WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:02.580 welcome to the deep dive our mission today is 00:00:02.580 --> 00:00:06.019 well it's straightforward but the subject is 00:00:06.019 --> 00:00:08.820 just monumental absolutely we're taking a deep 00:00:08.820 --> 00:00:11.980 dive into the life and really the unparalleled 00:00:11.980 --> 00:00:15.039 genius of aretha louise franklin and this isn't 00:00:15.039 --> 00:00:16.839 just about you know a greatest hits playlist 00:00:16.839 --> 00:00:19.839 no not at all this is about understanding the 00:00:19.839 --> 00:00:23.260 very foundation of american soul music it really 00:00:23.260 --> 00:00:25.579 is i mean when we talk about aretha franklin 00:00:25.579 --> 00:00:27.899 you have to remember this is an artist who was 00:00:27.899 --> 00:00:30.640 twice named by rolling stone magazine as the 00:00:30.640 --> 00:00:33.000 greatest singer of all time twice that's the 00:00:33.000 --> 00:00:35.719 bedrock it's the synthesis of spiritual devotion 00:00:35.719 --> 00:00:39.600 of pain of freedom and just this the sheer vocal 00:00:39.600 --> 00:00:42.829 power all in one unique sound We've gone through 00:00:42.829 --> 00:00:45.189 a whole stack of sources for this. Yeah. Biographies, 00:00:45.189 --> 00:00:47.869 music analyses, historical documents, to give 00:00:47.869 --> 00:00:49.670 you the definitive shortcut to understanding 00:00:49.670 --> 00:00:51.969 her legacy. And the scale of it is just, it's 00:00:51.969 --> 00:00:55.049 mind -boggling. It is. Over 75 million records 00:00:55.049 --> 00:00:57.549 sold worldwide. And that commercial success was 00:00:57.549 --> 00:01:00.350 matched by a kind of chart dominance that, honestly, 00:01:00.549 --> 00:01:03.250 very few artists in history can even touch. Numbers 00:01:03.250 --> 00:01:07.120 are staggering. They are. She charted 112 singles 00:01:07.120 --> 00:01:10.980 on the U .S. Billboard charts. 112. And 73 of 00:01:10.980 --> 00:01:13.739 those cracked the Hot 100. But the key number 00:01:13.739 --> 00:01:18.579 for me is the 20 number one R &B singles. 20. 00:01:18.599 --> 00:01:20.840 That's just a sustained run of excellence decade 00:01:20.840 --> 00:01:23.739 after decade. Exactly. Across five decades. Of 00:01:23.739 --> 00:01:25.500 course, everyone knows her for that definitive 00:01:25.500 --> 00:01:28.459 anthem, Respect. But when you do a deep dive 00:01:28.459 --> 00:01:32.090 into her catalog. It just reveals endless brilliance. 00:01:32.230 --> 00:01:34.689 Oh, you make me feel like a natural woman, chain 00:01:34.689 --> 00:01:37.810 of fools. The gospel masterpiece, amazing grace. 00:01:38.109 --> 00:01:40.790 And then, you know, much later, that global success 00:01:40.790 --> 00:01:42.670 with George Michael, I knew you were waiting 00:01:42.670 --> 00:01:45.409 for me. Right. So our goal today is to really 00:01:45.409 --> 00:01:48.170 unpack that journey, the struggles, which were 00:01:48.170 --> 00:01:51.170 immense, the strategic failures, and, of course, 00:01:51.230 --> 00:01:52.930 the ultimate triumphs that earned her that permanent 00:01:52.930 --> 00:01:55.260 title, the Queen of Soul. Couldn't have said 00:01:55.260 --> 00:01:57.200 it better. Okay. So let's get into the origins. 00:01:57.379 --> 00:02:00.019 To really grasp the force of nature that was 00:02:00.019 --> 00:02:02.260 Aretha Franklin, you have to understand where 00:02:02.260 --> 00:02:04.900 that voice came from. Right. It wasn't just forged 00:02:04.900 --> 00:02:07.420 in a church. It was forged in this very specific 00:02:07.420 --> 00:02:12.139 kind of celebrity activist and emotionally charged 00:02:12.139 --> 00:02:15.000 household. That's the key. She was born in Memphis 00:02:15.000 --> 00:02:18.360 in 42, but her definitive years were really spent 00:02:18.360 --> 00:02:22.090 in Detroit. And the Detroit home. It wasn't just 00:02:22.090 --> 00:02:24.590 a home, was it? No, not at all. It was a cultural 00:02:24.590 --> 00:02:26.909 hub. Her father, Clarence LaVaughn Franklin, 00:02:27.090 --> 00:02:30.210 C .L. Franklin, was the pastor of the new Bethel 00:02:30.210 --> 00:02:33.210 Baptist Church. But he was. I mean, he was so 00:02:33.210 --> 00:02:35.870 much more than a local minister. A national celebrity. 00:02:35.990 --> 00:02:38.289 A national celebrity, yeah. Famous for these 00:02:38.289 --> 00:02:41.669 dramatic, intense narrative sermons. They called 00:02:41.669 --> 00:02:44.030 him the man with the million dollar voice. And 00:02:44.030 --> 00:02:46.300 when you say famous, you mean like... Celebrity 00:02:46.300 --> 00:02:48.659 famous. Oh, yeah. The sources say he was commanding 00:02:48.659 --> 00:02:50.500 thousands of dollars for his sermon appearances 00:02:50.500 --> 00:02:53.319 all across the country. Which is a level of income 00:02:53.319 --> 00:02:56.460 and status that just it instantly placed young 00:02:56.460 --> 00:02:58.580 Aretha in this completely unique environment. 00:02:58.740 --> 00:03:01.139 It was far beyond your typical chirp setting. 00:03:01.319 --> 00:03:03.840 So the Franklin home becomes this this nexus 00:03:03.840 --> 00:03:07.039 point where American gospel activism and early 00:03:07.039 --> 00:03:09.889 R &B all converged. Exactly. I mean, think about 00:03:09.889 --> 00:03:12.310 the guests who were regulars in that house. You 00:03:12.310 --> 00:03:14.789 had the giants of gospel like Mahalia Jackson, 00:03:15.110 --> 00:03:17.210 James Cleveland, and the iconic Claire Ward. 00:03:17.389 --> 00:03:19.710 And Claire Ward, she was more than just a house 00:03:19.710 --> 00:03:21.729 guest, right? A lot more. The sources confirm 00:03:21.729 --> 00:03:23.949 she was romantically involved with C .L. Franklin. 00:03:24.110 --> 00:03:26.710 She served as this really crucial and kind of 00:03:26.710 --> 00:03:29.789 complex role model for Aretha during her formative 00:03:29.789 --> 00:03:32.750 years. Imagine that influence, seeing one of 00:03:32.750 --> 00:03:34.889 the greatest gospel singers of all time up close 00:03:34.889 --> 00:03:38.580 living in your home. It's massive. But the influences 00:03:38.580 --> 00:03:41.379 weren't only musical. The home was also a meeting 00:03:41.379 --> 00:03:43.759 place for civil rights leaders. Martin Luther 00:03:43.759 --> 00:03:46.319 King Jr. was a family friend, a constant presence. 00:03:46.539 --> 00:03:49.199 And then you had this blend of the sacred and 00:03:49.199 --> 00:03:52.840 the secular. Early R &B stars, pop stars like 00:03:52.840 --> 00:03:55.599 Sam Cooke and Jackie Wilson were also frequent 00:03:55.599 --> 00:03:58.240 visitors. So that foundation gave her the entire 00:03:58.240 --> 00:04:00.900 language, intellectual, spiritual, and musical 00:04:00.900 --> 00:04:03.219 that she would draw on for the next 50 years. 00:04:03.340 --> 00:04:06.500 Absolutely. But beneath this... vibrant, celebrity 00:04:06.500 --> 00:04:09.680 -filled exterior, there is also profound family 00:04:09.680 --> 00:04:14.900 trauma and instability. That's the critical undercurrent. 00:04:15.099 --> 00:04:18.420 Her parents, CL and Barbara, they separated in 00:04:18.420 --> 00:04:22.079 1948. And it was largely due to CL's acknowledged 00:04:22.079 --> 00:04:24.939 infidelities. And her mother, Barbara, who was 00:04:24.939 --> 00:04:26.879 an accomplished pianist and vocalist herself. 