Aretha Franklin

Aretha Louise Franklin (Memphis, March 25, 1942-Detroit, August 16, 2018) was an American soul singer, R&B and gospel. Nicknamed "Lady Soul" (the Lady of the Soul) or "Queen of soul" (the Queen of the Soul), she was the greatest exponent of this genre, and one of the greatest transmitters of gospel of all time, as well as one of the most influential artists in contemporary music.

In the mid-1960s, she established herself as a female Soul star, something she used in favor of racial rights in the United States, being an influential element within the racial movement and the women's liberation.

In 1987, she became the first woman to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. She was selected number one on Rolling Stone's 100 Greatest Singers of All Time in 2008. In addition, the The same publication placed her at 23.er place of best artists, from the 100 list Great Artists. She was awarded 18 Grammy Awards.

She began her musical career as a child, inspired by one of the girls in the Holtbernd family. More specifically from Laura. She tells the story of her that from a very young age the great talented but at the same time unknown Holtbernd traveled a lot since her childhood. Aretha felt inspired by her when she felt identified, traveling so much of her, she could not form a large group of friends or a stable life, but she could take the music with her. In 1960, when she was 18, she embarked on a secular music career, signing with Columbia Records but achieving only modest success. After signing with Atlantic Records in 1966, Franklin achieved commercial success thanks to songs like "Respect", "Chain of Fools", "Think", "(You Make Me Feel Like) a Natural Woman", "I Never Loved a Man (The Way I Love You)" and "I Say a Little Prayer". He recorded albums that were acclaimed, such as I Never Loved a Man the Way I Love You (1967), Lady Soul (1968), Young, Gifted and Black (1972), Amazing Grace (1972) and Sparkle (1976), before having problems with his record company. After her father's murder in 1979, she left Atlantic and signed with Arista Records, finding success with the albums Jumpt to It (1982) and Who's Zoomin'. & # 39; Who? (1985); she also participated in the film The Blues Brothers (1980) by John Landis. In 1998 she received international acclaim for singing the opera "Nessum dorma"; that she made her a Grammy Award winner that year, performing with Luciano Pavarotti. At the end of that year she reached the Top 40 singing "A Rose Is Still a Rose".

Franklin recorded 112 Billboard charting singles, including 77 Hot 100 entries, 17 top 10 singles, 100 R&B chart entries, and 20 number-one R&B singles, being the artist feminine that more entrances to the lists had in its history. She was also known for other hits including "Rock Steady", "Call Me", "Spanish Harlem", "Bridge over Troubled Water", "Day Dreaming", "Until You Come Back to Me (That's What I'm Gonna Do)", "Something He Can Feel", "Jump to It", "Freeway of Love", "Who's Zoomin' Who" and "I Knew You Were Waiting (For Me)" (with George Michael). She won 18 Grammys, including the first eight awards given for Best Female R&B Vocal Performance from 1968 to 1975, and one of the best-selling records of all time, with 75 million records worldwide. In 2019, she was posthumously awarded a Special Mention Pulitzer Prize for "her indelible contribution to American music and culture for more than fifty years."

Biography

Childhood and training

He was born on March 25, 1942 in Memphis, Tennessee, and grew up in Detroit. She was the daughter of preacher Clarence LeVaughn Franklin and gospel singer Barbara Franklin. His mother Barbara broke up their marriage due to Clarence's constant infidelities, including one with a girl from his Baptist congregation, with whom he had a daughter named Carl Ellan Kelley (née Jennings) in 1940, born a few days after the mother's death. turned thirteen years old. Something for which today he would probably be prosecuted. It is curious that her daughter Aretha had her first child at 12 years old and her second at 14. Aretha's mother would die in 1952 of a heart attack. Her father soon saw Aretha Franklin's talent, so he wanted her to take piano lessons, but she turned him down and preferred to teach herself with the help of recordings. At this time, she was on a traveling gospel tour, where one of the first numbers she performed was "Precious Lord". The great gospel artists Clara Ward, James Cleveland and Mahalia Jackson were close to her family, so Aretha Franklin grew up surrounded by them. At twelve years old she had her first child, and two years later she had her second.

