Aretha Franklin Aretha Louise Franklin is an American singer
and musician. Franklin began her career singing gospel at her father, minister C. L. Franklin's
church as a child. In 1960, at age 18, Franklin embarked on a secular career, recording for
Columbia Records only achieving modest success. Following her signing to Atlantic Records
in 1967, Franklin achieved commercial acclaim and success with songs such as "Respect",
" A Natural Woman" and "Think". These hits and more helped her to gain the title The
Queen of Soul by the end of the 1960s decade. 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. Franklin also
recorded acclaimed albums such as I Never Loved a Man the Way I Love You, Lady Soul,
Young, Gifted & Black and Amazing Grace before experiencing problems with her record company
by the mid-1970s. After her father was shot in 1979, Franklin left Atlantic and signed
with Arista Records, finding success with a cameo appearance in the film, The Blues
Brothers and with the albums, Jump to It and Who's Zoomin' Who?. In 1998, 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". Franklin has won a total of 18 Grammy Awards
and is one of the best-selling female artists of all time, having sold over 75 million records
worldwide. Franklin has been honored throughout her career including a 1987 induction into
the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, in which she became the first female performer to be inducted.
She was inducted to the UK Music Hall of Fame in 2005. In August 2012, Franklin was inducted
into the GMA Gospel Music Hall of Fame. Franklin is listed in at least two all-time lists on
Rolling Stone magazine, including the 100 Greatest Artists of All Time, in which she
placed number 9, and the 100 Greatest Singers of All Time in which she placed number 1.
Early life Aretha Louise Franklin was born in Memphis,
Tennessee, the daughter of Barbara (née) Siggers and Clarence LaVaughn Franklin. Her
father, who went by the nickname, "C. L.", was an itinerant preacher originally from
Shelby, Mississippi, while her mother was an accomplished piano player and vocalist.
Alongside Aretha, her parents had three other children while both C. L. and Barbara had
children from outside their marriage. The family relocated to Buffalo, New York when
Aretha was two. Prior to her fifth birthday, C. L. Franklin permanently relocated the family
to Detroit, Michigan where he founded the Baptist church, New Bethel. Franklin's parents
had a troubled marriage due to stories of C. L. Franklin's philandering and in 1948,
they separated, with Barbara relocating back to Buffalo with her son, Vaughn, from a previous
affair. Contrary to popular notion, Franklin's mother
did not abandon her children and Aretha would recall seeing her mother in Buffalo during
summertime while Barbara also frequently visited her children in Detroit. Franklin's mother
died on March 7, 1952, prior to Franklin's tenth birthday. Several women, including Franklin's
grandmother Rachel, and Mahalia Jackson took turns helping with the children at the Franklin
home. During this time, Franklin learned how to play piano by ear. Franklin's father's
emotionally-driven sermons resulted in him being known as the man with the "million-dollar
voice" and earning over thousands of dollars for sermons in various churches across the
country. Franklin's celebrity led to his home being visited by various celebrities including
gospel musicians Clara Ward, James Cleveland and early Caravans members Albertina Walker
and Inez Andrews as well as Martin Luther King, Jr., Jackie Wilson and Sam Cooke.
Music career Beginnings
Just after her mother's death, Aretha began singing solos at New Bethel, debuting with
the hymn, "Jesus, Be a Fence Around Me". Four years later, when Aretha was 14, her father
began managing her, bringing her on the road with him during his so-called "gospel caravan"
tours for her to perform in various churches. He helped his daughter get signed to her first
recording deal with J.V.B. Records, where her first album, Songs of Faith, was issued
in 1956. Two singles were released to gospel radio stations including "Never Grow Old"
and "Precious Lord, Take My Hand". Franklin sometimes traveled with the Caravans and The
Soul Stirrers during this time and developed a crush on Sam Cooke, who was then singing
with the Soul Stirrers prior to his secular career.
