Aretha Franklin Bio

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Aretha Louise Franklin (born March 25, 1942) is an American singer, songwriter and pianist commonly referred to as "The Queen of Soul". Although renowned for her soul recordings, Franklin is also adept at jazz, rock, blues, pop, R&B and Gospel music. In 2008, the American music magazine Rolling Stone ranked Franklin #1 on its list of The Greatest Singers of All Time.

Franklin is one of the most honored artists by the Grammy Awards, with 20 Grammys to date, which include the Living Legend Grammy and the Lifetime Achievement Grammy. She has scored a total of 20 #1 singles on the Billboard R&B Singles Chart, two of which also became #1 hits on the Billboard Hot 100: "Respect" (1967) and "I Knew You Were Waiting (For Me)" (1987), a duet with George Michael. Since 1961, Franklin has scored a total of 45 "Top 40" hits on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.

In 1987, Franklin became the first female artist to be entered into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

Franklin was the featured singer at the 2009 Presidential inauguration ceremony for Barack Obama.

Aretha Franklin: Biography

Aretha Franklin - Early life and career

Franklin was born on March 25,1942 in Memphis, Tennessee to the Rev. C. L. Franklin, a Baptist minister, and Barbara Siggers Franklin. Franklin's parents had a troubled relationship and separated when she was six. Her father's first pulpit after New Salem Baptist Church in Memphis was at Friendship Baptist Church in Buffalo, New York. Siggers and her son Vaughn remained in Buffalo when the rest of the Franklin family subsequently moved to Detroit, Michigan. Reverend Franklin assumed the pulpit of the original New Bethel Baptist Church on Hastings Street in Detroit's East Side Black Bottom, Detroit district in 1946. The 'all-Negro' ghetto neighborhood was demolished in the early 1960s when urban renewal built the Chrysler Freeway. At the time Ms. Franklin was raised just around the corner from Smokey Robinson and Diana Ross-Ms. Franklin never recorded for Motown Records. In 1963 Franklin renovated a former movie theatre at Linwood and West Philadelphia on the city's West Side and re-opened New Bethel Baptist Church.

Her mother Siggers died under mysterious circumstances in 1952 when Franklin was ten. Franklin was adept at the piano as well as having a gifted voice while a little girl and ultimately became a child prodigy. At the age of fourteen, she recorded her first album for JVB/Battle Records, where her father recorded his sermons and gospel vocal recordings, and she issued Songs Of Faith in 1956. Her earliest influences included Clara Ward and Mahalia Jackson, both of whom spent a lot of time in the Franklin home. Aretha has noted in her autobiography that her early gospel singing was patterned after Albertina Walker's Caravans, as she worked under the direction of Gospel Legend James Cleveland.

Teenage pregnancies derailed Franklin's gospel career when she gave birth to Clarence in 1955 (at age 13) and Edward in 1957 (at age 15). When she returned to singing, she decided to secure herself a deal as a pop artist. After being offered contracts from Motown and RCA, Franklin signed with Columbia Records in 1960. Her recordings during that time reflected a jazz influence and moved away from her gospel roots. Franklin initially scored a few hits on Columbia including her version of "Rock-A-Bye Your Baby With A Dixie Melody", which peaked at number 37 on the Billboard Pop Singles chart in 1961, and the Top 10 R&B hits, "Today I Sing The Blues", "Won't Be Long" and "Operation Heartbreak". However, by the end of 1966, with little commercial success in six years with Columbia and desperate for a sound of her own, she accepted an offer to sign with Atlantic Records. According to Franklin years later, "they made me sit down on the piano and the hits came".

Aretha Franklin - "Soul Sister #1"

In 1967 Franklin issued her first Atlantic single, "I Never Loved a Man (The Way I Love You)", a blues ballad that introduced listeners to her gospel style. Produced by Jerry Wexler, the song became Franklin's breakthrough single reaching the Top 10 on the Hot 100, and holding the #1 spot for 7 weeks on Billboard's R&B Singles chart. The B-side, "Do Right Woman, Do Right Man", charted on the R&B side, and introduced a more gospel element to Franklin's developing sound.