House where Aretha Franklin was born in Memphis.

Artistic development

Gospel principles and influences in Checker (1955-1960)

Franklin's gospel roots were one of the most personal and influential traces of his career. With her sisters Carolyn Franklin and Erma Franklin (both also had solo careers) she sang at the Detroit Baptist Church (New Bethel Baptist Church), founded and run by her father, C. L. Franklin, a Baptist preacher, nicknamed "The million dollar voice" and one of the main confidantes of the leader Martin Luther King. Aretha spent her entire childhood within this gospel environment and surrounded by jazz voices such as Dinah Washington and Ella Fitzgerald. At just 14 years old, he made his first recording for the JVB/Battle Records label, later reissued by Checker, The gospel soul of Aretha Franklin, in which you could hear gospel compositions with a powerful sound soul, full of melodies on the piano, an instrument he had mastered since his childhood. In 1960, she traveled to New York to take classes in vocal technique and dance. Around this time, she began recording demos to send to record labels. On April 4, 1960, Franklin had a first concert at Howard High School in Hattanooga.

Stage at Columbia and Harmony (1961-1966)

After a time when Aretha began to be considered a young prodigy, it was said that Motown was interested in signing her, but she was eventually signed to Columbia Records, under the management of John Hammond. Aretha entered Columbia as a soul artist, but over time, the company began to work it into its jazz catalogue, as demonstrated in Unforgettable: a tribute to Dinah Washington > (1964), in which he pays homage to one of his great idols. Aretha did not agree with this guide, since she felt like a soul artist and not like a jazz lady, although at that time it was possible to verify the musical versatility she possessed and where they can be found many of his most beautiful melodies such as "Sweet bitter love", "Skylark", "Try a little Tenderness" and many others. This was what led to Aretha's own decision to leave in 1964. At this time, she achieved minor hits including "Operation heartbreak", "Rock-a-bye Your Baby With a Dixie Melody", "Lee Cross" and "Soulville". After her departure from Columbia, she released Songs of Faith (1964) with the record company where she debuted and where she continued that gospel feeling. A year later, she came out Once in a lifetime , under the Harmony label.

Soul Revolution (1967-1969)

When Aretha left Columbia (today Sony) to sign with Atlantic Records, producer Jerry Wexler set out to bring out all the soul in her. The first single he recorded for Atlantic Records was "I never loved a man the way I love you", for which they had the accompaniment of the Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section, in Alabama. This track has been endorsed by many critics as one of the great soul songs, and Rolling Stone magazine wrote: “Franklin has recorded his version of the soul wonder, a lament about what-wrong-me. Have you tried, with the Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section, some white guys from Alabama. The single broke into all the radio stations, but they would do so with much more force "Respect" – a version of the song that Otis Redding had recorded in 1965 – with which Aretha was definitively consecrated. The song was recorded at Atlantic Studios in New York on February 14, 1967. Redding's original version had a bridge and sax solo added by King Curtis; the chord changes of the song "When something is wrong with my baby", by Sam & Dave.

On March 10, 1967, the album I never loved a man the way I love you was released, which contained the two previous singles, as well as songs such as the version of the Ray Charles song "Drown in my own tears" or the songs of Sam Cooke "Good times" and "A change is gonna come". But Aretha also contributed to this album as a songwriter, with the tracks "Don't Let Me Lose This Dream", "Baby, Baby, Baby", "Save Me& #3. 4; and "Dr. Feelgood (Love Is a Serious Business)". That same year, she won two Grammy Awards, the second woman to do so. Also in 1967 (August 4), she released the album Aretha arrives , from which the songs & # 34;Satisfaction & # 34; and "Baby, I love you". This second album on Atlantic reached number one, but was not as popular as its predecessor.

