Aretha Franklin: 32 facts you didn’t know about the singer

Aretha Franklin was the Queen of soul! 

The singer passed away on the 16th of August, causing a huge grief over the music industry and her million fans alla over the world! 

These are some facts you should know about the singer and don’t forget… It’s alla about respect! 

1. She was born on March 25, 1942.
2. Her full name was Aretha Louise Franklin.
3. Aretha Franklin was born at 406 Lucy Avenue, Memphis, Tennessee.
4. Her father was an itinerant preacher originally from Shelby, Mississippi. His name was Clarence LaVaughn “C. L.” Franklin.
5. Her mother, Barbara, was an accomplished piano player and vocalist.
6. Aretha had a big family. Her parents had three other children, and both C. L. and Barbara had children from outside their marriage.
7. Unfortunately , the singer lost her mother before she was 10.
8. She learned how to play piano by ear.
9. Her father became a ”celebrity” because of his  driven sermons and a lot of times famous people visited her house, such as  Clara Ward, James Cleveland and early Caravans members Albertina Walker and Inez Andrews as well as Martin Luther King, Jr., Jackie Wilson and Sam Cooke.
10. When Franklin was 14, her father began managing her, bringing her on the road with him during his so-called “gospel caravan” tours for her to perform in various churches.
11. She got her fisrt record deal  with J.V.B. Records at the age of 14 and  her first album, Songs of Faith, was issued in 1956.
12. When she was 16, she got to go on  tour with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
13. When Dr.Martin Luther King,Jr died she sang at his funeral.
14. Columbia Records, signed her in 1960 and after six years she left to go to Atlantic Records.
15. Some of Aretha Franklin’s best songs are : “Baby I Love You” , “(You Make Me Feel Like A) Natural Woman”, “Chain of Fools”, “Ain’t No Way”, “Think”, “I Say a Little Prayer and of course ”Respect ”.
16. In 1971, Franklin became the first R&B performer to headline Fillmore West.
17. In 1980 she gave a command performance at the Royal Albert Hall in front of Queen Elizabeth.
18. She also made an acclaimed guest role as a waitress in the comedy musical, The Blues Brothers.
19. In 1980, Franklin signed with Clive Davis’ Arista Records.
20. Franklin’s voice has been described as being a “powerful mezzo-soprano voice”.
21. She first became pregnant at the age of 12 and gave birth to her first child, named Clarence after her father, on January 28, 1955.
22. The father of the child was Donald Burk, a boy she knew from school. On January 22, 1957, then aged 14, Franklin had a second child, named Edward after his father Edward Jordan.
23. Aretha Franklin was married twice.
24. Her first husband was Theodore “Ted” White, whom she married in 1961 at age 19. She divorced him after accusing him for domestic violence in 1969.
25. Her second husband ,was actor Glynn Turman and they married on April 11, 1978.
26. Franklin was a registered Democrat.
27. In 2014, she was granted the honorary degree of Doctor of Arts from Harvard University for her contributions to music.
28. She has also received honorary doctorates in music from Princeton University, 2012; Yale University, 2010; Brown University, 2009; Berklee College of Music, 2006; New England Conservatory of Music, 1995; and University of Michigan, 1987.
29. She was ranked first in Rolling Stone magazine’s “100 Greatest Singers” list.
30. On August 13, 2018, Franklin was reported to be gravely ill at her home in Riverfront Towers, Detroit.
31. Aretha Franklin died at home on August 16, 2018, aged 76.
32. The cause was reported to be advanced pancreatic cancer.