R.I.P. The Queen of Soul
Legendary soul singer Aretha Franklin had died aged 76, after battling numerous health problems. She was surrounded by her friends and family in Detroit.
The news was confirmed by her publicist.
BREAKING: Publicist for Aretha Franklin says the Queen of Soul died Thursday at her home in Detroit.
— The Associated Press (@AP) August 16, 2018
Franklin had one of the recognisable voices in American pop music, recording iconic all-time soul classics like “Respect”, “(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman”, and “I Say A Little Prayer”.
She started in music singing gospel with her sisters in her father church in Detroit, and made her first recording aged just 14.
At the age of 18 she signed with Colombia Records, with interest in her also having been shown by both RCA and Motown. Despite her obvious talent, and having several songs chart on the Billboard 100, she however failed to truly to become a star at Colombia. After six years her contract expired, and it was only when she signed with Atlantic Records in 1966 that she truly reached her full potential.
In April 1967, Atlantic would release her cover of Otis Reading’s “Respect”, capturing her incredible gospel fire – the recording would become the definite version of the song, and an anthem of the civil rights and feminist movements. 1968 would see the release of her two best-selling albums, Lady Soul and Aretha Now, featuring songs like “Chain of Fools”, “Ain’t No Way”, “Think” and “I Say a Little Prayer”, and she’d win the first of her two Grammys that same year.
The 1970s would be less kind to her, with the Quincy Jones-produced Hey Now Hey became her first Atlantic album to fail to reach the Top 25 of the album chart, and she would leave the label in 1979.
Franklin would however remain a respected figure in pop culture for the rest of her life, respected by the younger generation of artists that looked up to her. She was one of many blues and soul legends to appear in the 1980 hit film The Blues Brothers. In 1987, she was the first woman inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. She returned to the charts in 1998 with “A Rose Is Still a Rose”, written by Lauryn Hill, and in 2006 sang “The Star Spangled Banner” at Super Bowl XL in her hometown. In 2014, her incredible cover of Adele’s “Rolling in the Deep” on the Late Show with David Letterman won her a new generation of fans.
R.I.P.