After turning 18, Aretha confided to her father that she aspired to follow Sam Cooke to record
pop music. Serving as her manager, C. L. agreed to the move and helped to produce a two-song
demo that soon was brought to the attention of Columbia Records, who agreed to sign her
in 1960. Franklin was signed as a "five-percent artist". During this period, Franklin would
be coached by choreographer Cholly Atkins to prepare for her pop performances. Before
signing with Columbia, Sam Cooke tried to persuade Aretha's father to have his label,
RCA sign Aretha. He had also been persuaded by local record label owner Berry Gordy to
sign Aretha and her elder sister Erma to his Tamla label. Aretha's father felt the label
was not established enough yet. Aretha's first Columbia single, "Today I Sing the Blues",
was issued in September 1960 and later reached the top ten of the Hot Rhythm & Blues Sellers
chart. Initial success
In January 1961, Columbia issued Aretha's debut album, Aretha: With The Ray Bryant Combo.
The album featured her first single to chart the Billboard Hot 100, "Won't Be Long", which
also peaked at number 7 on the R&B chart. Mostly produced by Clyde Otis, Franklin's
Columbia recordings saw her recording in diverse genres such as standards, vocal jazz, blues,
doo-wop and rhythm and blues. Before the year was out, Franklin scored her first top 40
single with her rendition of the standard, "Rock-a-Bye Your Baby with a Dixie Melody",
which also included the R&B hit, "Operation Heartbreak", on its b-side. "Rock-a-Bye" became
her first international hit, reaching the top 40 in Australia and Canada. By the end
of 1961, Franklin was named as a "new-star female vocalist" in Down Beat magazine. In
1962, Columbia issued two more albums, The Electrifying Aretha Franklin and The Tender,
the Moving, the Swinging Aretha Franklin, the latter of which charted number 69 on the
Billboard Pop LPs chart. By 1964, Franklin began recording more pop
music, reaching the top ten on the R&B chart with the ballad, "Runnin' Out of Fools" in
early 1965. She had two R&B charted singles in 1965 and 1966 with the songs "One Step
Ahead" and "Cry Like a Baby" while also reaching the Easy Listening charts with the ballads
"You Made Me Love You" and "(No, No) I'm Losing You". By the mid-1960s, Aretha was netting
$100,000 from countless performances in nightclubs and theaters. Also during that period, Franklin
appeared on rock and roll shows such as Hollywood A Go-Go and Shindig!. However, it was argued
that Franklin's potential was neglected at the label. Columbia executive John H. Hammond
later said he felt Columbia did not understand Aretha's early gospel background and failed
to bring that aspect out further during her Columbia period.
Commercial success In January 1967, choosing not to renew her
Columbia contract after six years with the company, Franklin signed to Atlantic Records.
That month, she traveled to Muscle Shoals, Alabama to record at FAME Studios to record
the song, "I Never Loved a Man (The Way I Love You)" in front of the musicians of the
famed Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section. The song was later issued that February and shot up
to number-one on the R&B chart, while also peaking at number nine on the Billboard Hot
100, giving Aretha her first top ten pop single. The song's b-side, "Do Right Woman, Do Right
Man", reached the R&B top 40, peaking at number 37. In April, Atlantic issued her frenetic
version of Otis Redding's "Respect", which shot to number-one on both the R&B and pop
charts and later became her signature song and was later hailed as a civil rights and
feminist anthem. Aretha's debut Atlantic album, I Never Loved
a Man the Way I Love You, also became commercially successful, later going gold. Aretha scored
two more top ten singles in 1967 including "Baby I Love You" and "(You Make Me Feel Like
A) Natural Woman". Franklin's rapport with producer Jerry Wexler helped in the creation
of the majority of Aretha's peak recordings with Atlantic. In 1968, she issued the top-selling
albums, Lady Soul and Aretha Now, which included some of Franklin's most popular hit singles
including "Chain of Fools", "Ain't No Way", "Think" and "I Say a Little Prayer". In February
1968, Franklin earned the first two of her Grammys including the debut category for Best
Female R&B Vocal Performance. On February 16, 1968, Aretha was honored with a day in
her honor and was greeted by longtime friend Martin Luther King, Jr. who gave her the SCLC
Drum Beat Award for Musicians just two months prior to his death. In June 1968, she appeared
on the cover of Time magazine. Franklin's success expanded during the early
1970s in which she recorded top ten singles such as "Spanish Harlem", "Rock Steady" and
"Day Dreaming" as well as the acclaimed albums, Spirit in the Dark, Young, Gifted & Black
and her gospel album, Amazing Grace, which sold over two million copies. In 1971, Franklin
became the first R&B performer to headline Fillmore West, later recording the live album,
Aretha Live at Fillmore West. Franklin's career began experiencing issues while recording
the album, Hey Now Hey (The Other Side of the Sky), which featured production from Quincy
Jones. Despite the success of the single, "Angel", the album bombed upon its release
in 1973. Franklin continued having R&B success with songs such as "Until You Come Back to
Me" and "I'm in Love" but by 1975, her albums and songs were failing to become a success.