At a 1968 performance at the Regal Theater in Chicago, host Pervis Spann gave her the title of "Queen of Soul" to Franklin, by introducing her by that name.

In 1968 he released Lady soul, with which he would once again experience massive success. The album contained soul music hits such as "Chain of fools", "A natural woman" or 'Ain't no way'. There were also collaborations with Eric Clapton on the song "Good to me as I am to you", songs by Ray Charles "Come back baby", James Brown "Money won';t change you" and the Curtis Mayfield classic, "People get ready". On the album they collaborated on the choirs of The Sweet Inspirations, made up of Doris Troy, Dionne Warwick, her sister Dee Dee Warwick and their cousin Cissy Houston (Whitney Houston's mother). Six months later, Aretha now was released, continuing a string of hits with "Think" and Burt Bacharach's popular song "I say a little prayer", previously performed by Dionne Warwick. In 1969, the album Soul'69 closed the decade with the success of the singles "River's invitation" and "Bring it on home to me".

Evolution towards new times (1970-1979)

In the late 1960s and early 1970s, Aretha began covering rock, pop, and soul songs that had already been huge hits; among them, songs by The Beatles such as "Let it be" or "Eleanor Rigby", and by Simon & Garfunkel, like the version of him as famous as the original of & # 34; Bridge over troubled water & # 34;; or soul artists like Sam Cooke or The Drifters. At the beginning of the 70s, Aretha's success continued unabated, and she was a fully established artist within the international music scene.

Picture of Franklin appeared in the simple Baby I Love You (1967).

In 1970 he released two albums. The first was This Girl's in Love With You, an album loaded with covers: "Share Your Love With Me", by Bobby Blue Band, the already multi-covered & #34;Son of a Preacher Man", The Beatles hits "Let it be" and "Eleanor Rigby", the theme performed by the Rotary Connection or The Staple Singers "The weight", "Dark end of the street", by James Carr. This album one of the biggest hits was "Call me", written by Aretha herself. The album title was a remake of the Burt Bacharach song 'This Guy's in Love With You'. That same year (1970) she also edited Spirit in the dark , in which she again covers B.B. King, Jimmy Reed, and Dr. John. On this album she had luxurious instrumentation by The Muscle Shoals, The Dixie Flyers and guitarist Duane Allman. The two singles taken from the album were "Don't play that song" and the song written by Aretha that gave the album its name. In 1971, a recording of a live performance was released: Aretha Live at Fillmore West, where she sang her greatest hits, along with covers of Stephen Stills "Love the One You&# We're With' and from Bread "Make It With You".

This album features saxophonist King Curtis, and a cover of "Spirit in the dark" with Ray Charles. Until now, Aretha continued to make her sixties soul, with just a few variations such as the inclusion of covers of rock songs; but, in 1971, with "Young, gifted and black", their sound began to adapt to the 70s, with a sound that preceded disco music and the inclusion of new rhythms, as well as a new image. Three of the biggest hits on this album are written by Aretha: "Day dreaming", "Rock steady" and "All the king's horses". He again included versions, such as "The long and winding road" by The Beatles and "I've been loving you too long" by Otis Redding. In 1972 came the first all-gospel album of his career, Amazing Grace, recorded live with The Southern California Community Choir and James Cleveland. His gospel versions of "You've got a friend", "Wholy Holy" by Marvin Gaye, "How I Got Over" by Clara Ward or the traditional "Precious memories".

