Aretha Louise Franklin was born on March 25, 1942 in Memphis, Tennessee.
When Franklin was five years old, her family relocated to Detroit, Michigan. She began her career singing gospel at her father’s Baptist church. A year later, her parents separated because of her father’s infamous promiscuity. Her mother moved to Buffalo. When she was 10 years old, her mother died and her grandmother and aunts took care of her and her three siblings.
She started to learn how to play the piano on her own when she was a little girl and her earliest songs were recorded at the church when she was only 14. She also used to sing on the revival tours of her father. Franklin’s talent for singing was recognized by her father who started managing her. In 1956, her first album came out under J. V. B. Records label, ‘Songs of Faith’.
Although renowned for her soul recordings, Franklin is also adept at jazz, rock, blues, pop, R&B and Gospel music.
In the year, 1960, at age 18, she began her career recording for Columbia Records. Her single ‘Today I Sung the Blues’ was released in the same year - it reached the Hot Rhythm &
Blue Sellers Chart. Franklin also recorded albums, I Never Loved a Man the Way I Love You, Lady Soul, Young, Gifted &
Black and Amazing Grace. By 1962, she was called the ‘new-star female vocalist’ by A-list magazines.
In 1967-1968, she signed with Atlantic Records and achieved commercial acclaim with songs “I saw a Little Prayer’,
“Respect”, “A Natural Woman” and “Think”. From these hits, she gained the title of Queen of Soul and received two Grammys
and SCLC Drum Beat Award for Musicians.
In the 1970s, Franklin released albums like ‘Spirit in the Dark’, ‘Young, Gifted &
Black’, ‘Hey Now Hey’, ‘You’, and more. She also released her first gospel album, ‘Amazing Grace’
during the same time. Aretha recorded her first live album ‘Aretha Live at Fillmore West’. She also
worked on the soundtrack of the movie ‘Sparkle’.
After her father was shot in 1979 by burglars and remained in a coma until 1984, Franklin left Atlantic
and signed with Arista Records, finding success in the film, The Blues Brothers, as well as albums, Jump
to It and Who's Zoomin' Who?.
In 1980, she signed the Arista Records and gave a memorable performance
for the Queen of England at the Royal Albert Hall. She got nominated for
a Grammy for one of the singles from the album ‘I can’t Turn You Loose’.
A year later, her album, ‘Love All the Hurt Away’ eventually fetched her a
Grammy. It was her 11th Grammy so far.
In 1985, ‘Jump to It’ became a Gold standard album and a huge commercial
hit after almost 7 years. It ranked first on ‘top 40 singles on the pop
charts’. The same year, she released ‘Who’s Zoomin’ Who’, which became her
first platinum album and sold over a million copies. In 1987, Franklin gave
a performance at the Grammy Awards, singing ‘Nessun Dorma’ and received an
international acclaim for it.
A high school dropout, she has two honorary doctorates of music, from Berklee College of Music and Yale University. Aretha also studied classical piano at Juliard School of Music, 1998. The same year, Franklin won international acclaim for singing the opera aria, "Nessun Dorma", at the Grammys of that year replacing Luciano Pavarotti. Later that same year, she scored her final Top 40 recording with "A Rose Is Still a Rose".
From 2004-2009, Franklin released albums like: ‘So Damn Happy’, ‘Jewels in the Crown: All-Star Duets with the Queen’ and ‘This Christmas ‘Tis of Thee’. She also performed at President Barack Obama’s inaugural ceremony. In 2005, she was inducted into the UK Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. She also has performed at the inaugurations of two other presidents: Jimmy Carter, and Bill Clinton. She was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President George W. Bush. In 2008, the American music magazine Rolling Stone ranked Franklin #1 on its list of The Greatest Singers of All Time.
From 2010-2013, she recorded an album under her own label,
‘Aretha: A Woman Falling Out of Love’. She was honored by
a degree from the Yale University. In 2014, she achieved a
milestone in music history by becoming the first female to
earn her 100th hit on Billboard's Hot R&B song chart with
"Rolling in the Deep."
Franklin eventually recorded a
total of 88 charted singles on Billboard, including 77 Hot 100 entries
and twenty number-one R&B singles, becoming the most charted female
artist in the chart's history.
In 2017, Franklin announced she would retire from performing in concert after the release of one more album.
Franklin was one of the most honored artists by the Grammy Awards, with 18 Grammys to date, which include the Living Legend Grammy and the Lifetime Achievement Grammy. On August 19th, 2018, at age 76, Aretha passed away from pancreativ cancer.
Artist, arranger, pianist, songwriter, mother, civil rights activist, and owner of one of the finest voices to ever bless this planet will forever be missed.
