Aretha Franklin

Template:Infobox musical artist 2

Aretha Louise Franklin (born March 25, 1942) is an American soul, R&B, and gospel singer, songwriter, and pianist born in Memphis, Tennessee, but raised in Detroit, Michigan, USA. She has been called for many years "The Queen Of Soul", but many also call her "Lady Soul," as well as the more affectionate "Sister Re". She is renowned for her soul and R&B recordings but is also adept at jazz, rock, blues, pop, gospel, and even opera. She is generally regarded as one of the top vocalists ever, due to her ability to inject whatever she may be singing about with passion, soul and sheer conviction. Franklin is the second most honored female singer in Grammy history after Alison Krauss. Ms. Franklin has won nineteen competitive Grammys (including an unprecedented eleven for Best Female R&B Vocal Performance, eight of them consecutive), and the state of Michigan has declared her voice a natural resource.

Franklin has had two number one hit songs on the Billboard Hot 100, "Respect" in the 1960s and her 1980s duet with George Michael, "I Knew You Were Waiting (For Me)", and many of her singles have hit Top 20, Top 10, and Top 5 positions. Franklin is one of three acts to peak at each of the top 10 positions of the Hot 100, the others being Marvin Gaye (if counting duets with Tammi Terrell) and Madonna. She has enjoyed both critical and commercial success as a solo artist. Her vocal range is rumored to be about 4 octaves^{[citation needed]}. She has belted A5 in chest voice before.

Trivia

Aretha is the daughter of the legendary preacher Rev. C. L. Franklin and Barbara Siggers Franklin, a pianist and gifted singer.
Aretha had five siblings: sisters Erma and Carolyn (both now deceased; Erma and Carolyn sang backup for her for many years and accompanied her on some of her most famous recordings), and Carl Ellan Kelley (a half sister from a relationship her father had outside of his marriage to her mother); and brothers Cecil (deceased) and Vaughn (Vaughn is her half brother and eldest sibling whom her father adopted when he married her mother in 1936).
Aretha was the protegee of gospel singers Clara Ward, Mahalia Jackson, and James Cleveland. Clara and Mahalia frequently visited her family home in Detroit and served as maternal figures after her mother died in 1952.
Aretha Franklin was sued for breach of contract in 1984 when she was unable to star in the Broadway musical Sing, Mahalia, Sing, (based on the life of gospel legend Mahalia Jackson) mainly because of her fear of flying.
She was inducted into the Michigan Women's Hall of Fame in 2001.
In 1969 Aretha was arrested for disturbing the peace in Detroit.
Her song "Respect" was used in The Proud Family and as the opening song to the first episode of Murphy Brown.
She made a cameo appearance on Murphy Brown and sang "You Make Me Feel Like A Natural Woman" on the piano alongside Murphy.
Aretha frequently invites fellow soul singer Chaka Khan, reportedly one of her favorites, to sing at her birthday parties.
Sang "America the Beautiful" at WrestleMania III.
She was married to veteran character actor Glynn Turman from 1978 to 1984.
In 2006 Aretha Franklin's Grammy total rose to nineteen with a best traditional R&B vocal award for "A House Is Not a Home," a track from the Luther Vandross tribute So Amazing.
Aretha Franklin calls Fantasia Barrino "my child."
Teairra Mari's grandmother sang backup for her.
She is the godmother of singer Whitney Houston.
Aretha sang the national anthem at Super Bowl XL with Aaron Neville and Dr John.

Awards and achievements

On January 3 1987, she became the first woman to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
In September, 1999, she was awarded The National Medal of Arts by President Clinton.
In 2004, Rolling Stone Magazine ranked her #9 on their list of the 100 Greatest Artists of All Time.^[1].
In 2005, she was awarded The Presidential Medal of Freedom by President George W. Bush.
In 2005, she became the second woman to be inducted into the UK Music Hall of Fame.
On May 13 2006, she was presented with an honorary Doctor of Music degree by the Berklee College of Music.

