Aretha Franklin, was born Aretha Louise Franklin on March 25, 1942. She began her singing as a child at her father’s church, New Bethel Baptist Church in Detroit. In 1960, at the age of 18, she signed her first recording contract with Columbia Records. In 1967, she signed a new recording contract with the newly formed Atlantic Records where she released her legendary hits “Respect”, “(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman”, “Spanish Harlem” and “Think”. Her successful reign in the 1960s gained her the title “The Queen of Soul”.
Check out “Respect”, “Natural Woman” and “Spanish Harlem” below.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gFNqwQ8vdAY
During her illustrious career, Ms. Franklin had 112 charted singles on Billboard, including 77 Hot 100 entries, 17 top ten pop singles, 100 R&B entries and 20 number-one R&B singles. To date, she’s the most charted female artist in Billboard chart’s history.
In 1979, Ms. Franklin signed a recording agreement with Arista Records, where she releasedher iconic albums, Jump to It in 1982 and Who’s Zoomin’ Who? in 1985. In 1998, Ms. Franklin replaced opera legend Luciano Pavarotti at the Grammy’s where she performed the opera aria “Nessun dorma.”During that same year, she scored her final Top 40 recording with “A Rose Is Still a Rose”.
Ms. Franklin’s other hit records include “Rock Steady”, “Jump to It”, “Freeway of Love”, “Who’s Zoomin’ Who”, “Chain Of Fools”, “Until You Come Back to Me (That’s What I’m Gonna Do)”, “Something He Can Feel”, “I Knew You Were Waiting (For Me)” (with George Michael), and a remake of The Rolling Stones song “Jumpin’ Jack Flash”.
Check out “A Change Is Gonna Come” below.
Ms. Franklin won 18 Grammy Awards and is one of the best-selling artists of all time, with over 75 million records sold worldwide. In 1987, she was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and became the first female performer to be inducted. She was inducted to the UK Music Hall of Fame in 2005. In August 2012, Franklin was inducted into the GMA Gospel Music Hall of Fame.
Sadly,she died at her home today (August 16th ) from pancreatic cancer.
Rest In Peace Ms. Aretha Franklin. Your music has and will continue to bring us joy and fantastic memories for as long as we live. Heaven has another great musician and we who live will surely miss her presence. Ms. Arteha Franklin, March 25, 1942 to August 16, 2018.