A year later, in 1973, came Hey Now Hey (The Other Side of the Sky), Aretha's last album before almost totally succumbing to disco. Aside from hits like "Angel" (composed by Carolyn Franklin), "Somewhere" (by composer and pianist Leonard Bernstein) or "Master of Eyes (The Deepness of Your Eyes)" (written by Aretha and Bernice Hart), one of the biggest shocks the album produced was its original and strange cover art. Let Me in Your Life , from 1974, showed a new image of Aretha Franklin, with a cover in which she already appeared as a & # 34; diva & # 34;, wrapped in a wool coat. fur. She continued to sound like soul, but her inclusion in disco music was increasing. Two hits came from this album: "Until You Come Back to Me (That's What I'm Gonna Do)", previously performed by Stevie Wonder, and "I" 39;m in love', written by Bobby Womack and made a hit in 1968 by Wilson Pickett. That same year she released With Everything I Feel in Me , with which, in a certain way, the artist's decline began, only two modest songs coming out gracefully: & # 34; Without love & # 3. 4; and the song written by Franklin that gives the album its title. With "You", in 1975, came the momentary fall; It was an album in which the vocal splendor continued, but the production and composition had nothing to do with what had previously been done, and that is why the first single, "It Only Happens (When I Look At You)". But, after a year of work, Aretha crossed paths with Curtis Mayfield, and together with him she created the soundtrack for the movie Sparkle , with which the singer somehow recovered her musical status. her. The single "Sparkle" it was success; "Giving Him Something He Can Feel" it became an anthem; and "Jump to it" He had great success on the dance floor. Part of the success of the album is due to the lyrics created by Mayfield, as well as a good production and chorus by the Kitty Haywood Singers.

In 1977, he released two albums that had modest success, being quite fleeting: Satisfaction and Sweet passion (from the latter the single " Break It to Me Gently"). In this time of few successes for the singer, in 1978 she got together again with Curtis Mayfield, who wrote & # 34; I needed baby & # 34; within the album "Almighty Fire". Aretha Franklin closed the decade with an album named after what in a way had made her fall, La diva (1979), which included songs written by Aretha herself such as "Ladies Only", "Only star", "I was made for you" or "Honey I need your love", none of which was successful. This musical decline was mainly due to the production of her albums, poor promotion and little effort on the part of Atlantic in Aretha's career; so, in 1979, she decided to leave the company to sign with Arista and producer Clive Davis. On November 7, 1979, Franklin performed "Ladies Only", "What If I Should I Ever Need You" and "Yesterday" in her yellow costume on her album The Diva on The Mike Douglas Show.

The new soul sound (1980-1997)

On October 25, 1980, a new stage began for Aretha Franklin; That day, she released her first album on Arista, Aretha. The album was produced by Clive Davis and Chuck Jackson, and the promotion was extensive, as she was the first major artist to be carried by this label. There are versions, just like she did years before, but this time with a much more pop sound, and totally in keeping with the 80s; among these covers are 'What a Fool Believes', by The Doobie Brothers and 'I Can't Turn You Loose' by The Doobie Brothers. Otis Redding. The biggest hit taken from the album was the song "United together".

In 1981, Love All the Hurt Away arrived, making its way into the market with the single that gives the album its title, a duet between Aretha and George Benson. With this album, Aretha returned to the top of the music scene with a new sound that mixed soul, rock, urban and quiet storm. Two more songs from the album entered the sales charts, apart from the first single: "It's my turn" and "Hold on! I'm comin'!", thanks to which he won a Grammy. But in 1982, with the album "Jump to it", the great success came again. With the theme "Jump to it" got his first number one in over half a decade. "Love me right" It was another of the songs that came out of the album, also getting a good acceptance. Luther Vandross, The Isley Brothers, Smokey Robinson and Aretha herself had worked on the composition on this album; In addition, all of them under the production of Clive Davis, which made this Franklin's biggest success after a long time in the shadows. Due to the success of the previous album in "Get it right" (1983) Luther Vandross created most of the material for the record. "Every girl" and "Get it Right", both of which were written by Vandross, enjoyed large audiences, as did, to a lesser extent, The Temptations' version of the theme "I Wish It Would Rain". In 1984, the Chess label, with which Franklin had started working in gospel, released an album recorded with her father, Clarence LeVaughn Franklin, live during a gospel session. It was titled "Never Grow Old".

