In 1956, at the age 14, she released her first album, a gospel record called Songs of Faith.“There is a Fountain With Blood.” In 1960, at the age of 18, she embarked on a secular career recording for Columbian Records but achieving only modest success.
Born on March 25th, 1942, Aretha Louis Franklin, an American singer and song writer won the hearts of millions by her breathtaking voice. She is the most charted female singer in the Billboard history, winner of 18 Grammy awards, and the first woman to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. As a teenager she hit the road with her father in a gospel caravan tour and signed to JVB records. Franklin and her then-husband and manager Ted White took her to Atlantic records and she went on to record her first top 10 hit “I Never Loved a Man (The Way I Loved you)”. She began to hit a stride that peaked with the recording of “Respect” her signature song and her first No. 1.
“Being a singer is a natural gift. It means I’m using to the highest degree possible the gift that God gave me to use. I’m happy with that.” She is a performer who left an indelible emotional imprint on generations of fans and cannot be ignored as a maestro of image, a woman who practically from the start of a six-decade career understood not merely the potency of her magnificent voice but also the importance of how the public saw her.
The undisputed Queen of Soul, who for more than half-a-century reigned over the worlds of pop, rock, R&B and gospel music, died Thursday at age 76. A statement released by the family said she died from pancreatic cancer. “In one of the darkest moments of our lives, we are not able to find the appropriate word to express the pain in our heart.” says a family member in a statement. “We have lost the matriarch and the rock of our family.”
Death of a beloved is an amputation. We mark this day not only to mourn the loss of a legend but also to remember and respect her work and contribution to this industry that has and will mesmerize us for the years to come.
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