Her powerful and sensual voice was recognizable among a thousand. On August 16, 2018, Aretha Franklin passed away. She leaves an immense musical legacy and more than 75 million albums sold. But the diva at the eighteen Grammy Awards, voted best singer of all time by Rolling Stones magazine, is also known for her political and feminist positions as well as for her destiny punctuated by drama and domestic violence. A look back at the journey of a committed woman, an emblematic figure of the black community.
Aretha Franklin was born on March 25, 1942 in Memphis, in the southern United States. Her father is a Baptist pastor, a civil rights activist. Like her sisters, Aretha follows the example of their mother, a gospel singer, and joins the parish choir of which she becomes the soloist. The producer John Hammond, discoverer of Billie Holiday, made him sign his first record … at 14 years old! However, success is slow to come. Ten years and as many albums later, Aretha changes label and style. No more jazz, make way for rhythm and blues! From 1967 to 1969, she recorded six albums and the songs Respect, Baby I Love You and A Natural Woman rose to the top of the charts. The queen of soul is born.
Producer at Atlantic Records, Jerry Wexler gives her a new burst of freedom at the end of the 1960s. The singer whose voice covers five octaves (a piano covers seven) releases all her fervor on the piano, connects the hits and tours. From soul to r’n’b, from pop to jazz, Aretha manages to bring together all African-American musical genres. Years of glory that coincided with the turmoil of American society, the rise of the civil rights movement and the debacle of the war in Vietnam. Close to Martin Luther King Jr, the singer regularly donates her fees to fundraisers and her hymns electrify activists. Respect, a cover of an Otis Redding track, becomes his signature song. (…)
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