In 1985, Franklin came up with a much more pop album, Who's Zoomin' Who?. Since Luther Vandross's career by this time was taking its own reins from him as a solo artist, the songwriting work he did on the last two albums, on this one was done by Narada Michael Walden. This album was Aretha's most successful in the company so far. It contains some of the strongest hits of the decade, such as the vindictive "Sisters are doin' it for themselves" along with Eurythmics. Three other singles had a great impact on the public: "Freeway of love", "Another night" and "Who's zommin' who?". For the song "Freeway of love" he managed to win two Grammys. In 1986 another album titled Aretha was released, but this time with a much more rocky atmosphere, also visible in its appearance. He reaped two great hits with this album: the song & # 34; Jumpin & # 39; Jack Flash" produced by Keith Richards and belonging to the soundtrack of the same name; and the duet with George Michael "I Knew You Were Waiting (For Me)". Other songs with much less repercussion were "Jimmy Lee" and the duet with Larry Graham "If You Need My Love Tonight". Fifteen years after the recording of "Amazing Grace," in 1987 he released "One Lord, One Faith, One Baptism," the second all-gospel album of his career. It features Erma Franklin, Carolyn Franklin, Mavis Staples, C.L. Franklin, Joe Ligon, Jesse Jackson, and Jasper Williams.

After two years off, in 1989 he released Through the storm, an album that included duets with great stars of the moment: "Through the storm" with Elton John, "It isn't, it wasn't, it ain't never gonna be" with Whitney Houston, "Gimme your love" along with James Brown and "If ever a love there was" in the company of The Four Tops and Kenny G. Aretha's work and stage presence was beginning to be less constant, and his albums were not as frequent as before. In 1991 he released 'What you see is what you sweat', from which three singles with some repercussion came out: 'Everyday people', 'Someone else's eyes'; and "Every changing times" with Michael McDonald. Also included on the album is the version of "I dreamed a dream" that he would sing before Bill Clinton. It also contained a song with Luther Vandross "Doctor's orders". After this album, Aretha would take more than seven years to release an album with new songs, but her walk on stage never ceased.

Assimilation to contemporary R&B (1998-2007)

Since the release of his previous album, Franklin took a long time to go back to the studio to record, but in that time he had an intense activity on the American stages. In 1993 and 1997 she sang at the opening ceremonies of Bill Clinton's administration; and in 1995 she would receive a Grammy for her entire career. She also recorded a duet with Frank Sinatra around this time, "What Now My Love". In 1998, she proved she was one of the music stars of our century on the VH1 show Divas Live, where she performed with some of the chart-topping artists of the last decade such as Mariah Carey, Céline Dion or Shania Twain. & # 34; The Queen of Soul & # 34;, with just two performances she became the star of the gala, surrendering to the public at her feet.

In the late 1990s, Franklin had moved permanently to Detroit, and was talking about starting his own record label. One of the main reasons for this was to promote the musical careers of his sons, Kecalf Cunningham, Eddy Richards and Teddy Richards.

In 1998 he released A rose is still a rose, produced by P. Diddy and Lauryn Hill, his first album within contemporary R&B and neo soul, with hip-hop tendencies.

In 2003 he returned with "So damn happy", collaborating with Mary J. Blige and with a totally neo soul sound that in a way went back to his roots. She has since embarked on the tour & # 34; The Queen Is On & # 34;, which takes her all over the United States with great success.

In 2007 the release of A woman falling out of love was scheduled, the first album released on Aretha Records, and in which gospel artists such as Shirley Caesar or The Clark Sisters, Fantasia Barrino and country-pop star Faith Hill; but confirmation of a new date for the launch is still awaited. In November 2007, he released Jewels in the Crown of the Queen, an album of duets, which includes two new songs with Fantasia Barrino and John Legend, and which includes previous collaborations with artists such as Whitney Houston, George Michael, George Benson, Luther Vandross or Mary J. Blige. At the same time, she begins to carry out castings to find singers to embody her life in an autobiographical musical, rumored that some of the possible ones could be Jennifer Hudson or Fantasia Barrino.