00:04:27.279 --> 00:04:29.569 Right. In her own right. She moved back to Buffalo, 00:04:29.670 --> 00:04:32.009 but she maintained frequent contact, came to 00:04:32.009 --> 00:04:34.089 visit a lot. And then the tragedy struck when 00:04:34.089 --> 00:04:36.709 Aretha was just nine years old. Precisely. Barbara 00:04:36.709 --> 00:04:39.709 died suddenly in a heart attack in 1952, right 00:04:39.709 --> 00:04:42.769 before Aretha's 10th birthday. And that loss 00:04:42.769 --> 00:04:45.949 is described as... this immediate and devastating 00:04:45.949 --> 00:04:48.149 channel for her artistic expression. You can 00:04:48.149 --> 00:04:50.310 see it in the record. The sources note that almost 00:04:50.310 --> 00:04:53.029 immediately after her mother's death, she started 00:04:53.029 --> 00:04:55.509 singing solos at New Bethel. And her debut was 00:04:55.509 --> 00:04:58.790 the hymn, Jesus Be a Fence Around Me. Which is 00:04:58.790 --> 00:05:00.810 such an incredibly telling choice, isn't it? 00:05:00.930 --> 00:05:03.449 Searching for protection right after experiencing 00:05:03.449 --> 00:05:06.509 that huge unprotected loss. Exactly. And it was 00:05:06.509 --> 00:05:10.029 here that her self -taught genius really started 00:05:10.029 --> 00:05:12.990 to blossom. She learned to play the piano entirely 00:05:12.990 --> 00:05:15.870 by ear. And that's not just a biographical footnote. 00:05:15.949 --> 00:05:19.029 Her ability to accompany herself on the piano 00:05:19.029 --> 00:05:21.310 and often, you know, essentially arrange the 00:05:21.310 --> 00:05:24.050 song at the same time, that would become a defining 00:05:24.050 --> 00:05:26.649 characteristic. It set her apart from almost 00:05:26.649 --> 00:05:29.389 every other vocalist. It gave her an unrivaled 00:05:29.389 --> 00:05:32.050 musical independence. It did. Her piano playing 00:05:32.050 --> 00:05:34.470 wasn't just accompaniment. It was the rhythmic 00:05:34.470 --> 00:05:36.970 and harmonic engine for her vocal performance. 00:05:37.110 --> 00:05:40.430 It let her spontaneously shift the timing, the 00:05:40.430 --> 00:05:43.430 mood, the arrangement of a song in a way that 00:05:43.899 --> 00:05:46.459 Well, that you just can't do if you're only working 00:05:46.459 --> 00:05:49.399 with a band. Her talent was so undeniable that 00:05:49.399 --> 00:05:51.439 her professional career started before she was 00:05:51.439 --> 00:05:54.139 even a teenager. Right. Her father, Ciel, who 00:05:54.139 --> 00:05:56.060 had the contacts and the business sense, started 00:05:56.060 --> 00:05:58.459 managing her when she was just 12. 12 years old. 00:05:58.600 --> 00:06:01.100 Taking her on gospel caravan tours all over the 00:06:01.100 --> 00:06:03.639 U .S. And she was quickly recognized as this 00:06:03.639 --> 00:06:07.040 prodigious talent. Oh, immediately. By age 14, 00:06:07.199 --> 00:06:10.040 she had recorded her first album, Songs of Faith, 00:06:10.319 --> 00:06:13.319 released on JVB Records. She was featured on 00:06:13.319 --> 00:06:16.000 vocals and piano, and her first singles, like 00:06:16.000 --> 00:06:19.339 Never Grow Old, were released in 1956. It's just 00:06:19.339 --> 00:06:21.339 astonishing when you think about the juxtaposition 00:06:21.339 --> 00:06:23.920 of her life at that age. It really is. On one 00:06:23.920 --> 00:06:26.339 hand, she's this precocious talent touring the 00:06:26.339 --> 00:06:29.540 gospel circuit, so respected that Dinah Washington, 00:06:29.920 --> 00:06:32.360 the reigning queen of the jukeboxes, pointed 00:06:32.360 --> 00:06:35.240 her out to Quincy Jones and said, Aretha was 00:06:35.240 --> 00:06:38.240 the next one. But on the other hand, the deep 00:06:38.240 --> 00:06:40.579 personal challenges that ran parallel to this 00:06:40.579 --> 00:06:44.319 were just immense. And we have to slow down and 00:06:44.319 --> 00:06:46.839 acknowledge the profound burden and maturity 00:06:46.839 --> 00:06:49.339 that was required of her. She gave birth to her 00:06:49.339 --> 00:06:53.180 first child, Clarence, at age 12. At 12. And 00:06:53.180 --> 00:06:56.120 her second son, Edward, at 15. I mean, she was 00:06:56.120 --> 00:06:58.839 still a child herself, navigating these massive 00:06:58.839 --> 00:07:01.819 physical and emotional responsibilities while 00:07:01.819 --> 00:07:03.680 performing professionally. And it's important. 00:07:03.790 --> 00:07:06.089 to note, both children took her family name. 00:07:06.269 --> 00:07:08.410 The sources show that while she was pursuing 00:07:08.410 --> 00:07:11.410 her career, her grandmother Rachel and her sister 00:07:11.410 --> 00:07:14.029 Irma were absolutely essential in helping to 00:07:14.029 --> 00:07:16.649 raise them. So that combination of immediate, 00:07:16.769 --> 00:07:19.670 immense adult responsibility, profound spiritual 00:07:19.670 --> 00:07:22.589 training, and proximity to political and musical 00:07:22.589 --> 00:07:25.250 power. That's the crucible that created the Queen 00:07:25.250 --> 00:07:28.540 of Soul. An adult performer Burdened by a child's 00:07:28.540 --> 00:07:30.899 life. Which surely fed the intensity and the 00:07:30.899 --> 00:07:33.240 rawness of her voice. And just to tie back to 00:07:33.240 --> 00:07:36.759 that activist thread for a second. At 16, she 00:07:36.759 --> 00:07:39.079 was touring with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Right. 00:07:39.160 --> 00:07:40.879 And this wasn't just a friendly association. 00:07:41.300 --> 00:07:43.800 She was performing at civil rights events deeply 00:07:43.800 --> 00:07:46.339 embedded in the struggle long before her songs 00:07:46.339 --> 00:07:49.060 became anthems for it. And that association was 00:07:49.060 --> 00:07:51.879 so fundamental that it would bring her full circle 00:07:51.879 --> 00:07:55.860 to sing at his funeral in 1968. A truly a voice 00:07:55.860 --> 00:07:57.850 for the movement. From the very beginning. From 00:07:57.850 --> 00:08:00.269 the very beginning. A deeply personal foundation 00:08:00.269 --> 00:08:03.209 of brilliance and burden set against the backdrop 00:08:03.209 --> 00:08:06.410 of American social change. That's where we start. 00:08:06.610 --> 00:08:10.329 So by 1960, Aretha is 18, and she makes this 00:08:10.329 --> 00:08:12.410 strategic decision that's going to define the 00:08:12.410 --> 00:08:14.649 next six years of her life. She wants to transition 00:08:14.649 --> 00:08:17.050 to pop music. Right. She wants to leave the gospel 00:08:17.050 --> 00:08:19.790 circuit, largely inspired by the path that Sam 00:08:19.790 --> 00:08:22.259 Cooke had successfully paved. So she heads to 00:08:22.259 --> 00:08:24.839 New York and CL Franklin uses his network to 00:08:24.839 --> 00:08:27.680 get a two -song demo tape made. And that demo 00:08:27.680 --> 00:08:30.199 ultimately lands her a contract with Columbia 00:08:30.199 --> 00:08:33.639 Records. But the story of who didn't sign her 00:08:33.639 --> 00:08:36.840 is almost as fascinating as who did. It's a huge 00:08:36.840 --> 00:08:38.919 what -if moment in music history, isn't it? A 00:08:38.919 --> 00:08:41.960 massive one. Sam Cooke, who'd seen her power 00:08:41.960 --> 00:08:45.419 firsthand, desperately tried to persuade CL Franklin 00:08:45.419 --> 00:08:48.549 to sign her with RCA Victor. He believed that 00:08:48.549 --> 00:08:51.029 label could better handle her transition. But 00:08:51.029 --> 00:08:53.929 the truly staggering historical footnote is Barry 00:08:53.929 --> 00:08:56.970 Gordy. Yes, Gordy was just launching his brand 00:08:56.970 --> 00:08:59.909 new label, Tamla, which would soon become Motown. 