Aretha Franklin dead at 76: reflections on the legendary Queen of Soul

The Queen of Soul has been laid to rest.

Fans flocked to Detroit on Friday to pay respects to legendary singer Aretha Franklin, who died August 16 at the age of 76. The funeral service was a gathering of family and friends, as well as musicians, politicians, activists, and prominent African-American clergy, who mourned the death and celebrated the life of one of the most revered performers in American popular music.

The world is mourning the loss of Aretha Franklin, one of the most iconic and influential singers in history, who died on August 16 at the age of 76.

On Friday, just before her funeral began in Detroit, guards at Buckingham Palace in the United Kingdom decided to pay their respects to the Queen of Soul.

Aretha Franklin didn’t work for President Donald Trump, and Al Sharpton does not want anyone to forget that.

Speaking at Franklin’s funeral on Friday, Sharpton tore into Trump, pointing out how the president seemed to callously refer to the Queen of Soul as an employee of his after she died on August 16.

Aretha Franklin will always be the Queen of Soul. As Sammy Davis Jr. put it, “She doesn’t sing soul, she is soul.” But how exactly did she so masterfully embody the spirit of soul music? Well, it starts with understanding the backbone of soul: gospel.

Franklin grew up in the church. Her father, C.L. Franklin, was one of the most famous preachers in America in the 1940s and ’50s. He was known as the “man with the million-dollar voice” because his radio show, which was syndicated across the country during the golden age of gospel music, featured both his preaching and his singing.

Aretha Franklin takes a breath. She thanks the audience for their applause. She begins to dance.

And then she launches into “Respect,” perhaps the most iconic — and influential — of her many, many hits.

Barack and Michelle Obama have always had a special relationship with Aretha Franklin, who died at age 76 on Thursday at her home in Detroit. The former president and first lady have been selective in the public statements they’ve made since leaving the White House, but after the news of Franklin’s death, they issued a deeply heartfelt letter of remembrance to the media.

Referencing Franklin’s designated title, “the Queen of Soul,” the Obamas began, “America has no royalty. But we do have a chance to earn something more enduring.”

To quote Barack Obama, “You can hear Aretha’s influence across the landscape of American music, no matter the genre.” In a letter to David Remnick for a 2016 profile of Aretha Franklin, Obama, who notably was moved to tears during Franklin’s rendition of “(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman” at the Kennedy Center Honors, wrote that she reminded him of his humanity — “what’s essential in all of us.”

Franklin’s singular influence as an artist is also underscored by the way other artists speak about her. Carole King, who wrote “Natural Woman” with Gerry Goffin, described hearing Franklin sing the song as, “a dream realized”; Billy Preston insisted that Franklin had earned the right to do as she pleased. “On any given night, when that lady sits down at the piano and gets her body and soul all over some righteous song, she’ll scare the shit out of you,” he said. “And you’ll know — you’ll swear — that she’s still the best fuckin’ singer this fucked-up country has ever produced.”

Aretha Franklin was blessed with arguably the greatest singing voice in the history of recorded music — and with it, the superhuman ability to make songs better than they were originally conceived.

“I Say a Little Prayer,” written by Burt Bacharach and Hal David, is one of those songs.

Aretha Franklin will always be known for her transcendent voice and how that voice changed music. But she was also known for fighting for what’s hers, taking exception to anyone passing negative judgment on her charisma, uniqueness, nerve, and talent. That refusal to take any bullshit from anyone was a huge part of her non-musical legacy, and helped her ascend to the highest levels of music stardom. (An example: Franklin always demanded to be paid in cash on the spot, because she saw so many of her contemporaries get ripped off.)

It also made her a woman you did not want to cross, which famed gossip columnist Liz Smith, like many others, found out the hard way.

Aretha Franklin, who died at her home in Detroit on Thursday, carried the moniker “Queen of Soul” for more than five decades. One of the most-charted female artists of all time, one of the highest-selling artists of all time, and the first woman inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, Franklin is a musical legend by any definition.

But her legendary status doesn’t need to be burnished by sales numbers and awards — it was all right there in her voice, in her very presence, from the earliest moments of her career. Franklin’s four-octave range and mastery of melisma made her a force to be reckoned with both on record and on the stage. Her pop stardom may not have been immediate — it took a decade for her to break into the mainstream — but her star power was always evident.

Aretha Franklin, the legendary Queen of Soul, died on August 16, 2018 at her home in Detroit. She was 76 years old.

Franklin’s 60-plus-year career was one of broken boundaries and broken records. She held the record for the most-charted female artist in Billboard history for nearly 40 years, with 73 titles in the Hot 100. (Nicki Minaj surpassed the record last year.) Her first Hot 100 song, “Won’t Be Long,” debuted when Franklin was just 18 years old in 1961. She also racked up 18 Grammy Awards over the course of her career, and in 1987, she was the first woman to be inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.