Aretha Franklin

Aretha Franklin demands R-E-S-P-E-C-T and she gets it. A giant in soul music, she drives her songs with the angst, love and anger of womanly strength and conviction. The Queen of Soul was discovered by John Hammond in the early 60's and signed with C...more

Aretha Franklin demands R-E-S-P-E-C-T and she gets it. A giant in soul music, she drives her songs with the angst, love and anger of womanly strength and conviction. The Queen of Soul was discovered by John Hammond in the early 60's and signed with Columbia Records, who tried to breed her as a jazz singer. It was only after she went over to Atlantic in 1967 that her charisma was unleashed, and it was here that she unloaded hit after hit, among them "Chain of Fools", "You Make Me Feel (Like a Natural Woman)" and her signature tune, Otis Redding's "Respect." A favorite of Bill Graham's, she exceeded her "LadySoul" persona, delivering to the masses gospel, blues, jazz, pop, rock and even opera music. After Aretha left Atlantic Records, her critical success waned, but she's continued to perform and record with passion and charisma that few artists have ever been able to replicate. In 2001, she was inducted into the Michigan Women's Hall of Fame, and she's won 17 Grammy Awards to date....less