.
- ^ "Sister Ree's Scrapbook, An Aretha Franklin Photo Gallery 13". http://www.morethings.com/music/aretha_franklin/photo_gallery13.htm. Retrieved November 6, 2010.
- ^ Dave Hoekstra (12 May 2011). "Aretha Franklin’s roots of soul". Chicago Sun-Times. http://www.suntimes.com/entertainment/music/5151565-421/roots--of-soul.html. Retrieved 18 April 2012.
- ^ a b c d Gilliland, John (1969). "Show 52 – The Soul Reformation: Phase three, soul music at the summit. [Part 8] : UNT Digital Library" (audio). Pop Chronicles. Digital.library.unt.edu. http://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc19834/m1.
- ^ Natalie Cole broke Franklin's "Best Female R&B Vocal Performance" winning streak with her 1975 single "This Will Be (An Everlasting Love)" (which, ironically, was originally offered to Franklin).
- ^ "Aretha Franklin songs". http://www.wolfgangsvault.com/aretha-franklin/songs. – from the Bill Graham archives; requires free login.
- ^ Rolling Stone magazine, "Aretha Franklin's New Wave of Pop" by Eliza Graham, page 11.
- ^ Patrick Goldstein (18 July 1986). "Writer`s Ballad Tapped For Abc-tv Fall Theme". South Florida Sun-Sentinel. http://articles.sun-sentinel.com/1986-07-18/features/8602120160_1_abc-tv-aretha-franklin-brock-walsh. Retrieved 18 April 2012.
- ^ Rosenthal, Lauren (May 24, 2010). "Univ. confers 3,243 degrees at 309th Commencement". Yale Daily News. http://www.yaledailynews.com/news/2010/may/24/univ-confers-3243-degrees-at-309th-commencement. Retrieved November 30, 2010.
- ^ Nick Salvatore (2005). Singing in a Strange Land: C.L. Franklin, the Black Church, and the Transformation of America. Little Brown. pp. 203–204, 224. ISBN 0-316-16037-7. OCLC 56104283. http://books.google.com/books?id=bRDAQSK9DlkC&pg=PA203.
- ^ "Aretha Franklin gets engaged". NDTV. 3 January 2012. http://www.ndtv.com/article/music/aretha-franklin-gets-engaged-163296. Retrieved 18 April 2012.
- ^ a b Bego, Mark (1989). Aretha Franklin: The Queen Of Soul. New York: St.Martin's Press. p. page #s?. ISBN 0-306-8093-4. http://books.google.com/books?id=ErKigdCXUwoC&printsec=frontcover&dq=Bego,+Mark.+Aretha+Franklin:+the+queen+of+soul&hl=en&ei=s3nhToWzL-je2QXPqYjMBA&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CDYQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=Bego%2C%20Mark.%20Aretha%20Franklin%3A%20the%20queen%20of%20soul&f=false.
- ^ "Aretha Franklin's 52-year-old son hospitalised after brutal attack at Detroit gas station". Daily Mail. 22 September 2010. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-1314055/Aretha-Franklins-son-Eddie-hospitalised-Detroit-gas-station-attack.html. Retrieved 18 April 2012.
- ^ "Aretha Franklin's son has been released from hospital after being beaten in Detroit". Action News. September 21, 2010. http://www.wxyz.com/dpp/homepage_showcase/aretha-franklin%27s-son-severely-beaten-in-detroit.
- ^ "Franklin previews new album at Detroit restaurant". Journal Register Company. 27 February 2010. http://www.themorningsun.com/articles/2010/02/27/entertainment/srv0000007709849.txt. Retrieved 18 April 2012.
- ^ "Soul singer Aretha Franklin is engaged". CNN. January 2, 2012. http://www.cnn.com/2012/01/02/showbiz/aretha-franklin-engaged/?hpt=hp_c2.
- ^ "Aretha Franklin to get married this summer | Celebrity Buzz | a Chron.com blog". Blog.chron.com. 2012-01-02. http://blog.chron.com/celebritybuzz/2012/01/aretha-franklin-to-get-married-this-summer/. Retrieved 2012-05-13.
- ^ Salvatore, Nick, Singing in a Strange Land: C. L. Franklin, the Black Church, and the Transformation of America, Little Brown, 2005, Hardcover ISBN 0-316-16037-7, pp. 61–62
- ^ Roger Friedman (17 February 2012). "Who Is Cissy Houston? A Primer". Showbiz411. http://www.showbiz411.com/2012/02/17/who-is-cissy-houston-a-primer. Retrieved 18 April 2012.
- ^ Whitall, Susan. "Aretha Franklin recalls meeting a young Whitney Houston". The Queen of Soul corrected one thing about her relationship to Houston. She says she wasn't Houston's godmother, but a sort of honorary aunt.. The Detroit News. http://www.detroitnews.com/article/20120217/ENT09/202170397/1361/Aretha-Franklin-recalls-meeting-a-young-Whitney-Houston. Retrieved 18 February 2012.
- ^ Whitall, Susan. "Aretha Franklin recalls meeting a young Whitney Houston". Aretha Franklin, who will sing at Whitney Houston's funeral Saturday, spoke to Al Roker on the "Today" show Friday morning about the first time she met Houston, as a wide-eyed 8- or 9-year-old.. The Detroit News. http://www.detroitnews.com/article/20120217/ENT09/202170397/1361/Aretha-Franklin-recalls-meeting-a-young-Whitney-Houston. Retrieved 18 February 2012.