00:09:00.320 --> 00:09:02.899 And he wanted to sign Aretha and her sister Irma. 00:09:02.960 --> 00:09:05.379 He did, and C .O. Franklin rejected the offer 00:09:05.379 --> 00:09:08.820 outright. He felt Tamela was too new, not established 00:09:08.820 --> 00:09:11.019 enough to handle his daughter's career. Just 00:09:11.019 --> 00:09:12.899 imagine the history books if the Queen of Soul 00:09:12.899 --> 00:09:15.379 had been a Motown artist. It's hard to even comprehend, 00:09:15.620 --> 00:09:18.460 but she ultimately chose Columbia in 1960. Her 00:09:18.460 --> 00:09:21.019 first single, Today I Sing the Blues, was issued 00:09:21.019 --> 00:09:23.340 almost immediately and became an R &B top ten 00:09:23.340 --> 00:09:26.870 hit. Her first album, Aretha. but the Ray Bryant 00:09:26.870 --> 00:09:29.690 combo from 61 was successful enough to give her 00:09:29.690 --> 00:09:31.950 her first song on the Billboard Hot 100, Won't 00:09:31.950 --> 00:09:34.360 Be Long. And she also showed off her versatility 00:09:34.360 --> 00:09:37.460 with a hit cover of the standard Rockabye Your 00:09:37.460 --> 00:09:40.240 Baby with a Dixie melody. And that versatility 00:09:40.240 --> 00:09:43.960 was really key to Columbia's strategy. It was. 00:09:44.039 --> 00:09:47.019 Under the producer Clyde Otis, Columbia deliberately 00:09:47.019 --> 00:09:50.080 avoided pigeonholing her. They wanted her to 00:09:50.080 --> 00:09:53.159 be this sophisticated, polished, all -encompassing 00:09:53.159 --> 00:09:55.559 pop star. So they had her performing in all these 00:09:55.559 --> 00:09:58.100 diverse genres. Everything. Standards, vocal 00:09:58.100 --> 00:10:02.059 jazz, blues, R &B. And it earned her early critical 00:10:02.059 --> 00:10:05.379 acclaim, Downbeat Magazine named her a new star 00:10:05.379 --> 00:10:09.100 female vocalist by the end of 1961. And it was 00:10:09.100 --> 00:10:12.120 during this era, the early 60s, at a performance 00:10:12.120 --> 00:10:14.480 at the Regal Theater in Chicago that she gets 00:10:14.480 --> 00:10:17.500 the title that stuck. Yeah, a WVO on radio personality 00:10:17.500 --> 00:10:20.120 named Purvis Spann officially crowned her the 00:10:20.120 --> 00:10:22.679 Queen of Soul. And the title was just this immediate 00:10:22.679 --> 00:10:25.360 recognition of her power, even if her label didn't 00:10:25.360 --> 00:10:27.000 quite know how to package it. And that's the 00:10:27.000 --> 00:10:29.740 paradox of the Columbia years. She was critically 00:10:29.740 --> 00:10:32.240 acclaimed. claimed she was earning major recognition. 00:10:32.539 --> 00:10:35.679 By the mid -60s, she was making $100 ,000 a year 00:10:35.679 --> 00:10:38.059 from performances, which was a substantial income 00:10:38.059 --> 00:10:40.940 at the time. A huge income. Yet she struggled 00:10:40.940 --> 00:10:43.639 with that widespread, consistent commercial success 00:10:43.639 --> 00:10:46.299 that really matched her talent. Okay, this is 00:10:46.299 --> 00:10:49.059 the crucial disconnect we need to explore. Six 00:10:49.059 --> 00:10:52.840 years, good money, critical praise, but no consistent 00:10:52.840 --> 00:10:56.899 chart dominance. Why did Columbia fail the Queen 00:10:56.899 --> 00:10:59.360 of Soul? Well, it really comes down to creative 00:10:59.360 --> 00:11:02.179 misdirection. Columbia was trying to mold her 00:11:02.179 --> 00:11:04.940 into a successor to artists like Dinah Washington 00:11:04.940 --> 00:11:08.259 or maybe even a more R &B -inflected Barbra Streisand. 00:11:08.519 --> 00:11:11.720 A versatile, polite pop singer. Exactly. They 00:11:11.720 --> 00:11:14.100 were afraid that leaning too heavily into the 00:11:14.100 --> 00:11:16.840 raw, unadulterated power of her gospel roots 00:11:16.840 --> 00:11:19.620 would limit her crossover appeal to the mainstream, 00:11:19.960 --> 00:11:22.519 which meant, you know, a largely white pop audience. 00:11:22.740 --> 00:11:24.019 So it sounds like they were actively trying to 00:11:24.019 --> 00:11:26.740 strip away the very essence of what made her 00:11:26.740 --> 00:11:28.639 so unique. That's precisely right. That spiritual 00:11:28.639 --> 00:11:31.440 ferocity. Able executive Johnny Chamin later 00:11:31.440 --> 00:11:33.659 admitted this was their failure. He recognized 00:11:33.659 --> 00:11:36.019 that Columbia just had not understood the gravity 00:11:36.019 --> 00:11:37.919 or the commercial potential of her deep gospel 00:11:37.919 --> 00:11:39.779 background. They wanted to smooth out the edges. 00:11:40.299 --> 00:11:43.159 to sanitize the glorious, unpredictable runs 00:11:43.159 --> 00:11:45.759 and shouts that came so naturally to her. The 00:11:45.759 --> 00:11:48.419 analogy we always hear fits perfectly here. They 00:11:48.419 --> 00:11:50.299 were trying to fit a volcano into a cocktail 00:11:50.299 --> 00:11:52.419 glass. That's a great way to put it. They contained 00:11:52.419 --> 00:11:54.600 the heat and the power until it was palatable 00:11:54.600 --> 00:11:56.600 for the easy listening charts, where she did 00:11:56.600 --> 00:11:58.980 occasionally chart. Right, alongside her continued 00:11:58.980 --> 00:12:01.919 army success, with songs like Running Out of 00:12:01.919 --> 00:12:05.200 Fools and One Step Ahead. But that containment, 00:12:05.279 --> 00:12:08.440 it ultimately stifled her. The album sales just 00:12:08.440 --> 00:12:10.559 didn't explode the way they should have. The 00:12:10.559 --> 00:12:13.139 market, even the pop market, could sense the 00:12:13.139 --> 00:12:16.000 inauthenticity or the repression in the music. 00:12:16.179 --> 00:12:18.820 So after six years, the story concludes not with 00:12:18.820 --> 00:12:22.480 a huge bidding war, but with a quiet, kind of 00:12:22.480 --> 00:12:25.820 embarrassing whimper. Yes. When her contract 00:12:25.820 --> 00:12:29.220 expired in November 1966, the financial reality 00:12:29.220 --> 00:12:32.360 was brutal. Despite her substantial performance 00:12:32.360 --> 00:12:35.120 income, the label's costs and low album sales 00:12:35.120 --> 00:12:37.360 meant she actually owed the company money. She 00:12:37.360 --> 00:12:39.340 owed them money. Because the guaranteed advances 00:12:39.340 --> 00:12:42.480 hadn't been recouped by sales. So that financial 00:12:42.480 --> 00:12:44.740 and creative obligation marked the end of her 00:12:44.740 --> 00:12:48.039 time at Columbia. A six year period of artistic 00:12:48.039 --> 00:12:51.080 frustration that ironically prepared her for 00:12:51.080 --> 00:12:53.399 what was coming next. She was educated in the 00:12:53.399 --> 00:12:55.559 pop world. learned how the machine operated, 00:12:55.779 --> 00:12:58.019 and was ready to break free and unleash her true 00:12:58.019 --> 00:13:01.840 power. That commercial failure at Columbia, owing 00:13:01.840 --> 00:13:04.519 the label money, it just set the stage for one 00:13:04.519 --> 00:13:07.019 of the greatest career turnarounds in music history. 00:13:07.159 --> 00:13:10.019 It really did. Aretha needed a new home and a 00:13:10.019 --> 00:13:14.059 new vision, and she found both with Jerry Wexler. 