Aretha Franklin The Queen of Soul By Rachel Ison 5 th grade

Aretha Franklin Aretha Louise Franklin was born March 25, 1942 in Memphis, Tennessee. Her father was Baptist preacher Reverend Clarence La Vaughan "C.L." Franklin, and her mother Barbara Siggers Franklin was a gospel singer. Aretha was the fourth out of five children- sisters Erma and Carolyn and brothers Cecil and Vaughn Her parents divorced when she was six and four years later her mother died of a heart attack. The family moved to Detroit, Michigan where her father became nationally renown as a preacher.

THE EARLY YEARS Aretha was largely self-taught musically and was regarded as a child prodigy. By the age of 14, Aretha recorded some early tracks and sang for her father’s traveling revival where she met gospel greats like Mahalia Jackson, Sam Cooke and Clara Ward. Life was not easy because she became a teenage mother at the age of 15. Two years later, she had her second child. In 1960, Aretha moved to New York.

The Recording Years Aretha was already a talented pianist as well as power-house voice. After being courted by many record companies, Aretha signed with Columbia Records. With Columbia, Aretha had one song hit No. 37 in 1961 but had a few top ten singles on the R&B charts but they failed in showcasing her voice. In 1967, Aretha moved to Atlantic Records. Her reign became solid in 1967 and 1968 when her album "I Never Loved A Man (The Way I Love You)" was released.

The Recording Years Cont’d The first song on the album, "Respect," reached No. 1 on both the R&B and pop charts, and won Aretha her first two Grammy awards. She also had top 10 hits with "Baby I Love You,'' "Think," "Chain of Fools,'' "I Say A Little Prayer," and "(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman.“ In 1968, Aretha Franklin sang at the Democratic Convention and as well as performed at Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s funeral. The death of long-time friend and inspiration, Mahalia Jackson motivated Aretha’s next album that sold over 2 million copies. In the ’70s, Aretha took home eight consecutive Grammy awards for Best R&B Female Vocal Performance, she rightfully earned the title "The Queen of Soul.“ Aretha worked constantly but her career slowly waned in the disco era. In 1978, Aretha married actor Glynn Turman.

The Later Years After many hardships, Aretha reemerged after her cameo in the film The Blues Brothers which exposed her to a new generation of R&B lovers, and she soon signed to Arista Records. In 1982, her new album enjoyed much success on the R&B charts and earned Franklin a Grammy nomination. Two years later, she endured a divorce from Turman as well as the death of her father. The next years were much of a success for Aretha Franklin with her best selling album and another album went gold. In 1987, Aretha Franklin was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame marked the first time a woman had ever been awarded such an honor. Franklin scored the second Number One pop hit of her career - “I Knew You Were Waiting (for Me),” a duet with George Michael - which came exactly twenty years after she topped the charts with “Respect.” In 1994, Franklin was given a lifetime achievement award at the Grammys.

Aretha Franklin Now!!! In 2003, Aretha recorded her last album with Arista and then left to create her own label In 2005, she was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom and became the second woman ever to be inducted into the UK Music Hall of Fame. In 2008, she received her 18th Grammy Award for " Never Gonna Break My Faith“ for her collaboration with Mary J. Bilge Most recently, Franklin's released her first album on her own label, A Woman Falling Out of Love.

TN State Standards for 5 th grade GLE Discuss cultures and human patterns of places and regions of the world. GLE Recognize the contributions of individuals and people of various ethnic, racial, religious, and socioeconomic groups to the development of civilizations. GLE Understand the contributions of individuals and people of various ethnic, racial, religious, and socioeconomic groups to Tennessee

Works Cited Aretha Franklin. (2011). Biography.com. Retrieved 10:21, Sep from Aretha Franklin Biography. (2010). The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Retrieved 10:25, Sep from franklin/bio/ franklin/bio/