Aretha Franklin

She was inducted into the Michigan Women's Hall of Fame in 2001. In 1986 the Michigan Legislature declared Aretha Franklin's voice to be a precious natural resource. Aretha Franklin was sued for breach of contract in 1984 when she was unable to open in the Broadway musical "Sing, Mahalia, Sing," mainly because of her phobia of flying. She lives today in Detroit.

The affair made her guard her private life even more jealously and she gave no interviews for several years after that. A Time Magazine cover story in 1968 led to a lawsuit from Ted White over allegations that he had roughed her up in public. The marriage ended in 1969 and she has always refused to answer questions about it. She married Ted White in 1962 and he became her manager during her years with Columbia Records.

Most critics dismiss her post-Atlantic material as far inferior to the legendary recordings of the mid to late sixties. Her most notable 1980s hit was the dance song Freeway of Love, which charted in 1985. Despite working with artists of the stature of Curtis Mayfield, popularity and critical success waned during the mid to late 1970s and the 1980s, though she scored several hits, often with partners (such as Luther Vandross). Wexler had now left Atlantic and the partnership was over.

She returned to working with Wexler, but her last Atlantic LP You was released in 1976. A partnership with Quincy Jones led to a disappointing album in 1973 You. But it still produced a standout track "Angel", written by her sister Carolyn which became a soul classic. In the early 1970s, her music mellowed slightly, though losing nothing of its power, and she continued the hugely successful relationship with Wexler and Mardin while beginning to take a greater role in producing her work. After the R&B category was added to the Grammy Awards in 1968, she was virtually unchallenged, winning eight successive awards for Best Female R&B Vocal Performance; she later added three more Grammies in this category in the 1980s.

Among her most successful hit singles from this era were "Chain of Fools", "You Make Me Feel Like a Natural Woman", "Think", "Baby I Love You", "The House That Jack Built", and "Respect", a cover of an Otis Redding single which became her signature song. Surprisingly she never made it to number one in the UK pop charts - the best result being a number four with her version of Burt Bacharach's "I Say a Little Prayer" in 1968. She released numerous Top Ten hits in the late 1960s and early 1970s, dabbling in gospel music, blues music, pop music, psychedelic music and rock and roll, including notable covers of songs by The Beatles ("Eleanor Rigby"), The Band ("The Weight"), Simon & Garfunkel ("Bridge Over Troubled Water"), Sam Cooke and The Drifters. Live at Fillmore West and Amazing Grace were two of her most influential full-length releases, the latter a double LP of live gospel music recorded in a Los Angeles Baptist church. Franklin said herself of this period, "When I went to Atlantic, they just sat me down at the piano and the hits started coming.".

By the late 1960s, Franklin had earned the nickname "The Queen of Soul", having become an internationally famous artist and a symbol of pride for the African American community. After moving to Atlantic Records in 1967, Franklin teamed up with producers Jerry Wexler and Arif Mardin, resulting in some of the most influential R&B recordings of the 1960s, including "I Never Loved a Man (The Way I Love You)", a much more soulful and impassioned song than most of her earlier work. However her greatest and most innovative work was yet to come. In the early 1960s, Franklin had a few popular songs, most notably "Rock-a-bye Your Baby with a Dixie Melody." However Columbia really wanted her as a jazz singer and the results never gave full rein to Franklin's talents.

She signed with Columbia Records after being discovered by legendary A&R man John Hammond. As a child, Franklin and her sisters, Carolyn and Erma, sang at her father's Detroit-area church and made her first recordings at the age 12. On January 3, 1987 she became the first woman to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Aretha Franklin (born March 25, 1942) is a gospel, soul and R&B singer born in Memphis, Tennessee.

2003 So Damn Happy. 2002 Aretha's Best. 1999 I Dreamed a Dream. 1998 You Grow Closer.

1998 A Rose Is Still A Rose. 1995 Unforgettable: A Tribute to Dinah Washington. 1991 What You See Is What You Sweat. 1989 Through the Storm.

1987 One Faith, One Lord, One Baptism. 1986 Aretha. 1986 Soul Survivor. 1985 Who's Zoomin' Who?.

1985 First Lady of Soul. 1984 Aretha's Jazz. 1984 Never Grow Old. 1983 Get It Right.

1982 Jump To It. 1981 Love All the Hurt Away. 1980 Aretha Sings the Blues. 1980 Aretha.

1979 La Diva. 1978 Almighty Fire. 1977 Most Beautiful Songs. 1977 Sweet Passion.

1977 Satisfaction. 1976 Sparkle. 1975 Two Originals. 1975 You.

1974 Let Me in Your Life. 1974 With Everything I Feel in Me. 1973 Hey Now Hey (The Other Side of the Sky). 1972 Amazing Grace.

1971 Young, Gifted & Black. 1971 Aretha Live at the Fillmore West. 1970 Spirit in the Dark. 1970 Sweet Bitter Love.

1970 Don't Play That Song. 1970 The Girl's In Love with You. 1969 Soul '69. 1969 I Say a Little Prayer.

1969 Aretha Franklin: Live!. 1968 Aretha in Paris. 1968 Aretha Now. 1968 Lady Soul.

1967 Lee Cross. 1967 Take It Like You Give It. 1967 Aretha Arrives. 1967 I Never Loved a Man (The Way I Love You).

1965 Once in a Lifetime. 1963 Laughing on the Outside. 1962 The Tender, The Moving, The Swinging Aretha Franklin. 1962 The Electrifying Aretha Franklin.

1956 The Gospel Soul of Aretha Franklin.