00:13:14.480 --> 00:13:17.000 at Atlantic Records. And Wexler was the strategic 00:13:17.000 --> 00:13:19.740 genius who understood the fundamental mistake 00:13:19.740 --> 00:13:22.480 Columbia had made. He saw that her gospel background 00:13:22.480 --> 00:13:24.960 wasn't a liability to be contained. It was the 00:13:24.960 --> 00:13:27.080 nuclear core. It was the nuclear core that needed 00:13:27.080 --> 00:13:29.659 to be unleashed. His philosophy was deceptively 00:13:29.659 --> 00:13:32.519 simple. Tapped directly into her spiritual roots 00:13:32.519 --> 00:13:35.600 to encourage this tenacious form of rhythm and 00:13:35.600 --> 00:13:37.980 blues that became increasingly identified as 00:13:37.980 --> 00:13:40.500 soul. He wasn't looking for a polished pop star. 00:13:40.700 --> 00:13:42.899 No, he was looking for the queen of soul. And 00:13:42.899 --> 00:13:45.220 this new direction meant moving away from the 00:13:45.220 --> 00:13:47.960 New York polish and taking her south, right to 00:13:47.960 --> 00:13:50.440 the source of Southern soul. Muscle Shoals, Alabama, 00:13:50.740 --> 00:13:54.600 in January of 1967, they set up shop at Fame 00:13:54.600 --> 00:13:56.740 Studios for the recording session of what would 00:13:56.740 --> 00:13:59.899 become her debut Atlantic single. And the Muscle 00:13:59.899 --> 00:14:02.399 Shoals session is instantly legendary, but not 00:14:02.399 --> 00:14:04.700 for its smooth operation. No, it was chaotic. 00:14:05.259 --> 00:14:07.440 The recording session for I Never Loved a Man, 00:14:07.600 --> 00:14:09.980 The Way I Love You, was abandoned after only 00:14:09.980 --> 00:14:12.220 one day because of an altercation. Right. The 00:14:12.220 --> 00:14:14.440 sources are clear. The tension was high and it 00:14:14.440 --> 00:14:16.620 was messy. It involved her manager and husband 00:14:16.620 --> 00:14:19.019 at the time, Ted White. Getting into a fight 00:14:19.019 --> 00:14:21.419 with studio owner Rick Hall and a horn player. 00:14:21.700 --> 00:14:24.279 The session just dissolved immediately and Franklin 00:14:24.279 --> 00:14:26.360 and White flew back to New York. But despite 00:14:26.360 --> 00:14:29.289 the drama. or maybe because of the raw energy 00:14:29.289 --> 00:14:32.110 the drama injected. That single, Aborted Day, 00:14:32.269 --> 00:14:34.929 produced an absolute masterpiece. The song was 00:14:34.929 --> 00:14:36.850 released the very next month, and the impact 00:14:36.850 --> 00:14:39.750 was immediate and phenomenal. It was explosive. 00:14:40.629 --> 00:14:44.470 I never loved a man the way I love you. Soared 00:14:44.470 --> 00:14:47.649 to number one on the R &B chart, and critically 00:14:47.649 --> 00:14:51.299 gave her her first top ten hit. It peaked at 00:14:51.299 --> 00:14:53.779 number nine on the Hot 100. Her debut Atlantic 00:14:53.779 --> 00:14:56.740 album of the same name went gold. This was the 00:14:56.740 --> 00:14:59.519 success Columbia had chased for six years, and 00:14:59.519 --> 00:15:02.100 she achieved it in one day of chaos in Alabama. 00:15:02.419 --> 00:15:05.539 The world was ready for that raw, gospel -infused 00:15:05.539 --> 00:15:08.159 power, and Atlantic was ready to deliver it. 00:15:08.519 --> 00:15:10.679 But that breakthrough, as massive as it was, 00:15:10.879 --> 00:15:13.519 was quickly eclipsed by the signature track that 00:15:13.519 --> 00:15:16.240 became an immortal cultural touchstone. Respect. 00:15:16.559 --> 00:15:18.720 Respect. Originally, of course, an Otis Redding 00:15:18.720 --> 00:15:22.080 song from 1965. But Franklin's version, released 00:15:22.080 --> 00:15:25.139 in April 67, it wasn't a cover. It was a total 00:15:25.139 --> 00:15:27.059 transformation. And this is where we have to 00:15:27.059 --> 00:15:29.039 pause and talk about her vocal and rhythmic genius. 00:15:29.580 --> 00:15:31.720 Redding's version was a plea from a man who works 00:15:31.720 --> 00:15:33.820 all day, demanding respect when he comes home. 00:15:34.269 --> 00:15:36.509 Aretha's version, which she essentially rearranged 00:15:36.509 --> 00:15:39.029 herself on piano, transformed it into a supercharged 00:15:39.029 --> 00:15:41.909 manifesto. She flipped the gender dynamics. She 00:15:41.909 --> 00:15:44.610 added the famous socket to me backup vocal refrain. 00:15:44.730 --> 00:15:47.909 And crucially, she added that iconic, emphatic 00:15:47.909 --> 00:15:51.850 spelling out of the title. R -E -S -P -E -C -T. 00:15:52.309 --> 00:15:55.049 And the spelling wasn't just catchy. It added 00:15:55.049 --> 00:15:58.570 this degree of defiant clarity. It was an unmistakable 00:15:58.570 --> 00:16:01.289 declaration, not a subtle request. And the social 00:16:01.289 --> 00:16:03.570 context was ready for that declaration. The song 00:16:03.570 --> 00:16:06.570 just exploded. It hit number one on both R &B 00:16:06.570 --> 00:16:09.889 and pop charts, but its impact went so far beyond 00:16:09.889 --> 00:16:12.710 music. It was instantly hailed as both a civil 00:16:12.710 --> 00:16:16.110 rights rallying, cry demanding dignity and recognition. 00:16:16.450 --> 00:16:18.929 And a powerful feminist anthem demanding parody 00:16:18.929 --> 00:16:21.710 and acknowledgement in a way few songs ever have. 00:16:21.970 --> 00:16:23.830 Otis Redding's reaction to this is one of the 00:16:23.830 --> 00:16:26.429 great anecdotes in music history. It is. He reported. 00:16:26.539 --> 00:16:29.179 loved her version but admitted that little girl 00:16:29.179 --> 00:16:31.600 done took my song away from me. He knew she had 00:16:31.600 --> 00:16:33.500 found something in the song that he the originator 00:16:33.500 --> 00:16:35.919 hadn't even recognized. And that launched what 00:16:35.919 --> 00:16:38.440 the sources rightly call her golden era from 00:16:38.440 --> 00:16:42.419 67 to 72. She was just unstoppable. Yeah by 1968 00:16:42.419 --> 00:16:44.799 she was crowned the most successful singer in 00:16:44.799 --> 00:16:47.379 the nation issuing masterpiece albums like Lady 00:16:47.379 --> 00:16:50.039 Soul and Aretha Now. And these albums gave us 00:16:50.039 --> 00:16:53.399 hit after hit. Chain of Fools, Think, which she 00:16:53.399 --> 00:16:56.320 also co -wrote. And the phenomenal Carol King 00:16:56.320 --> 00:16:58.659 Gary Goffin composition, I Say a Little Prayer. 00:16:59.279 --> 00:17:02.120 The output was just relentless and consistently 00:17:02.120 --> 00:17:04.779 masterful. The recognition was immediate and 00:17:04.779 --> 00:17:07.559 staggering. She established this legendary dominance 00:17:07.559 --> 00:17:10.259 at the Grammys. Winning the first eight consecutive 00:17:10.259 --> 00:17:13.359 awards given for best female R &B vocal performance 00:17:13.359 --> 00:17:17.759 from 1968 all the way through 1975. Eight in 00:17:17.759 --> 00:17:21.180 a row. That is a level of initial unchallenged 00:17:21.180 --> 00:17:23.720 mastery that is almost unbelievable. The activist 00:17:23.720 --> 00:17:26.259 community recognized her power too. In February 00:17:26.259 --> 00:17:29.029 68, Martin Luther King Jr. just weeks before 00:17:29.029 --> 00:17:31.369 he was assassinated, personally presented her 00:17:31.369 --> 00:17:34.250 with the SCLC Drumbeat Award for Musicians. The 00:17:34.250 --> 00:17:36.589 recognition of her cultural importance was total. 