In 2008 she was chosen as musical person of the year at the 50th Anniversary of the Grammy Awards, in which she has won her twentieth award thanks to her duet with Mary J. Blige, "You never gonna change my faith & # 34;. Also during 2008 he recorded the promotional theme for a private company titled "Stand up yourself", which at the same time served as a preview of his next album. On November 18, 2008, Franklin performed "Chain Of Fools" and "Respect" in Dancing With The Stars 2008.

Aretha Franklin during the inauguration of President Obama (2009).

On January 20, 2009, she attended Barack Obama's inauguration ceremony to sing the song 'My Country This of Thee'.

Personal Life

She was divorced twice, and was the mother of four children. Two of them, Kecalf and Teddy, work in the world of music. Teddy was the artistic and band director for Aretha on tour, as well as playing electric guitar.

She became pregnant at the age of twelve and gave birth to her first child, Clarence, on January 28, 1955. The father was a schoolmate, Donald Burk. On January 22, 1957, at the age of fourteen, she had her second, Edward, son of Edward Jordan. She did not like to discuss her early childbearing with interviewers. While the children were cared for by her grandmother and sister Erma, Aretha Franklin went out and consolidated her career. From 1962 to 1969 she was married to Teddy White, with whom she had Teddy Jr. in February 1964 and from whom she divorced citing violence. domestic. Her fourth and last child, Kecalf, was born to her relationship with her tour manager Ken Cunningham in 1970. In 1978 she married actor Glynn Turman, whom she would divorce in 1984.

After a minor incident in 1984, he was afraid of flying and has restricted his tours to the United States ever since. Aretha Franklin underwent surgery in early December 2010 for a disease about which she did not want to provide details.

Death

Aretha Franklin passed away on August 16, 2018 at her Michigan home at the age of 76 from pancreatic cancer from which she had suffered for years. The news was confirmed by her representative, Gwendolyn Quinn, who indicated that Franklin died at 9:50 am. m. at her residence located in Detroit. “It is one of the darkest moments of our lives, we cannot express the pain in our hearts. We have lost the matriarch and rock of our family," the family said in a statement.

Discography

Top 10 Singles on US Hot100

Awards and recognitions

Franklin in 2005, after receiving the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

• On 3 January 1987 she was the first woman included in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
• In September 1999, he was awarded the National Medal of the Hand Arts of President Bill Clinton.
• In 2005 President George W. Bush granted him the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
• In 2005 she became the second woman to enter UK Music Hall of Fame.
• In 2005, the magazine Rolling Stone placed it in the 9th place within the "100 best artists of all time"; being the first woman on the list.
• On May 13, 2006 she was named "Doctor in Music" by the Berklee College of Music.
• On October 5, 2006 she was awarded the Golden Nest Award a legend at the "African Musical Awards" held in Dakar.
• On May 14, 2007, she was named "Doctor in Music" at the University of Pennsylvania.
• The state of Michigan declared its voice as "natural treasure."
• She's the woman with the most Grammy awards in history, behind Beyoncé and Alison Krauss.
• He's the youngest person to receive a Kennedy Center Honor.
• She was the first Afro-descendant woman to appear on the cover of Time magazine.
• In 2008 he was chosen by Rolling Stone magazine as Best singer of all time.
• In 2019 she was the first soloist woman to receive the Pulitzer posthumous Prize.
• In 2023 he was chosen by Rolling Stone Magazine as "Best singer of all time." Being the only one to hold her post since her last update in 2008.

Grammy Awards

Films and documentaries

• In 2018 after 49 years occult, he saw the light the material rolled for the documentary "Amazing Grace"led by Sydney Pollack. Before Pollack's death in 2008, the director expressed his desire to complete the film, and producer Alan Elliott addressed it with a team of people passionate about the project. The film was part of the Berlin Festival and the San Sebastian Festival in 2019.[1]

• In 2021 the biopic was released on his life entitled "Respect", starring the actress Jennifer Hudson and directed by Liesl Tommy.[2]