Aretha Franklin - R E S P E C T

Aretha Franklin (March 25, 1942) is a Memphis, Tennessee-born but Detroit, Michigan raised American iconic gospel, soul and R&B singer. Many have called her “The Queen Of Soul” and “Lady Soul”. She is renowned for her soul and R&B recordings but is also adept at jazz, rock, blues, pop, gospel, and even opera. She is generally regarded as one of the best vocalists ever by such industry publications/media outlets as Rolling Stone and VH1, due to her phenomenal ability to inject whatever she may be singing about with gut wrenching soul (hence the title) and sheer conviction.

She is the second most honored female popular singer in Grammy history after Alison Krauss. Ms. Franklin has won eighteen competitive Grammys (including an unprecedented eleven for Best Female R&B Vocal Performance, eight of them consecutive) and the state of Michigan has declared her voice to be a natural wonder.

In 2006 Aretha Franklin’s Grammy total rose to seventeen with a best traditional R&B vocal award for “A House Is Not a Home,” a track from the Luther Vandross tribute “So Amazing.”