Queen of Soul Aretha Franklin is No More

Queen of Soul, Aretha Franklin who is known for her hits like Respect and Think, has died at the age of 76 in Detroit. In the year 2010, the legendary singer was diagnosed with cancer and the following year she announced her retirement from music. Aretha Franklin has won 18 Grammys and had 17 Top Ten US chart hits, during her seven decades of the music career.

Aretha Franklin started singing at an early age as a child, singing gospel at the New Bethel Baptist Church in Detroit, where her father, Rev C. L. Franklin was a minister. The extraordinary talent that touched the soul of millions of US Citizens and people across the world thus made her a household name as “Queen of Soul” in later years.

She had an emotional and powerful voice, which projected her at the forefront of 1960’s soul music along with legends like Otis Redding, Sam Cooke, and Wilson Pickett. Aretha Franklin also sang at the funeral of US civil rights leader Martin Luther King, as well as at the inaugurations of US Presidents like Barack Obama and Bill Clinton.

In the year 1987, she became the first woman, who is voted to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and in the year 2010 the Rolling Stone magazine named her the No. 1 singer of the rock era.

There is also a story how Franklin was crowned “the Queen of Soul” in Chicago in the year 1967, since then she is popularly known as the Queen of Soul. The story goes as, Franklin was heading a show, at the Regal Theatre of Chicago. At that time the city’s legendary radio disc jockey and promoter Pervis Spann, who was also known as “The Blue Man”, was producing concerts for blues and soul acts.

At that time, the Regal Theatre is known for hosting numerous black soul and R&B acts, including Motown groups like The Temptations and The Marvelettes. Aretha Franklin later recalled her memories of Regal Theatre, “Great days, the best days. You would taste the best hamburgers from the back door of the Regal.”

During one of her performances at the Regal Theatre, Spann who was presiding over a coronation of trophies, placed a crown on the head of Aretha Franklin and declared her as “The Queen of Soul.” Franklin later described the moment in her book, “I never thought it would happen!”.

Aretha Franklin also recounted, “That happened when I was at the Regal Theater in Chicago, which was very much like The Apollo in New York. Spann walked on stage one evening with a crown, and I went, ‘Whoooa! What is this?”. She accepted her newfound title, she said later, “Who wouldn’t want to be called ‘Queen’?”.

In her autobiography, Aretha Franklin has written clearly that she has “Aretha-ized” the music. Aretha Franklin was born on March 25, 1942, in Memphis and was later raised in Detroit. Her father was also respected as a civil rights leader, who advocated black pride and was a friend of Martin Luther King.