After Jerry Wexler left Atlantic for Warner Bros. Records in 1976, Franklin worked on
the soundtrack to the film, "Sparkle", with Curtis Mayfield. The album yielded Aretha's
final top 40 hit of the decade, "Something He Can Feel", which also peaked at number-one
on the R&B chart. Franklin's follow-up albums for Atlantic including Sweet Passion, Almighty
Fire and La Diva bombed on the charts and in 1979, Franklin opted to leave the company.
Later years In 1980, Franklin signed with Clive Davis'
Arista Records and that same year, gave a command performance at the Royal Albert Hall
in front of Queen Elizabeth. Aretha also made an acclaimed guest role as a waitress in the
comedy musical, The Blues Brothers. Franklin's first Arista album, Aretha, featured the #3
R&B hit, "United Together" and her Grammy-nominated cover of Otis Redding's "I Can't Turn You
Loose". The follow-up, 1981's Love All the Hurt Away, included her famed duet of the
title track with George Benson while the album also included her Grammy-winning cover of
Sam & Dave's "Hold On, I'm Comin'". Franklin returned to the Gold standard - for the first
time in seven years - with the album, Jump to It. Its title track was her first top 40
single on the pop charts in six years. In 1985, inspired by her desire to have a
"younger sound" in her music, her fourth Arista album, Who's Zoomin' Who, became her first
album to be certified platinum, after selling well over a million copies, thanks to the
hits, "Freeway of Love", the title track and "Sisters Are Doing It for Themselves". The
following year's Aretha album nearly matched this success with the hit singles "Jumpin'
Jack Flash", "Jimmy Lee" and "I Knew You Were Waiting for Me", her international number-one
duet with George Michael. During that period, Aretha provided vocals to the theme songs
of the shows, A Different World and Together. In 1987, she issued her third gospel album,
One Lord, One Faith, One Baptism, which was recorded at her late father's New Bethel church,
followed by Through the Storm in 1989. Franklin's 1991 album, What You See is What You Sweat
flopped on the charts. Franklin returned to the charts in 1993 with the dance song, "A
Deeper Love" and returned to the top 40 with the song, "Willing to Forgive" in 1994.
In 1998, Franklin returned to the top 40 with the Lauryn Hill-produced song, "A Rose Is
Still a Rose", later issuing the album of the same name, which went gold. That same
year, Franklin earned international acclaim for her performance of "Nessun Dorma" at the
Grammy Awards. Her final Arista album, So Damn Happy, was released in 2003 and featured
the Grammy-winning song, "Wonderful". In 2004, Franklin announced that she was leaving Arista
after over 20 years with the label. To complete her Arista obligations, Aretha issued the
duets compilation album, Jewels in the Crown: All-Star Duets with the Queen, in 2007. The
following year, she issued the holiday album, This Christmas, Aretha, on DMI Records. In
January 2009, Franklin again made international headlines for performing "My Country 'Tis
of Thee" at President Barack Obama's inaugural ceremony with her church hat becoming a popular
topic online. In 2010, Franklin accepted an honorary degree from Yale University. In 2011,
under her own label, Aretha's Records, she issued the album, Aretha: A Woman Falling
Out Of Love. As of 2013, Franklin is now signed under RCA Records and is currently working
again with Clive Davis. A new album is in the works with producers Babyface and Danger
Mouse planning to work with Franklin. Music style and image
Franklin has often been described as a great singer and musician due to "vocal flexibility,
interpretive intelligence, skillful piano-playing, her ear, her experience." Franklin's voice
has been described as being a "powerful mezzo-soprano voice" and has been praised for her arrangements
and interpretations of other artists' hit songs. Of describing Franklin's voice as a
youngster on her first album, Songs of Faith, released when she was just fourteen, Jerry
Wexler explained that Franklin's voice "was not that of a child but rather of an ecstatic
hierophant." Franklin's image went through rapid changes throughout her career. During
the 1960s, Franklin was known for wearing bouffant hairdos and extravagant dresses that
were sometimes surrounded enveloped in either mink fur or feathers. In the 1970s, embracing
her roots, Franklin briefly wore the Afro hairdo and wore Afrocentric styled clothing
admired by her peers. In the mid-1970s, after dropping weight, Franklin began wearing slinkier
attire. By the 1980s, she had settled on wearing nightgowns and extravagant dresses.