Grammy Awards

Aretha Franklin has won nineteen Grammy Awards in total during her 45- year career, and currently holds the record for most Best Female R&B Vocal Performance wins with eleven to her name (including eight consecutive awards from 1968-1975 - the first eight ever awarded in that category).

Aretha Franklin's Grammy Award Wins
Year	Category	Genre	Title
1968	Best Rhythm And Blues Recording	R&B	Respect
1968	Best Female R&B Vocal Performance	R&B	Respect
1969	Best Female R&B Vocal Performance	R&B	Chain Of Fools
1970	Best Female R&B Vocal Performance	R&B	Share Your Love With Me
1971	Best Female R&B Vocal Performance	R&B	Don't Play That Song
1972	Best Female R&B Vocal Performance	R&B	Bridge Over Troubled Water
1973	Best Female R&B Vocal Performance	R&B	Young, Gifted and Black
1973	Best Soul Gospel Performance	Gospel	Amazing Grace
1974	Best Female R&B Vocal Performance	R&B	Master Of Eyes
1975	Best Female R&B Vocal Performance	R&B	Ain't Nothing Like The Real Thing
1982	Best Female R&B Vocal Performance	R&B	Hold On I'm Comin'
1986	Best Female R&B Vocal Performance	R&B	Freeway Of Love
1988	Best Female R&B Vocal Performance	R&B	Aretha
1988	Best R&B Vocal By Duo Or Group	R&B	I Knew You Were Waiting (For Me) With George Michael
1988	Best Soul Female Gospel Performance	Gospel	One Lord, One Faith, One Baptism
1991	Legend Award	General	--
1994	Lifetime Achievement Award	General	--
2004	Best Traditional R&B Vocal Performance	R&B	Wonderful
2006	Best Traditional R&B Vocal Performance	R&B	A House Is Not A Home

Discography

For a detailed account of Aretha Franklin releases, see the Aretha Franklin discography.

Notable albums:

1967 I Never Loved a Man (The Way I Love You)
1967 Aretha Arrives
1968 Lady Soul
1968 Aretha Now
1970 This Girl's In Love With You
1971 Young, Gifted and Black
1972 Amazing Grace
1973 Hey Now Hey (The Other Side of the Sky)
1974 With Everything I Feel in Me

1974 Let Me in Your Life
1975 You
1976 Sparkle
1978 Almighty Fire
1982 Jump to It
1983 Get It Right'
1985 Who's Zoomin' Who?
1991 What You See Is What You Sweat
1998 A Rose Is Still A Rose
2003 So Damn Happy
2007 A Woman Falling Out of Love

Top 10 US Hot 100 singles:

Year	Title	Peak
1967	"I Never Loved A Man (The Way I Love You)"	9
1967	"Respect"	1
1967	"Baby I Love You"	4
1967	"(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman"	2
1967	"Chain Of Fools"	2
1968	"(Sweet Sweet Baby) Since You've Been Gone"	5
1968	"Think"	7
1968	"The House That Jack Built"	6
1968	"I Say a Little Prayer"	10
1971	"Bridge Over Troubled Water" / "Brand New Me"	6
1971	"Spanish Harlem"	2
1971	"Rock Steady"	9
1972	"Day Dreaming"	5
1973	"Until You Come Back to Me (That's What I'm Gonna Do)"	3
1985	"Who's Zoomin Who?"	7
1985	"Freeway of Love"	3
1987	"I Knew You Were Waiting (For Me)" (with George Michael)	1

Filmography

The Blues Brothers (1980)
Blues Brothers 2000 (1998)
DIVAS LIVE (1998)
Immaculate Funk (2000) (documentary)
Rhythm, Love and Soul (2002)
Tom Dowd & the Language of Music (2003) (documentary)
Singing in the Shadow: The Children of Rock Royalty (2003) (documentary)
From The Heart / The Four Tops 50th Anniversary and Celebration (2004)

Notes

^ "The Immortals: The First Fifty". Rolling Stone Issue 946. Rolling Stone.

[1] "The Immortals: The First Fifty". Rolling Stone Issue 946. Rolling Stone.

[1]