- ^ a b "Singer Whitney Houston dies at 48 - CNN.com". CNN. February 12, 2012. http://edition.cnn.com/2012/02/11/showbiz/whitney-houston-dead/?hpt=hp_t1.
- ^ "At Houston funeral, stories of faith, courage and love - CNN.com". CNN. February 19, 2012. http://edition.cnn.com/2012/02/18/showbiz/whitney-houston-funeral/index.html?hpt=hp_c1.
- ^ "Aretha Franklin - Calls in Sick to Whitney Houston's Funeral, But Performs in NYC That Night". TMZ.com. 2012-02-19. http://www.tmz.com/2012/02/19/whitney-houston-funeral-aretha-frranklin/#.T0HXQnJSSkU. Retrieved 2012-05-13.
- ^ "Aretha Franklin Sets The Record Straight On Her Health". Access Hollywood. January 13, 2011. http://www.accesshollywood.com/aretha-franklin-sets-the-record-straight-on-her-health-i-dont-know-where-pancreatic-cancer-came-from_article_42228.
- ^ Carroll, Jillian (2004). Aretha Franklin. Chicago: Raintree. ISBN 0-7398-7029-7. http://books.google.com/books?id=7nhDFoq_iQEC&printsec=frontcover&dq=Carroll,+Jillian.+Aretha+Franklin.&hl=en&ei=xXbhTui5Ks-msQLMyt32BQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CDAQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=Carroll%2C%20Jillian.%20Aretha%20Franklin.&f=false.
- ^ Dobkin, Matt (2006). I Never Loved A Man The Way I Love You: Aretha Franklin, Respect, and the Making Of A Soul Music Masterpiece. New York: St. Martin's Griffin. ISBN 0-312-31828-6. http://books.google.com/books?id=lHJC0ne4zbAC&printsec=frontcover&dq=I+Never+Loved+A+Man+The+Way+I+Love+You:+Aretha+Franklin,+Respect,+and+the+Making+Of+A+Soul+Music+Masterpiece&hl=en&ei=03jhTtbkCeK3sQKRvKGLBg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CDEQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=I%20Never%20Loved%20A%20Man%20The%20Way%20I%20Love%20You%3A%20Aretha%20Franklin%2C%20Respect%2C%20and%20the%20Making%20Of%20A%20Soul%20Music%20Masterpiece&f=false.
- ^ Luther King, Jr., Martin. "I Have A Dream". I Have A Dream. http://www.news.wisc.edu/releases/3504.html. Retrieved December 9, 2011.
- ^ On an ABC promo aired on July 27, 2010 announcing Franklin and Rice's appearing together in concert there was a segment in which Franklin was being interviewed and she said herself, "I am a Democrat".
- ^ "TIME Magazine Cover: Aretha Franklin". Time. June 28, 1968. http://www.time.com/time/covers/0,16641,19680628,00.html. Retrieved September 30, 2011.
- ^ "Aretha Franklin Biography". Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. undated. Archived from the original on November 27, 2010. http://rockhall.com/inductees/aretha-franklin/bio/.
- ^ "The Immortals: The First Fifty". Rolling Stone Issue 946. http://www.rollingstone.com/news/story/5939214/the_immortals_the_first_fifty.
- ^ Category: Inductees. "Aretha Franklin". Michigan Rock and Roll Legends. http://www.michiganrockandrolllegends.com/mrrl-hall-of-fame/70-aretha-franklin. Retrieved 2012-05-13.
- ^ a b Category: Uncategorised. "Legendary Michigan Songs". Michigan Rock and Roll Legends. http://www.michiganrockandrolllegends.com/legendary-michigan-songs-inductees. Retrieved 2012-05-13.
- ^ The Billboard Hot 100 All-Time Top Artists. Billboard.com. Retrieved on July 8, 2011.
- ^ Aretha Franklin greatest singer in rock era: poll. Music.yahoo.com (2008-11-11). Retrieved on July 8, 2011.
- ^ Franklin receives honorary doctorate from Yale. Newsone.com (2010-05-24). Retrieved on July 8, 2011.
- ^ Grammay Awards tribute to Aretha Franklin
- ^ According to NARAS rules,[where?] Special Grammy Awards (such as Lifetime Achievement) are not counted in a performer's tally.
- ^ "Past Winners Search: Aretha Franklin". Grammy.com. http://www.grammy.com/nominees/search?artist=Aretha+Franklin&title=&year=All&genre=All. Retrieved January 2, 2011.
- ^ Nechvatal, Zack (February 10, 2011). "Grammy Awards To Honor Aretha Franklin". Chicago, Illinois: WXRT/CBS Radio. Archived from the original on January 2, 2012. http://wxrt.radio.com/2011/02/10/grammy-awards-to-honor-aretha-franklin/. Retrieved January 2, 2012.
- ^ a b "Aretha Franklin: Biography". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on May 3, 2009. http://web.archive.org/web/20090503075231/http://www.rollingstone.com/artists/arethafranklin/biography. Retrieved March 21, 2010.
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Franklin, Aretha Louise |
| Alternative names |
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| Short description |
American singer |
| Date of birth |
March 25, 1942 |
| Place of birth |
Memphis, Tennessee, U.S. |
| Date of death |
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![Aretha Franklin - Chain Of Fools [1967]](http://web.archive.org./web/20121114113748im_/http://i.ytimg.com/vi/BloxxEFwibo/default.jpg "Aretha Franklin - Chain Of Fools [1967]")
