Aretha Franklin (born March 25, 1942 died August 16, 2018, aged 76) was an American
singer, songwriter, actress, pianist, and civil rights activist. Franklin began her
career as a child singing gospel at New Bethel Baptist Church in Detroit, Michigan, where
her father C. L. Franklin was a minister. At the age of 18, she embarked on a secular-music
career as a recording artist for Columbia Records. While Franklin's career did not immediately
flourish, she found acclaim and commercial success after signing with Atlantic Records
in 1966. Hit songs such as "I Never Loved a Man (The Way I Love You)", "Respect", "(You
Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman", "Chain of Fools", "Think", and "I Say a Little Prayer"
propelled her past her musical peers. By the end of the 1960s, Franklin had come to be
known as the "Queen of Soul". Franklin continued to record acclaimed albums
such as I Never Loved a Man the Way I Love You (1967), Lady Soul (1968), Spirit in the
Dark (1970), Young, Gifted and Black (1972), Amazing Grace (1972), and Sparkle (1976) before
experiencing problems with her record company. Franklin left Atlantic in 1979 and signed
with Arista Records. She appeared in the 1980 film The Blues Brothers before releasing the
successful albums Jump to It (1982), Who's Zoomin' Who? (1985), and Aretha (1986) on
the Arista label. In 1998, Franklin returned to the Top 40 with the Lauryn Hill-produced
song "A Rose Is Still a Rose"; later, she released an album of the same name which was
certified gold. That same year, Franklin earned international acclaim for her performance
of "Nessun dorma" at the Grammy Awards; she filled in at the last minute for Luciano Pavarotti,
who canceled his appearance after the show had already begun. In a widely noted performance,
she paid tribute to 2015 honoree Carole King by singing "(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural
Woman" at the Kennedy Center Honors. Franklin recorded 112 charted singles on Billboard,
including 77 Hot 100 entries, 17 top-ten pop singles, 100 R&B entries, and 20 number-one
R&B singles. Besides the foregoing, Franklin's well-known hits also include "Ain't No Way",
"Call Me", "Don't Play That Song (You Lied)", "Spanish Harlem", "Rock Steady", "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)"
(a duet with George Michael). She won 18 Grammy Awards, including the first eight awards given
for Best Female R&B Vocal Performance (1968–1975). Franklin is one of the best-selling music
artists of all time, having sold more than 75 million records worldwide.
Franklin received numerous honors throughout her career. She was awarded the National Medal
of Arts and the Presidential Medal of Freedom. In 1987, she became the first female performer
to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. She also was inducted into the UK
Music Hall of Fame in 2005 and into the Gospel Music Hall of Fame in 2012. In 2010, Rolling
Stone magazine ranked her number one on its list of the "100 Greatest Singers of All Time"
and number nine on its list of "100 Greatest Artists of All Time". The Pulitzer Prize jury
in 2019 awarded Franklin a posthumous special citation "for her indelible contribution to
American music and culture for more than five decades."
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