Her next single, "Respect", written and originally recorded by Otis Redding, firmly launched Franklin on the road to superstardom. Franklin's feminist version of the song became her signature tune for life, reaching #1 on both the R&B and the Pop charts-holding the top spot on the former chart for a record 2 months-and helping her Atlantic debut album, I Never Loved A Man The Way I Love You, reach million-seller status. In the next ten months, Franklin released a number of top ten hits including "Baby I Love You", "(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman" and "Chain of Fools".

In early 1968 Franklin won her first two Grammies (for "Respect"), including the first Grammy awarded in the "Best Female R&B Vocal Performance" category. She went on to win eight "Best Female R&B Vocal Performance" awards in a row. Over the next seven years, Franklin continued to score hit singles including "Think", "The House That Jack Built", "I Say a Little Prayer" (a cover of Dionne Warwick's hit), "Call Me" and "Don't Play That Song (You Lied)". "Spanish Harlem" reached #2 on Billboard's Hot 100 and even gave Franklin her first Top 10 Adult Contemporary (at the time labeled Easy Listening) hit.

By the end of the 1960s, Franklin's position as Soul Sister #1 was firmly established. Her albums were also hot sellers; one in particular, 1972's Amazing Grace, eventually sold over two million US copies, becoming "the best-selling gospel album of all time". Franklin's hit streak continued into the mid-1970s. 1973's emotional plea "Angel", produced by Quincy Jones and written by Franklin's sister Carolyn, was a stand-out single that became yet another #1 on the R&B chart, although the subsequent album Hey Now Hey (The Other Side of the Sky) was not successful.

1974's gold-certified single "Until You Come Back to Me (That's What I'm Gonna Do)" hit #1 R&B and #3 Pop. With this single, Franklin became the first artist to have a hit peak at each position from #1 - #10 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart (the others are Marvin Gaye and Madonna-- Elton John comes close but has never had a #10 single). By 1975, however, with the expanding exposure of Disco and the popularity of fellow Atlantic artist Roberta Flack, relations between Franklin and Atlantic Records were starting to strain. As a result, Franklin was recording poor material such as 1975's listless You album, and her record sales declined dramatically. Franklin had peaked, and the music industry was moving on to younger black female singers such as Natalie Cole, Chaka Khan and Donna Summer.

Aretha Franklin - Return To Prominence

After several years of failed recordings, Franklin's career was given a much-needed boost in 1980 by a cameo performance as Mrs. Matt Murphy in The Blues Brothers, singing Think. That same year Clive Davis signed Franklin to his Arista Records. The singles "United Together" and "Love All The Hurt Away"-a duet with George Benson-returned her to the Top 10 on the Billboard R&B Singles chart. But it was the spectacular 1982 album, Jump To It, produced by longtime admirer Luther Vandross, and the title-track single that gave Franklin her first R&B chart-topping and pop success since "(Giving Him) Something He Can Feel". The album enjoyed a long run at #1 on Billboard's R&B Albums chart (even the Zoomin' album only reached #3). It won an American Music Award, was nominated for a Grammy and was certified gold in early 1983 - Franklin's first gold disc since the 1976 Sparkle album.

The following year Franklin and Vandross collaborated again on the disappointing Get It Right. But in 1985, Franklin's sound was commercialized into a glossy pop sound as she experienced her biggest selling album to date, Who's Zoomin' Who? Yielding smash hits like the Motown-influenced "Freeway of Love" (#3 Pop/#1 R&B), the title track (#7 Pop/#2 R&B), and her duet with rock duo Eurythmics, "Sisters Are Doing It For Themselves" (#18 Pop/#66 R&B), the album became the first Platinum certification of Franklin's entire career, introducing her sound to a younger generation of fans. In 1986, Franklin did nearly as well with an album simply titled Aretha, which yielded her first #1 Pop single in two decades with the George Michael duet, "I Knew You Were Waiting (For Me)". The album is noteworthy for the striking cover which was Andy Warhol's last work before his death. Other hits included her cover of The Rolling Stones' "Jumpin' Jack Flash" and the girl group-inspired "Jimmy Lee". When Aretha was taken out of print, it had sold over 900,000 US copies.

