Aretha Franklin

• 1. The Gospel Caravan

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  Aretha Louise Franklin was born on the 25th of March 1942, at her family's home located at 406 Lucy Avenue in Memphis, Tennessee. Her father Clarence LaVaughn Franklin served as a Baptist minister and circuit preacher originally from Shelby, Mississippi. The young singer began performing solos at New Bethel Baptist Church shortly after her mother died of a heart attack on the 7th of March 1952. At the age of twelve, her father began managing her career and took her on the road with him during his gospel caravan tours. These performances occurred in various churches across the country where she sang alongside figures like James Cleveland. The family moved to Detroit when Aretha turned five years old so that C.L. could take over the pastorship of New Bethel Baptist Church. She learned to play piano by ear while attending public school in Detroit before dropping out during her second year.

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• 2. Columbia Records Struggles

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  After turning eighteen, Franklin confided to her father that she aspired to follow Sam Cooke in recording pop music and moved to New York. Columbia Records agreed to sign her in 1960 as a five-percent artist following a two-song demo produced by her father. Her first single Today I Sing the Blues was issued in September 1960 and reached the top ten of the Hot R&B Sides chart. In January 1961, Columbia released her debut album Aretha: With The Ray Bryant Combo which featured Won't Be Long reaching number seven on the R&B chart. Label executive John H. Hammond later stated that Columbia did not understand Franklin's early gospel background. By the mid-1960s, Franklin made one hundred thousand dollars per year from countless performances yet struggled with commercial success. She appeared on rock-and-roll shows such as Hollywood a Go-Go and Shindig! but failed to achieve the mainstream breakthrough expected of her talent.

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• 3. The Atlantic Soul Revolution

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  In November 1966, Franklin's Columbia recording contract expired while she owed money because record sales had not met expectations. Producer Jerry Wexler convinced her to move to Atlantic Records where he encouraged a tenacious form of rhythm and blues identified as soul. Franklin traveled to Muscle Shoals, Alabama, in January 1967 to record at FAME Studios alongside the Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section. Her song Respect became her signature song after being modified with a supercharged interlude featuring the emphatic spelling-out of the title. The frenetic version was released in April and reached number one on both the R&B and pop charts. Otis Redding said admiringly that little girl done took my song away from me. Her debut Atlantic album I Never Loved a Man the Way I Love You went gold and catapulted Franklin to fame according to National Geographic. In 1968, she earned the first two of her Grammys including the debut category for Best Female R&B Vocal Performance.

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• 4. Arista Revival And Pop Crossover

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  Franklin signed with Clive Davis's Arista Records in 1980 after leaving Atlantic Records following years of chart failures. Her first Arista release Aretha produced the top three R&B hit single United Together. The follow-up album Love All the Hurt Away featured a hit R&B duet of the title track with George Benson. Clive Davis hired rising soul singer Luther Vandross to produce Jump to It which received a gold certification from the RIAA seven years after Sparkle. Narada Michael Walden produced Who's Zoomin' Who which peaked at number thirteen on the Billboard 200 and became her first platinum album in the United States. The album brought on a crossover pop sound with elements of synthesized dance-rock and urban pop. Exposure on the fledgling music video channel MTV helped expose Franklin to a younger audience. She achieved a top twenty hit with the duet Sisters Are Doing It for Themselves with the new wave band Eurythmics.

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• 5. Civil Rights And Social Justice

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  From her time growing up in the home of a prominent African-American preacher to the end of her life, Franklin was immersed and involved in the struggle for civil rights and women's rights. When Angela Davis was jailed in 1970, Franklin told Jet magazine that Black people will be free and she would see her free if there is any justice in our courts. Her songs Respect and You Make Me Feel Like A Natural Woman became anthems of these movements for social change. Franklin provided money for civil rights groups at times covering payroll and performed at benefits and protests. She and several other American icons declined to take part in performing at President Donald Trump's 2017 inauguration as a mass act of musical protest. Franklin was also a strong supporter of Native American rights and quietly supported Indigenous peoples' struggles worldwide without fanfare.

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• 6. Health Battles And Final Years

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  In May 2013, Franklin canceled two performances because of an undisclosed medical treatment followed by further concert cancellations in the summer and fall. During a phone interview with the Associated Press in late August 2013, Franklin stated that she had had a miraculous recovery from her undisclosed illness but estimated she was about eighty-five percent healed. In February 2017, Franklin announced in an interview with local Detroit television anchor Evrod Cassimy that 2017 would be her final year touring. Nevertheless, she scheduled some 2018 concert dates before canceling them based on her physician's advice. Franklin gave her last full concert at the Ravinia Festival on the 3rd of September 2017. Her final public performance occurred at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine in New York City during Elton John's twenty-fifth anniversary gala for the Elton John AIDS Foundation on the 7th of November 2017.

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• 7. Legacy And Posthumous Honors

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  Franklin died at her home on the 16th of August 2018, aged seventy-six after suffering from a malignant pancreatic neuroendocrine tumor. The cause of death was distinct from the most common form of pancreatic cancer. On the 8th of June 2017, the City of Detroit honored Franklin's legacy by renaming a portion of Madison Street between Brush and Witherell Streets Aretha Franklin Way. In 2019, the Pulitzer Prize jury awarded her a posthumous special citation for her indelible contribution to American music and culture for more than five decades. She became the first individual woman to receive a Pulitzer Prize Special Citation. Asteroid 249516 Aretha was named in her honor in 2014. The next year, Billboard named her the greatest female R&B artist of all time. Fans added unofficial tributes to two New York City Subway stations with permanent black-and-white stickers bearing the word Respect placed next to the Franklin name signs.

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