00:17:36.789 --> 00:17:39.049 It spanned from the pop charts right to the civil 00:17:39.049 --> 00:17:41.470 rights front lines. And she became a global phenomenon. 00:17:41.730 --> 00:17:44.069 Late spring of 68, she undertakes her first tour 00:17:44.069 --> 00:17:47.029 outside the U .S. Amsterdam. The audience was 00:17:47.029 --> 00:17:49.309 described as near hysterical. literally covering 00:17:49.309 --> 00:17:53.269 the stage of flower petals. By June of 68, she's 00:17:53.269 --> 00:17:56.230 on the cover of Time magazine. She had arrived 00:17:56.230 --> 00:17:58.470 and the world understood this was not a fleeting 00:17:58.470 --> 00:18:01.119 moment. This was a defining voice. The creative 00:18:01.119 --> 00:18:03.660 peak of this Atlantic era, though, it wasn't 00:18:03.660 --> 00:18:06.339 a pop song. It was a return to her foundational 00:18:06.339 --> 00:18:09.799 spiritual roots. That would be the 1972 recording 00:18:09.799 --> 00:18:13.460 of the live gospel album Amazing Grace, recorded 00:18:13.460 --> 00:18:15.759 over two nights in a church. And it wasn't just 00:18:15.759 --> 00:18:18.059 critically acclaimed. It was a commercial juggernaut. 00:18:18.059 --> 00:18:20.829 It sold over two million copies. making it one 00:18:20.829 --> 00:18:22.890 of the best -selling gospel albums of all time. 00:18:23.009 --> 00:18:25.210 It showed that her core audience and the mainstream 00:18:25.210 --> 00:18:27.890 audience had finally united around her spiritual 00:18:27.890 --> 00:18:30.769 power. What's fascinating is the story surrounding 00:18:30.769 --> 00:18:33.269 the accompanying concert film, directed by Sidney 00:18:33.269 --> 00:18:36.789 Pollack. That footage sat dormant for decades. 00:18:36.930 --> 00:18:40.049 It did. Initially, the delay was technical synching 00:18:40.049 --> 00:18:42.890 problems made the footage unusable. But later, 00:18:43.009 --> 00:18:45.130 Franklin herself actually tried to prevent its 00:18:45.130 --> 00:18:48.019 distribution. So the film, which documents this 00:18:48.019 --> 00:18:50.779 profound career -defining moment, wasn't actually 00:18:50.779 --> 00:18:54.500 released until 2018. Long after her death. It's 00:18:54.500 --> 00:18:57.240 a testament to the complex, private nature of 00:18:57.240 --> 00:19:00.880 her control over her image and her art. But after 00:19:00.880 --> 00:19:03.900 1972, the sources indicate that the momentum, 00:19:04.160 --> 00:19:06.880 particularly on the pop charts, began to waver. 00:19:07.160 --> 00:19:09.359 It's the challenge every artist faces after a 00:19:09.359 --> 00:19:11.819 creative explosion. She tried new collaborations. 00:19:12.119 --> 00:19:15.680 Her 1973 album, Hey Now Hey, produced by the 00:19:15.680 --> 00:19:18.539 great Quincy Jones. It bombed. Yeah, it bombed. 00:19:18.539 --> 00:19:20.980 It failed to capture that signature Atlantic 00:19:20.980 --> 00:19:23.279 lightning in a bottle. And while she continued 00:19:23.279 --> 00:19:25.859 to score R &B hits like Until You Come Back to 00:19:25.859 --> 00:19:29.410 Me. By 1975, her albums were no longer guaranteed 00:19:29.410 --> 00:19:32.589 top sellers. The disco era was taking hold, and 00:19:32.589 --> 00:19:34.910 her signature soul sound, at least the way it 00:19:34.910 --> 00:19:36.890 was being produced at Atlantic, was struggling 00:19:36.890 --> 00:19:39.369 to find traction. Exactly. Though she did have 00:19:39.369 --> 00:19:42.170 one final major success collaborating with Curtis 00:19:42.170 --> 00:19:44.410 Mayfield on the soundtrack to the film Sparkle. 00:19:44.430 --> 00:19:46.730 Right, that yielded something he can feel, which 00:19:46.730 --> 00:19:49.470 gave her her last top 40 pop hit of the decade. 00:19:49.690 --> 00:19:52.210 It was a beautiful, nuanced piece of work, but 00:19:52.210 --> 00:19:54.869 it was a temporary reprieve. Her final albums 00:19:54.869 --> 00:19:57.609 for Atlantic, Almighty Fire, and La Diva, they 00:19:57.609 --> 00:20:00.890 were chart failures. It just underscored that 00:20:00.890 --> 00:20:03.150 the magical partnership with Wexler and the Muscle 00:20:03.150 --> 00:20:06.269 Shoals sound had run its course. And that led 00:20:06.269 --> 00:20:09.970 to her departure in 1979, a massive period of 00:20:09.970 --> 00:20:12.670 artistic growth, political significance, and 00:20:12.670 --> 00:20:16.049 soul dominance that ended, once again, on a commercial 00:20:16.049 --> 00:20:18.549 downswing. She had revolutionized soul music, 00:20:18.630 --> 00:20:21.369 but now the industry was looking ahead and Aretha 00:20:21.369 --> 00:20:23.809 needed to find a new way to stay relevant. The 00:20:23.809 --> 00:20:25.970 end of the Atlantic era meant Aretha needed a 00:20:25.970 --> 00:20:28.490 major intervention to navigate the changing musical 00:20:28.490 --> 00:20:31.549 landscape of the 1980s. And she found that intervention 00:20:31.549 --> 00:20:34.509 and that strategic vision by signing with Arista 00:20:34.509 --> 00:20:37.220 Records in 1980. under the guidance of Clive 00:20:37.220 --> 00:20:39.759 Davis. And Clive Davis was renowned for his ability 00:20:39.759 --> 00:20:42.180 to rejuvenate the careers of established legends. 00:20:42.440 --> 00:20:44.819 He was determined to bring Aretha back to mainstream 00:20:44.819 --> 00:20:47.579 visibility by embracing a modern pop sound. Which 00:20:47.579 --> 00:20:50.099 required a really delicate strategy, right? Yeah. 00:20:50.160 --> 00:20:52.039 Maintaining the integrity of the Queen of Soul 00:20:52.039 --> 00:20:55.000 while fitting her into this new technology -driven 00:20:55.000 --> 00:20:58.200 decade. Exactly. And the first step wasn't a 00:20:58.200 --> 00:21:01.559 record. It was a screen role. Her profile immediately 00:21:01.559 --> 00:21:04.539 got a massive cultural boost from her cameo in 00:21:04.539 --> 00:21:07.000 the 1980 film The Blues Brothers. That was a 00:21:07.000 --> 00:21:09.920 stroke of marketing genius. It really was. She 00:21:09.920 --> 00:21:12.799 played Mrs. Murphy, the proprietor of a soul 00:21:12.799 --> 00:21:16.039 food restaurant, belting out, in this fantastic 00:21:16.039 --> 00:21:18.940 musical sequence. A performance she later reprised 00:21:18.940 --> 00:21:21.700 in Blues Brothers 2000. Right. And it put her 00:21:21.700 --> 00:21:23.940 in front of a new generation, a movie audience 00:21:23.940 --> 00:21:25.980 that might not have been buying her 70s albums. 