Franklin returned to gospel in 1987 with her album One Lord, One Faith, One Baptism which was recorded live at her New Bethel Baptist Church in Detroit. However, the disc was a far cry from her 1972 effort Amazing Grace and had middling sales. Follow-ups such as 1989's Through The Storm and 1991's What You See Is What You Sweat sold poorly and failed to produce any major mainstream hits-other than the former album's Elton John-featured title track-but her career got a slight boost in 1993 when she scored a dance-club hit with "Deeper Love" from the Sister Act 2: Back In The Habit soundtrack. In 1994, she scored another hit with the Babyface-produced ballad, "Willing To Forgive", which hit the Top 5 of Billboard's R&B chart and #26 on the Hot 100.

Franklin returned to prominence with her 1998 album, A Rose Is Still A Rose. The album's mixture of Urban Contemporary, Hip-Hop and Soul was a departure from Franklin's previous material. The title track, produced by Lauryn Hill, gave her a smash hit on the R&B and Pop charts and earned a gold single while the album was certified gold also, the first time since 1986's Aretha that any of the singer's studio albums reached 500,000 units in sales. That same year, with less than thirty minutes to prepare, Franklin stepped in for Luciano Pavarotti to sing "Nessun Dorma" at the 1998 Grammy Awards. (Pavarotti, who was awarded a Lifetime Achievement Award that night, was too sick to attend.) She gave a soulful and highly improvised performance in the aria's original key, while firmly stamping out the year with a captivating performance during VH-1's "Divas Live" telecast.

Aretha Franklin - Recent Years

Following the success of A Rose Is Still A Rose, Franklin has continued recording if only sporadically. Her most recent full studio release was 2003's So Damn Happy, an already out-of-print sales failure which included the Grammy-winning track "Wonderful". Shortly after its release, Franklin left Arista Records after twenty-three years with the company. That same year Aretha announced plans for her own Detroit based hometown label, Aretha Records. However, there has been no subsequent activity. A long-delayed new album, A Woman Falling Out Of Love appears to have been shelved. Franklin was also holding auditions in Detroit for a proposed musical based on her 1999 autobiography, From These Roots. The project has apparently also gone dormant since she could not secure financial backing for it.

In 1998, Franklin also took again her role of Mrs. Murphy in Blues Brothers 2000, this time singing her old hit "Respect". Like in the 1980 movie, she plays the possessive wife of the lead guitarist of the Blues Brothers Band, singing the song during a row with her husband about his joining his former band.

In 2007, Arista Records released a duets compilation album entitled, "Jewels In The Crown: All-Star Duets With The Queen." The disc features duets performed with Mariah Carey, Luther Vandross, Whitney Houston, Richard Marx, Annie Lennox, John Legend, Mary J. Blige, Frank Sinatra, George Michael, George Benson, Fantasia, and Gloria Estefan. A duet with Faith Hill was recorded but does not appear on the album. The album includes two new recordings with Fantasia, on the lead single "Put You Up On Game" and John Legend. The lead single "Put You Up On Game" hit radio on October 1, 2007 and became the number one most added song on Urban AC radio the following week. The album also includes Franklin's historic rendition of "Nessun Dorma" from the 1998 Grammy telecast.

In 2008, Franklin was honored as MusiCares "Person of the Year," two days prior to the 50th Annual Grammy Awards, where she was awarded her 18th career Grammy. Post-Grammy's, Miss Franklin criticized Beyoncé Knowles, due to the fact that Knowles introduced Tina Turner as 'The Queen' prior to their duet of Proud Mary.

Aretha Franklin - Personal life

Teenage pregnancies derailed Franklin's gospel career when she gave birth to Clarence in 1955 (at age 13) and Edward in 1957 (at age 15). She has never identified their fathers or the circumstances of her pregnancies at such a young age. Aretha's grandmother raised her sons while Aretha pursued her singing career.