Personal life Aretha is the mother of four sons. Her first
two children, Clarence (born January 28, 1955), and Edward (born January 22, 1957), were born
before her 13th and 15th birthdays. She has never identified the father of either child.
During that period, Aretha's grandmother, Rachel, and sister, Erma, raised Aretha's
boys while she pursued her musical career and other options including "hanging out with
my friends." Rachel lived in a guest house behind her son C. L. Franklin's LaSalle Street
home, with the Franklins having moved there from their Boston Street residence during
the late 1950s. Aretha's third child, Ted White, Jr., was born in 1964. Today he is
known as Teddy Richards and is a professional musician, often playing guitar in his mother's
band. In 1970, an affair with her road manager, Ken Cunningham, resulted in the birth of Aretha's
fourth son, Kecalf. (His name was devised from the first initials of his parents' names.)
Aretha had married the much older Ted White in 1961, despite strong objections from her
father. After a contentious marriage that involved domestic violence, she divorced him
in 1969. She married actor Glynn Turman on April 11, 1978 at her father's New Bethel
Baptist Church. Aretha subsequently became a stepmother to Turman's three children. They
split in late 1982 and officially divorced in early 1984. In 2012, Aretha Franklin again
announced plans to walk down the aisle with her longtime companion Willie Wilkerson. Within
several weeks of the announcement, Aretha called the wedding off.
Aretha's sisters Erma and Carolyn were also professional musicians and often sang background
on Aretha's hits. In 1969, following her divorce from Ted White, her brother, minister Cecil
Franklin presided as her manager, a position he kept until his death from lung cancer on
December 26, 1989. Youngest sister Carolyn preceded Cecil in death in April 1988 following
a long bout with breast cancer. Erma Franklin later died of throat cancer in September 2002.
Franklin's half-brother, Vaughn (born December 24, 1934) and half-sister Carl Kelley (née
Jennings; born 1940) are still alive. Kelley is C. L. Franklin's daughter by Mildred Jennings,
a then 12-year-old congregant of New Salem Baptist Church in Memphis, where C. L. was
pastor. Aretha was performing at the Aladdin Hotel
in Las Vegas, on June 10, 1979, when her father was shot twice at point blank range in his
Detroit home. After six months in Henry Ford Hospital, the Franklin family returned their
father back to his home with round the clock nursing care. The shooting had left C. L.
in a coma. Aretha moved back to Detroit in late 1982 to assist with the care of her father,
who died at Detroit's New Light Nursing Home on July 27, 1984.
Franklin has been romantically linked to many musicians such as Sam Cooke and Dennis Edwards,
formerly of The Temptations. Some of her music business friends have included Dionne Warwick,
Mavis Staples, and Cissy Houston, who began singing with Aretha as member of the Sweet
Inspirations. Cissy sang background on Franklin's classic hit, "Ain't No Way". Aretha first
met her daughter, Whitney, in the early 1970s. She was made an honorary aunt and Whitney
often referred to her as "Auntie Ree". Whitney Houston died on February 11, 2012. Franklin
stated she was surprised by her death. She had initially planned to perform at Houston's
memorial service on February 18 but her representative claimed that Aretha suffered a mild leg spasm
and was unable to attend. In response to criticism of her non-attendance, she stated, "God knows
I wanted to be there, but I couldn't." Aretha Franklin is a registered Democrat.
Weight issues and health problems Franklin dealt with weight issues for years.