00:21:26.180 --> 00:21:29.079 It was a vital cultural bridge. Musically, the 00:21:29.079 --> 00:21:32.359 momentum was gradual but deliberate. Her 81 album, 00:21:32.500 --> 00:21:34.779 Love All the Hurt Away. It featured a successful 00:21:34.779 --> 00:21:37.779 R &B duet with George Benson and crucially earned 00:21:37.779 --> 00:21:40.539 her a Grammy, ending a six -year drought. That 00:21:40.539 --> 00:21:43.660 win signaled to the industry, she's back. And 00:21:43.660 --> 00:21:46.599 Davis's strategy accelerated in 1982 when he 00:21:46.599 --> 00:21:49.099 hired Luther Vandross to produce the album Jump 00:21:49.099 --> 00:21:51.400 to It. And Vandross was a rising star in R &B 00:21:51.400 --> 00:21:53.500 production. He provided a more contemporary yet 00:21:53.500 --> 00:21:55.720 still soulful sheen to her sound. The results 00:21:55.720 --> 00:21:58.940 were immediate and measurable. Jump to Up, it 00:21:58.940 --> 00:22:00.859 was her first album since the Sparkle soundtrack 00:22:00.859 --> 00:22:04.200 seven years earlier, to go gold. Right. It confirmed 00:22:04.200 --> 00:22:06.779 that modern R &B production could successfully 00:22:06.779 --> 00:22:09.319 house her iconic voice. And that was just the 00:22:09.319 --> 00:22:13.559 prelude to the big, necessary and maybe controversial 00:22:13.559 --> 00:22:16.920 transformation. The 1985 album Who's Zoomin' 00:22:16.940 --> 00:22:20.190 Who. It was a radical departure. Arista hired 00:22:20.190 --> 00:22:22.970 producer Narada Michael Walden, and he steered 00:22:22.970 --> 00:22:25.369 her fully into the crossover pop sound of the 00:22:25.369 --> 00:22:27.690 mid-'80s. Which meant consciously moving away 00:22:27.690 --> 00:22:30.309 from the pure, organic R &B of Atlantic. Oh, 00:22:30.309 --> 00:22:33.869 yeah. The album utilized synthesized dance rock. 00:22:34.359 --> 00:22:37.140 urban pop elements. It was heavy on keyboards, 00:22:37.460 --> 00:22:40.299 drum machines, and that classic mid -80s sheen. 00:22:40.319 --> 00:22:43.940 A huge risk. But it paid off spectacularly. The 00:22:43.940 --> 00:22:46.299 sources note it became her first certified platinum 00:22:46.299 --> 00:22:48.539 album, and it peaked at number 13 on the Billboard 00:22:48.539 --> 00:22:51.539 200. Her highest album peak in nearly 20 years. 00:22:51.759 --> 00:22:53.740 Clive Davis had done it. He'd succeeded in making 00:22:53.740 --> 00:22:55.980 the Queen of Soul a contemporary pop force again. 00:22:56.220 --> 00:22:58.099 And the success was fueled by a new platform, 00:22:58.359 --> 00:23:01.000 MTV. That exposure was critical. Absolutely. 00:23:01.279 --> 00:23:03.680 Aretha, who had kind of missed the initial video 00:23:03.680 --> 00:23:06.460 revolution, was suddenly reaching this massive 00:23:06.460 --> 00:23:08.960 global young audience through music television. 00:23:09.240 --> 00:23:12.359 The album yielded major hits, most famously Freeway 00:23:12.359 --> 00:23:15.059 of Love and the title track. And it also produced 00:23:15.059 --> 00:23:18.400 that politically charged yet entirely pop duet. 00:23:18.559 --> 00:23:20.880 Sisters are doing it for themselves with the 00:23:20.880 --> 00:23:23.740 new wave duo Eurythmics. It cemented her place 00:23:23.740 --> 00:23:25.960 as a figure who could collaborate across genres 00:23:25.960 --> 00:23:28.380 and generations without losing her identity. 00:23:28.680 --> 00:23:30.859 And the global pinnacle of this era came with 00:23:30.859 --> 00:23:34.380 her 1986 album Aretha featuring the duet with 00:23:34.380 --> 00:23:36.759 George Michael. I knew you were waiting for me. 00:23:36.920 --> 00:23:39.140 A massive worldwide success. A global number 00:23:39.140 --> 00:23:41.980 one. Top charts in the U .S., the U .K., Australia. 00:23:42.240 --> 00:23:45.839 For Aretha. it was monumental. Her first single 00:23:45.839 --> 00:23:48.259 in almost two decades to top the Billboard Hot 00:23:48.259 --> 00:23:51.319 100, and it won her another Grammy. The collaboration 00:23:51.319 --> 00:23:54.160 was perfect. George Michael's modern pop sensibility 00:23:54.160 --> 00:23:56.579 paired with the sheer power and history of Aretha's 00:23:56.579 --> 00:23:58.740 voice. Amidst all this pop glory, though, she 00:23:58.740 --> 00:24:01.420 did take a brief, meaningful pause to honor her 00:24:01.420 --> 00:24:04.579 roots. She did. In 1987, she released her second 00:24:04.579 --> 00:24:07.359 full -length gospel album, One Lord, One Faith, 00:24:07.460 --> 00:24:10.250 One Baptism. Recorded live at her late father's 00:24:10.250 --> 00:24:13.430 church, New Bethel, it was a strategic reminder 00:24:13.430 --> 00:24:16.349 that no matter how many synthesizers she used 00:24:16.349 --> 00:24:18.990 on Arista, her spiritual core was still intact. 00:24:19.390 --> 00:24:21.609 But the sources indicate that after the late 00:24:21.609 --> 00:24:24.990 1980s, consistent mainstream success started 00:24:24.990 --> 00:24:27.789 to prove elusive again. Yeah, Rolling Stone noted 00:24:27.789 --> 00:24:31.170 that after 1988, Franklin never again had huge 00:24:31.170 --> 00:24:33.970 hits. The problem was the changing sound of R 00:24:33.970 --> 00:24:37.059 &B. She attempted to adapt to the new dominant 00:24:37.059 --> 00:24:39.799 genre of the late 80s and early 90s. A new jack 00:24:39.799 --> 00:24:42.339 swing sound. Okay, so for listeners who might 00:24:42.339 --> 00:24:44.799 not be steeped in music history, what exactly 00:24:44.799 --> 00:24:47.339 was new jack swing and why did it present such 00:24:47.339 --> 00:24:49.559 a challenge for her? Well, new jack swing was 00:24:49.559 --> 00:24:52.380 essentially the fusion of R &B vocals with hip 00:24:52.380 --> 00:24:54.839 -hop beats. It incorporated synthesized drums, 00:24:55.099 --> 00:24:57.279 swing rhythms, and often this aggressive angular 00:24:57.279 --> 00:24:59.440 instrumentation. So think artists like Teddy 00:24:59.440 --> 00:25:02.049 Riley and... Babyface's early work with groups 00:25:02.049 --> 00:25:04.470 like Guy or Bobby Brown. Exactly. The sound was 00:25:04.470 --> 00:25:07.190 very youth -driven and highly produced. And when 00:25:07.190 --> 00:25:09.289 Aretha attempted to enter that space with albums 00:25:09.289 --> 00:25:11.930 like Through the Storm and What You See Is What 00:25:11.930 --> 00:25:14.269 You Sweat. The attempts were commercially unsuccessful. 00:25:14.369 --> 00:25:16.859 It was a hard fit. Her voice, which was built 00:25:16.859 --> 00:25:19.599 for expansive soul, natural acoustic arrangements 00:25:19.599 --> 00:25:22.920 and rhythmic improvisation, often sounded compressed 00:25:22.920 --> 00:25:25.839 and kind of out of sync when forced into the 00:25:25.839 --> 00:25:28.839 rigid synthesized structure of New Jack Swing. 00:25:28.880 --> 00:25:31.380 The album was bombed because the sound just lacked 00:25:31.380 --> 00:25:34.339 the necessary authenticity. Exactly. The authenticity 00:25:34.339 --> 00:25:36.420 that had defined all of her previous successes. 00:25:36.880 --> 00:25:39.880 Despite the album struggle, she still found niche 00:25:39.880 --> 00:25:42.299 success, which really proved her versatility. 00:25:42.299 --> 00:25:44.630 She did. She showed she could adapt to the club 00:25:44.630 --> 00:25:46.809 scene, topping the Billboard Dance Club play 00:25:46.809 --> 00:25:49.829 chart in 93 with the house song A Deeper Love. 00:25:50.089 --> 00:25:53.109 And she managed a final top 40 R &B hit working 00:25:53.109 --> 00:25:55.630 with Babyface on the smooth ballad Willing to 00:25:55.630 --> 00:25:59.309 Forgive in 1994. Her 1998 album A Rose is Still 00:25:59.309 --> 00:26:01.670 a Rose was her final gold certified album and 00:26:01.670 --> 00:26:04.289 final top 40 single, proving she could still 00:26:04.289 --> 00:26:06.700 land when the production was right. But the moment 00:26:06.700 --> 00:26:09.279 from this late Arista period that transcended 00:26:09.279 --> 00:26:11.619 music and became pure legend happened in the 00:26:11.619 --> 00:26:15.000 1998 Grammys. It's the story of performance under 00:26:15.000 --> 00:26:18.039 impossible pressure. Ugh, the Pavarotti story. 