Aretha Franklin

Probably the best vocalist to ever live.

From 2nd-Impressions 05/02/2021 23:19

One of the greatest artists of the 60s, hands down!
Favourite album: Lady Soul. WHAT. AN. ALBUM. Chills throughout the whole project.
Favourite song: Ain't No Way. One of my favourite songs of all time.

Queen Of Soul...you will be missed...

From Tamthebam 08/16/2018 14:26

16th August 2018 - The Queen of Soul has gone ! The greatest voice of the 20th Century is no more R.I.P.

From jnfbn 03/05/2018 20:45

The queen, the one and the only! Really has a great voice and she's one of the best when it comes to using a great voice.

One of the greatest vocalists to ever live.

Blessed with one of the strongest and most beautiful voices ever to be recorded Aretha Franklin is quite rightly known as the ‘Queen of Soul’.
Being the daughter of a Detroit preacher of great renown and, given the quality of her voice, it was no surprise the Aretha should become a star soloist in gospel choirs. At the age of 14 she was given her first recording contract singing purely gospel and religious material. In the early sixties, at the age of eighteen Aretha was given a second recording contract with Columbia records where for six years she covered standards, tried her hand at pop, jazz, blues and low key soul. The output was moderately successful but one could sense that Aretha’s heart was not in the music.

The pivotal point in Aretha’s life, and the third and most important phase of her career started when she signed with Atlantic records and came under the guidance of Jerry Wexler who realised Aretha’s massive potential. Wexler recognised an emotional volcano in Aretha, and given the massive power of her voice spotted that she just needed the right material and to be surrounded by the right musicians to erupt into superstardom. To his credit Wexler got it right almost immediately and Aretha suddenly became a strong and confident young woman whose voice was both immensely commanding at yet beautifully controlled.

Throughout the late sixties and early seventies Aretha recorded a string of wonderful albums and she also had significant success on the singles chart. Crucially, she represented the female aspect of the liberation of black Americans over this period. Here was a strong and confident young black woman, with great skill, talent and charm – the ‘Queen of Soul’ had arrived.

Not all reigns last for ever and in the late seventies soul gave way to disco and, despite embracing the new genre, in the fourth phase of her career, Aretha’s star began to wane. She would continue to have the occasional successes, most notably in the 80’s, when she teamed up with a diverse range of artists for some fine duets. She continues to be a major character in the music industry although her visits to the recording studio are now extremely rare.

From Tamthebam 07/04/2013 13:46

She is and always will be "The Queen Of Soul" an awesome voice and 20 No.1 R&B hits says it all, well almost!

From junodog4 06/05/2013 01:50

Queen of Soul is very appropriate. What a soulful and powerful voice.

From eclab 01/18/2013 11:37

Marvellous vocals.