Aretha Franklin is one of the great female vocalists. Her powerful, passionate and deeply expressive delivery of songs that build on gospel, R&B and jazz roots has justly earned her the title of "The Queen of Soul". Aretha Franklin has produced many extraordinary recordings including "Respect," "I Never Loved a Man," "Chain of Fools," "Baby I Love You," and "I Say a Little Prayer".
Aretha Franklin was born in Memphis, Tennessee in 1942, the daughter of a baptist minister, and grew up in Detroit. A child prodigy, Aretha Franklin recorded "The Gospel Soul of Aretha Franklin" on the Checker label in 1956, at the age of 14. Her gospel career was stalled by teenage pregnancies. When she returned to singing in 1960, signing with Colombia records, she decided to become a pop artist. Songs such as "Rock-A-Bye Your Baby", "Today I Sing The Blues" and "Operation Heartbreak" did well on the R&B charts, but her career failed to take off.
After moving to Atlantic records in 1966, with a new "soul" sound combining blues and gospel, the hits started pouring out. "I Never Loved A Man (The Way I Love You)" claimed the #1 spot of the R&B charts for seven weeks straight. Her next song, "Respect", originally recorded by Otis Redding, reached number one on the R&B and Pop charts. It was followed by "Baby I Love You", "Chain of Fools" and "(You Make Me Feel) Like A Natural Woman", all major hits.
Until the early 1970s, Aretha Franklin continued to produce one hit after another. Classic recordings included "Think", "I Say A Little Prayer", "Spanish Harlem" (a hit for Ben E. King in 1960) and "Angel".
After 1974, facing competition from disco music and younger singers such as Natalie Cole and Donna Summer, her career declined somewhat. But she bounced back in the 1980s with highly popular material such as her platinum album "Who's Zoomin' Who?" and her duet with George Michael "I Knew You Were Waiting (For Me)". Aretha Franklin continues to turn out great albums, notably "A Rose is Still A Rose", issued in 1998.
Respect (live - 1967)
I Say A Little Prayer
LinksRock & Roll Hall of Fame Inductee Aretha Franklin
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