00:26:18.740 --> 00:26:21.400 Luciano Pavarotti, the world -famous opera tenor, 00:26:21.500 --> 00:26:24.579 was scheduled to perform the legendary aria Nessun 00:26:24.579 --> 00:26:27.059 Dorma. And he became too ill to sing at the last 00:26:27.059 --> 00:26:29.559 minute. The show producers were in an utter panic. 00:26:29.859 --> 00:26:32.980 The show was live. Millions were watching. They 00:26:32.980 --> 00:26:35.240 needed a miracle. And they turned to Aretha. 00:26:35.599 --> 00:26:38.119 She'd performed the aria two nights earlier at 00:26:38.119 --> 00:26:40.680 a different event, sort of as a private curiosity. 00:26:41.240 --> 00:26:43.380 They asked her if she could possibly step in. 00:26:43.519 --> 00:26:45.359 And here's where we have to discuss the technical 00:26:45.359 --> 00:26:48.779 difficulty. Aretha was a powerful mezzo -soprano, 00:26:48.779 --> 00:26:51.839 a lower female vocal range. Pavarotti sang in 00:26:51.839 --> 00:26:54.539 the tenor range, a much higher male range. The 00:26:54.539 --> 00:26:57.259 orchestra had been tuned and arranged specifically 00:26:57.259 --> 00:27:00.319 for a tenor. For her to agree to sing that complex, 00:27:00.480 --> 00:27:03.059 demanding aria in the tenor key in front of the 00:27:03.059 --> 00:27:06.160 world with basically two hours notice, it's arguably 00:27:06.160 --> 00:27:08.779 one of the most audacious acts of musical genius 00:27:08.779 --> 00:27:11.420 in live broadcasting history. She asked to hear 00:27:11.420 --> 00:27:13.779 Pavarotti's rehearsal tape once, walked onto 00:27:13.779 --> 00:27:16.039 the stage, and delivered a performance that was 00:27:16.039 --> 00:27:18.380 met with an immediate fervent standing ovation. 00:27:18.519 --> 00:27:21.700 It proved, definitively, that her technical mastery 00:27:21.700 --> 00:27:25.259 was unbound by genre. The performance was seen 00:27:25.259 --> 00:27:27.579 by over a billion people worldwide. It was just 00:27:27.579 --> 00:27:31.059 pure, unadulterated excellence and showmanship. 00:27:31.400 --> 00:27:33.960 She performed the aria again, years later, for 00:27:33.960 --> 00:27:37.220 Pope Francis in 2015. It was a signature moment 00:27:37.220 --> 00:27:40.059 of the Queen of Soul claiming mastery over even 00:27:40.059 --> 00:27:42.920 the most sacred Western European art form. She 00:27:42.920 --> 00:27:45.680 ultimately departed from Arista. after two decades, 00:27:45.940 --> 00:27:48.240 releasing her final album with them, So Damn 00:27:48.240 --> 00:27:51.259 Happy, in 2003, which featured the Grammy -winning 00:27:51.259 --> 00:27:54.019 song Wonderful. A fitting, if quiet, conclusion 00:27:54.019 --> 00:27:56.660 to an era defined by strategic reinvention and 00:27:56.660 --> 00:27:59.279 global crossover. The final decade and a half 00:27:59.279 --> 00:28:01.519 of her life, following her departure from Arista, 00:28:01.660 --> 00:28:04.339 saw Aretha transition into a role that very few 00:28:04.339 --> 00:28:07.200 artists ever achieve. The role of a living national 00:28:07.200 --> 00:28:10.019 monument. Exactly. Her public performances were 00:28:10.019 --> 00:28:12.240 treated as significant historical events. And 00:28:12.240 --> 00:28:14.279 this was really cemented by her appearance. on 00:28:14.279 --> 00:28:16.480 the political and national stage. Her performances 00:28:16.480 --> 00:28:18.259 were often these moments of collective national 00:28:18.259 --> 00:28:20.359 reflection. She performed the Star -Spangled 00:28:20.359 --> 00:28:23.140 Banner at Super Bowl XL in her hometown of Detroit 00:28:23.140 --> 00:28:26.200 in 2006. But the performance that captivated 00:28:26.200 --> 00:28:28.279 the world, maybe even outside of the music itself, 00:28:28.559 --> 00:28:31.259 was at President Barack Obama's 2009 inaugural 00:28:31.259 --> 00:28:35.200 ceremony. She performed My Country, Tis of Thee. 00:28:35.460 --> 00:28:37.759 And the sources highlight the cultural moment 00:28:37.759 --> 00:28:40.680 created by her enormous custom -designed hat. 00:28:40.859 --> 00:28:44.079 The hat. A gray felt piece with this massive 00:28:44.079 --> 00:28:47.940 bow. It became a viral online topic, almost overshadowing 00:28:47.940 --> 00:28:50.859 the gravity of the inauguration itself. It was 00:28:50.859 --> 00:28:53.440 the perfect blend of high culture, personal style 00:28:53.440 --> 00:28:56.059 and American tradition. It was a statement. The 00:28:56.059 --> 00:28:58.240 Queen of Soul was dressed for the occasion, representing 00:28:58.240 --> 00:29:01.019 not just herself, but the rich tradition of the 00:29:01.019 --> 00:29:03.369 black church and the dignity of the office. She 00:29:03.369 --> 00:29:06.210 returned to Ford Field in 2016 for another rendition 00:29:06.210 --> 00:29:08.390 of the National Anthem, seated behind the piano 00:29:08.390 --> 00:29:11.529 in a fur coat, giving this remarkable four minute, 00:29:11.630 --> 00:29:14.230 largely improvised version that just emphasized 00:29:14.230 --> 00:29:16.910 her complete mastery over the melody. In 2014, 00:29:17.109 --> 00:29:19.109 she briefly returned to working with Clive Davis 00:29:19.109 --> 00:29:21.890 at RCA Records, and that partnership immediately 00:29:21.890 --> 00:29:24.809 led to a remarkable chart milestone. Yeah. Her 00:29:24.809 --> 00:29:27.509 2014 album, Aretha Franklin Sings the Great Diva 00:29:27.509 --> 00:29:30.289 Classics, included her now famous cover of Adele's 00:29:30.289 --> 00:29:32.950 Rolling in the Deep. And when that track debuted 00:29:32.950 --> 00:29:36.160 on the Hot R &B Hip Hop Songs chart. Aretha became 00:29:36.160 --> 00:29:38.480 the first woman to have a 100 songs chart on 00:29:38.480 --> 00:29:41.000 that listing. 100 songs. Just think about that 00:29:41.000 --> 00:29:43.920 sustained run. Yeah. Five decades of charting 00:29:43.920 --> 00:29:46.339 power. It's an achievement that speaks volumes 00:29:46.339 --> 00:29:49.259 about her enduring connection to the core of 00:29:49.259 --> 00:29:51.460 American rhythm and blues. But if there is one 00:29:51.460 --> 00:29:53.880 performance from her final years that encapsulated 00:29:53.880 --> 00:29:57.279 her entire legacy, her power, her pain, her gospel 00:29:57.279 --> 00:30:00.319 foundation and her sheer star quality, it has 00:30:00.319 --> 00:30:03.480 to be the 2015 Kennedy Center Honors. This was 00:30:03.480 --> 00:30:05.420 the performance that moved us. sitting present 00:30:05.420 --> 00:30:08.460 to tears exactly the honors were celebrating 00:30:08.460 --> 00:30:11.200 carol king who co -wrote you make me feel like 00:30:11.200 --> 00:30:13.720 a natural woman which aretha had turned into 00:30:13.720 --> 00:30:16.480 a career -defining hit decades earlier aretha 00:30:16.480 --> 00:30:19.319 walked onto the stage sat at the piano and proceeded 00:30:19.319 --> 00:30:22.329 to deliver a performance that was just universally 00:30:22.329 --> 00:30:24.150 acclaimed. And the moment everyone remembers, 00:30:24.329 --> 00:30:26.470 the flashpoint of the entire evening happened 00:30:26.470 --> 00:30:28.910 during the swelling bridge of the song. She dramatically 00:30:28.910 --> 00:30:31.230 dropped her fur coat from her shoulders to the 00:30:31.230 --> 00:30:34.549 stage. And the symbolism here is so deep it demands 00:30:34.549 --> 00:30:38.089 a full unpacking. David Remnick, writing in The 00:30:38.089 --> 00:30:40.690 New Yorker, captured the essence of it, referencing 00:30:40.690 --> 00:30:43.309 what the sources describe as a powerful gospel 00:30:43.309 --> 00:30:45.589 tradition. Tell us more about that tradition. 