In 1974, she dropped 40 pounds (18 kg) during a crash diet. Franklin maintained the weight
loss until 1978. Franklin again lost the weight in the early 1990s prior to releasing the
album, What You See Is What You Sweat, gaining it back again after a year and a half. Franklin
later admitted to years of yo-yo dieting. Following her surgery to get rid of an undisclosed
tumor, Franklin lost 85 pounds (39 kg) In 2012, she admitted she had gained some of
the weight back. A former chain smoker who struggled with alcoholism, she quit smoking
in 1992. Franklin admitted in 1994 that her smoking was "messing with my voice", but after
quitting smoking she said later, in 2003, that her weight "ballooned".
In 2010, Franklin canceled a number of concerts after she decided to have surgery for an undisclosed
tumor. Discussing the events in 2011, she stated the surgery Franklin had would "add
15 to 20 more years" to her life. She denied that the ailment had anything to do with pancreatic
cancer as it was rumored. On May 19, 2011 Aretha Franklin had her comeback show in the
Chicago theatre, an outstanding concert. In May 2013, Franklin canceled two performances
to deal with an undisclosed medical treatment. Later in the same month, Franklin canceled
three more concerts in June and planned to return to perform in July. However, a July
27 show in Clarkston, Michigan was canceled due to continued medical treatment. In addition,
Franklin canceled an appearance at an MLB luncheon in Chicago honoring her commitment
to civil rights on an August 24 date. She also canceled a September 21 performance in
Atlanta due to her health recovery. During a phone interview with The Associated Press
on August 21, Franklin stated that she had a "miraculous" recovery from her undisclosed
illness but had to cancel shows and appearances until she was at 100% health, stating she
was "85% healed". Aretha has since returned to live performing, including a Christmas
concert at Detroit's Motor City Casino. Legacy
In 1987, Franklin was the first female performer inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
Two years earlier, the Michigan government labeled her voice as a "natural resource".
Franklin received her star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1979. In 1994, she received
a medal from the Kennedy Center Honors and that year won the NARAS Lifetime Achievement
Award. She won the NARAS Grammy Legend award four years prior. In 1999, she earned the
National Medal of Arts. In 2005, she received the Presidential Medal of Freedom. Franklin
was inducted to the UK Music Hall of Fame in 2005, becoming the second female performer
to be honored after Madonna. In 2008, she received the MusiCares Person of the Year
prior to performing at that year's Grammys. That same year, she was listed in the top
20 of artists on the Billboard Hot 100 all-time top artists list. In 2012, she was inducted
to the GMA Gospel Music Hall of Fame. Franklin has been described as "the voice of the civil
rights movement, the voice of black America" and a "symbol of black equality". She was
also listed as number 1 on Rolling Stone's list of the Greatest Singers of All Time.
In February 2011, following news of her surgery and recovery, the Grammy Awards paid tribute
to the singer with a medley of her classics by singers such as Christina Aguilera, Florence
Welch, Jennifer Hudson, Martina McBride and Yolanda Adams.
List of number-one R&B singles "I Never Loved a Man (The Way I Love You)"
(1967) "Respect" (1967)
"Baby I Love You" (1967) "Chain of Fools" (1967)
"(Sweet Sweet Baby) Since You've Been Gone" (1968)
"Think" (1968) "Share Your Love with Me" (1969)
"Call Me" (1970) "Don't Play That Song (You Lied)" (1970)
"Bridge Over Troubled Water" (1971) "Spanish Harlem" (1971)
"Day Dreaming" (1972) "Angel" (1973)
"Until You Come Back to Me (That's What I'm Gonna Do)" (1973)
"I'm in Love" (1974) "Something He Can Feel" (1976)
"Break It to Me Gently" (1977) "Jump to It" (1982)
"Get It Right" (1983) "Freeway of Love" (1985)
Filmography Black Rodeo (1972) (documentary)
The Blues Brothers (1980) Listen Up: The Lives of Quincy Jones (1990)
(documentary) Blues Brothers 2000 (1998)
Tom Dowd & the Language of Music (2003) (documentary) The Zen of Bennett (2012) (documentary)
Muscle Shoals (2013) (documentary)