Must Haves. Music Edition. Aretha Franklin.

BACKGROUND HISTORY

Active1950s - 2010s

BornMarch 25, 1942 in Memphis, TN

DiedAugust 16, 2018 in Detroit, MI

Genre

R&B

Styles

Deep Soul

Soul

Quiet Storm

Southern Soul

Black Gospel

HITS

Respect, Freeway of Love, Chain of Fools, I Say A Little Prayer, etc

ALBUMS

The Gospel Soul of Aretha Franklin (1956), Aretha (1961), The Electifying Aretha Franklin (1962), Laughing on the Outside (1963), Songs of Faith (1965), Soul Sister (1967), Aretha Arrives (1967), Lady Soul (1968) Soul 69 (1969), Spirit in the Dark (1970), Young Gifted and Black (1972) This Xmas (2008)

CULTURAL IMPACT

Aretha Franklin was a titan of soul music, and indeed of American pop in general. She embodied soul at its most gospel-charged more than any other performer. Her incredible run of late-'60s hits with Atlantic Records, including "Respect," "I Never Loved a Man," "Chain of Fools," "Baby I Love You," "I Say a Little Prayer," "Think," "The House That Jack Built," and many others, earned her the title Queen of Soul. Franklin was never one to rest on her laurels.

Following the early-'70s LPs Spirit in the Dark and Young, Gifted, and Black, she scored more R&B hits than pop hits, adeptly following the evolution of soul in the '70s and '80s thanks to collaborations with Curtis Mayfield (1976's Sparkle) and Luther Vandross (1982's Jump to It). Franklin triumphantly returned to pop with 1985's Who's Zoomin' Who? and its Top Ten single "Freeway of Love," which was followed in 1987 by the George Michael duet "I Knew You Were Waiting (For Me)," which became her first Billboard number one hit since "Respect" in 1967. Franklin remained the Queen of Soul for the next three decades, performing and recording on a regular basis until her death in 2018.