Against her father's wishes she began dating Ted White. The two share the same birthday, 25 March. In 1961 while on tour, they married in between performances. White then became her personal manager and co-writer Ted White. Their son Ted Jr was born later that year, but they divorced in 1969. Ted Jr is her musical director and guitarist of Franklin's touring band. From 1969-1976 she had a seven year relationship with her road manager Ken Cunningham (1969-1976). Their son Kecalf (pronounced 'calf'; the initials of his parents' names: Kenneth E Cunningham Aretha Louise Franklin) was born in 1970. On 11 April 1978 she married Cooley High/A Different World actor Glynn Turman. In late 1982 Franklin returned to Detroit for the purpose of spending the holidays with her bed-ridden father as well as her other family members. Several months later, her 'fear of flying' phobia occurred. She was subsequently thwarted from returning to California and as a result she and Turman divorced in early 1984. Despite their divorce Turman was still able to get Franklin to sing the theme song for his show A Different World for 1988-1992, its second thru fifth seasons.

Ted Jr and Kecalf are active in the music business.

While White had been 11 years older than Franklin, Cunningham and Turman were both several years younger than Franklin.

She is the godmother of Whitney Houston, daughter of gospel singer Cissy Houston; who also grew up to be a major R&B and Pop music star, rising to fame in the mid-1980s, and subsequently struggling with personal problems there after. A still image of Franklin was shown in the closing scene of Houston's 1985 video for the single "How Will I Know".

Aretha Franklin: Awards and achievements

Aretha Franklin wipes a tear after being honored with the Presidential Medal of Freedom on November 9, 2005, at the White House. Seated with her are fellow recipients Robert Conquest, left, and Alan Greenspan

• In 1985, then-Gov. James Blanchard of Michigan declared her voice "a natural resource" during a ceremony that marked her 25 years in show business.
• Aretha Franklin is one of three musicians, along with Madonna & Marvin Gaye, to achieve each of the top 10 positions on the US Billboard Hot 100.
• On January 3, 1987, she became the first woman to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
• On March 29, 1987 Franklin sang "America the Beautiful" at WrestleMania III.
• In May 1987, she was awarded an honorary Doctor of Musicology degree from the University of Detroit.
• 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. To give perspective to this honor, only the Beatles, Bob Dylan, Elvis Presley, the Rolling Stones, Chuck Berry, Jimi Hendrix, James Brown, and Little Richard finished ahead of her on this list. Ray Charles finished at number ten, right behind Franklin.
• In 2005, she was awarded The Presidential Medal of Freedom by President George W. Bush.
• In 2005, she became the second woman (Madonna being the first, a founding member) to be inducted into the UK Music Hall of Fame.
• On February 6, 2006, she performed, along with Aaron Neville, the "Star-Spangled Banner" at Super Bowl 40
• On May 13, 2006, she was presented with an honorary Doctor of Music degree by the Berklee College of Music.
• On April 1, 2007 Aretha sang "America the Beautiful" at WrestleMania 23.
• On May 14, 2007, she was presented with an honorary Doctor of Music degree from the University of Pennsylvania.
• Is an honorary member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc.
• She is the youngest recipient of a Kennedy Center Honor.
• First black woman to appear on the cover of Time magazine.
• On February 8, 2008, Franklin was honored as MusiCares "Person of the Year".
• On February 14, 2008, Franklin was given the Vanguard award at the NAACP Image awards.
• On May 4, 2008, Franklin was given the Key to the City of Memphis at the 2008 "Memphis in May International Music Festival" by Mayor Dr. Willie Herenton during her performance onstage
• On September 13, 2008, Franklin was ranked #19 on the Billboard Hot 100 All-Time Top Artists list by Billboard Magazine.
• November 2008, Franklin was named by Rolling Stone as the #1 all time best singer of the rock era. She came in ahead of Ray Charles at No. 2, Elvis Presley at No. 3, Sam Cooke at No. 4 and John Lennon at No. 5, according to the magazine's survey of 179 musicians, producers, Rolling Stone editors, and other music-industry insiders.
• On January 20, 2009, Franklin performed "My Country 'Tis of Thee" during the inauguration ceremony of Barack Obama whilst wearing the greatest hat in the history of mankind.

Aretha Franklin - Grammy Awards

Franklin has won eighteen (18) Grammy Awards in total during her nearly half-century long career (she first charted in 1961), and holds the record for most Best Female R&B Vocal Performance awards with eleven to her name (including eight consecutive awards from 1968 to 1975 - the first eight awarded in that category).

*According to NARAS Rules: 'Special' Grammy Awards (such as Lifetime Achievement) are not counted in a performer's tally.