Aretha Franklin, THE undisputed Queen of Soul whose career spanned more than 5 decades has taken her place among the heavenly angels’ choir.
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Born March 25, 1942, Aretha began singing gospel as a child at New Bethel Baptist Church in Detroit, where her father, C. L. Franklin, was the minister. When she turned 18 in 1960, she made the switch to secular music and began recording for Columbia Records. After a few years of only modest success, Aretha made the move to Atlantic Records in 1967 and achieved commercial stardom. Her recordings of “Think,” “(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman”, “Chain Of Fools,” “Respect”, and a host of others turned her into a global icon and earned her the title “Queen of Soul.”
Across her lengthy career, Aretha Franklin recorded a total of 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, making her the most charted female artist in history. She was the first woman to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and has sold more than 75 million records.
Aretha Franklin passed away on Thursday, August 16th after reports of a lengthy battle with pancreatic cancer while surrounded by her family and loved ones. Almost immediately, expressions of love and condolences began to pour in from around the world.
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Aretha helped define the American experience. In her voice, we could feel our history, all of it and in every shade—our power and our pain, our darkness and our light, our quest for redemption and our hard-won respect. May the Queen of Soul rest in eternal peace. pic.twitter.com/bfASqKlLc5
— Barack Obama (@BarackObama) August 16, 2018
What a life. What a legacy!
So much love, respect and gratitude.
R.I.P. @ArethaFranklin https://t.co/400K1U5IHI— Carole King (@Carole_King) August 16, 2018
We’re saddened by the loss of Aretha Franklin. Asteroid 249516 Aretha, found by our NEOWISE mission and named after the singer to commemorate the #QueenOfSoul, will keep orbiting beyond Mars. See more details: https://t.co/NlW4vkmKDq pic.twitter.com/yZ0E5ofSQT
— NASA (@NASA) August 16, 2018
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Aretha, you will always be the world’s “Natural Woman.” She was 76.
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I was slow to comment on this because honestly THIS loss is truly right up there at the top of genuine heart-breakers for me. This woman, this Master of Music. this Activists for Civil Rights, Equal Right and Women’s Rights personified a standard of Excellence that only the rarest of rare humans can achieve in a lifetime. Her God-given talent, appreciation for her gift AND her fans/audience, her gravitas all worked together in Perfect harmony and allowed her to overcome so much heartache and pain and RISE to become simply “The Queen.” Yes. She was universally known as “The Queen of Soul” but the Lady didn’t need NO help when she sang the Blues, R&B, Jazz and of course, Black Gospel either…..Lol. Good Lord….”Ree Ree” could even deliver a awesome opera rendition! And Shout Out to Jerry Wexler, the first producer to recognize right off the bat that (1) Aretha… Read more »