The Queen of Soul died Thursday at 76; No one will wear her crown again. In a career spanning seven decades, Aretha Franklin’s impact transcended…
The Queen of Soul died Thursday at 76; No one will wear her crown again.
In a career spanning seven decades, Aretha Franklin’s impact transcended genres and generations. Whether it was gospel, soul, blues or rock, her voice just flew. She sang from deep inside, bringing listeners soaring along with her — and kept that power as a live performer into her 70s.
The Post’s Chuck Arnold has it right: “Few music legends . changed the game so much that they were the blueprint for everything that came after them.”
The daughter of a Baptist preacher, she lent her talent to the civil-rights movement, which adopted her signature “Respect” as an anthem. A close friend of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., she sang at his funeral. Ex-President Barack Obama expressed the sentiment of many African-Americans in saying: “In her voice, we could feel our history.”
Along with “Respect,” songs like “Do Right Woman, Do Right Man” and “Think” established her as a feminist force.
Eighteen Grammys; the first woman in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame; the Presidential Medal of Freedom; the National Medal of Arts and Humanities Award — she earned them all, and more.
As well as the love and R-E-S-P-E-C-T of tens of millions around the world. Rest in peace.