00:30:45.809 --> 00:30:48.069 Why was the dropping of the coat so much more 00:30:48.069 --> 00:30:50.809 than just a theatrical flourish? It goes back 00:30:50.809 --> 00:30:53.750 to the tradition of homegoing services in the 00:30:53.750 --> 00:30:56.410 gospel community, especially funerals for prominent 00:30:56.410 --> 00:31:00.250 figures. It was known that sometimes when a gospel 00:31:00.250 --> 00:31:03.809 queen died, a contemporary would toss their expensive 00:31:03.809 --> 00:31:07.170 fur coat onto the coffin. Wow. And this gesture 00:31:07.170 --> 00:31:09.970 was profoundly complex. It honored the dead, 00:31:10.109 --> 00:31:12.569 offering a lavish tribute, but it simultaneously 00:31:12.569 --> 00:31:15.630 served as this defiant, triumphant, and almost 00:31:15.630 --> 00:31:18.720 theatrical declaration. castigating death itself. 00:31:19.200 --> 00:31:21.859 It's a refusal to let mortality have the final 00:31:21.859 --> 00:31:24.640 word. So performing Carole King's song in front 00:31:24.640 --> 00:31:26.059 of the co -writer, in front of the president, 00:31:26.160 --> 00:31:28.480 and dropping that code, it wasn't just showing 00:31:28.480 --> 00:31:31.440 off. No. It was summoning the entire spiritual 00:31:31.440 --> 00:31:33.400 weight of her history, connecting the sacred 00:31:33.400 --> 00:31:35.799 power she learned as a child to the spectacular 00:31:35.799 --> 00:31:38.460 power she wielded as the queen. It was transcend. 00:31:38.740 --> 00:31:41.299 The raw emotion, the piano runs, the vocal precision, 00:31:41.460 --> 00:31:44.400 and then that symbolic casting off of the mantle 00:31:44.400 --> 00:31:47.519 of sorrow. President Obama was visibly moved 00:31:47.519 --> 00:31:50.200 to tears because that moment articulated a lifetime 00:31:50.200 --> 00:31:52.839 of pain. Her early life trauma, her struggles, 00:31:52.960 --> 00:31:56.539 her losses transformed into glorious, vital hope. 00:31:56.720 --> 00:31:58.779 Franklin herself later recalled it as one of 00:31:58.779 --> 00:32:00.839 the best nights of her life. And following that 00:32:00.839 --> 00:32:03.460 pinnacle, her public performances became increasingly 00:32:03.460 --> 00:32:06.519 rare. She continued to record, releasing a brand 00:32:06.519 --> 00:32:10.279 new Me in 2017 with archived recordings and the 00:32:10.279 --> 00:32:13.000 Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. Her final full 00:32:13.000 --> 00:32:15.559 concert was at the Ravinia Festival on September 00:32:15.559 --> 00:32:18.759 3, 2017, and her final public performance was 00:32:18.759 --> 00:32:21.259 at an Elton John AIDS Foundation gala in New 00:32:21.259 --> 00:32:23.660 York in November of that year. We should also 00:32:23.660 --> 00:32:25.900 acknowledge the personal context that ran alongside 00:32:25.900 --> 00:32:28.539 these triumphs, particularly the immense care 00:32:28.539 --> 00:32:30.319 she undertook for her father. That's a defining 00:32:30.319 --> 00:32:32.700 aspect of her life in the 1980s. She moved back 00:32:32.700 --> 00:32:35.160 to Detroit in 1982 to assist with the care of 00:32:35.160 --> 00:32:37.960 C .L. Franklin, who had been shot in 1979 during 00:32:37.960 --> 00:32:40.609 a home invasion and remained in a coma. She cared 00:32:40.609 --> 00:32:43.890 for him devotedly until his death in 1984. That 00:32:43.890 --> 00:32:46.089 personal dedication highlights a fierce loyalty 00:32:46.089 --> 00:32:48.710 to her family that often ran parallel to her 00:32:48.710 --> 00:32:50.750 public career. And regarding her own health. 00:32:51.420 --> 00:32:53.819 A major factor that limited her global stardom 00:32:53.819 --> 00:32:56.700 later in life was her fear of flying. Yes. Following 00:32:56.700 --> 00:32:59.559 an incident in 1984, she developed a crippling, 00:32:59.579 --> 00:33:02.279 lifelong fear of flying that prevented her from 00:33:02.279 --> 00:33:04.319 touring overseas for the rest of her career. 00:33:04.480 --> 00:33:06.359 Which meant her international appearances were 00:33:06.359 --> 00:33:09.480 severely limited, a huge constraint on an artist 00:33:09.480 --> 00:33:11.799 of her stature. She also navigated significant 00:33:11.799 --> 00:33:14.619 personal relationships, mother of four sons. 00:33:15.160 --> 00:33:18.640 Clarence, Edward, Ted White Jr., and Kecaf Cunningham. 00:33:18.700 --> 00:33:20.799 And her first marriage to Ted White, which was 00:33:20.799 --> 00:33:22.700 concurrent with the explosive Atlantic years, 00:33:22.900 --> 00:33:25.480 was famously contentious and marred by domestic 00:33:25.480 --> 00:33:28.900 abuse. It ended in divorce in 69. Her second 00:33:28.900 --> 00:33:31.220 marriage, to actor Glynn Turman, lasted from 00:33:31.220 --> 00:33:35.519 1978 to 1984. And these tumultuous personal chapters 00:33:35.519 --> 00:33:37.940 certainly inform the depth of feeling she channeled 00:33:37.940 --> 00:33:40.319 into songs like Chain of Fools and I Never Loved 00:33:40.319 --> 00:33:42.380 a Man. She also battled serious health issues 00:33:42.380 --> 00:33:44.880 for decades. A former chain smoker who struggled 00:33:44.880 --> 00:33:48.180 with alcoholism, she quit smoking in 1992. In 00:33:48.180 --> 00:33:50.700 2010, she underwent surgery for an undisclosed 00:33:50.700 --> 00:33:53.240 tumor. And while she denied reports of pancreatic 00:33:53.240 --> 00:33:55.799 cancer at the time, she passed away on August 00:33:55.799 --> 00:33:59.619 16th, 2018 at age 76. Her cause of death was 00:33:59.619 --> 00:34:02.990 confirmed as a malignant pancreatic neuroendocrine 00:34:02.990 --> 00:34:06.430 tumor, or PNET, a less common, though still aggressive, 00:34:06.529 --> 00:34:09.090 form of pancreatic cancer. Her passing triggered 00:34:09.090 --> 00:34:12.210 an outpouring of grief and tribute. Thousands 00:34:12.210 --> 00:34:14.869 paid respects during a public lying in repose 00:34:14.869 --> 00:34:17.449 in Detroit. Her homegoing service was monumental, 00:34:17.750 --> 00:34:19.590 with performances by Stevie Wonder and Jennifer 00:34:19.590 --> 00:34:21.989 Hudson and appearances by former President Bill 00:34:21.989 --> 00:34:24.400 Clinton. But the funeral was not without a final 00:34:24.400 --> 00:34:27.079 characteristic moment of controversy. At Aretha's 00:34:27.079 --> 00:34:29.619 request, Reverend Jasper Williams Jr., who had 00:34:29.619 --> 00:34:32.219 eulogized her father, delivered the farewell. 00:34:32.500 --> 00:34:34.719 But his eulogy was criticized by the family. 00:34:34.960 --> 00:34:37.780 Her nephew Vaughn complained that Williams spoke 00:34:37.780 --> 00:34:40.059 for 50 minutes and at no time did he properly 00:34:40.059 --> 00:34:42.840 eulogize her. Instead, the speech veered into 00:34:42.840 --> 00:34:45.139 what was widely perceived as a political address. 00:34:45.420 --> 00:34:47.920 So even in her final moment of public ceremony, 00:34:48.460 --> 00:34:50.619 The sacred and the political, the personal and 00:34:50.619 --> 00:34:52.900 the public, were colliding in a way that defined 00:34:52.900 --> 00:34:55.920 her entire life. The enduring legacy of Aretha 00:34:55.920 --> 00:34:58.480 Franklin goes beyond the hits, beyond the charts, 00:34:58.559 --> 00:35:01.059 and beyond the titles. It rests fundamentally 00:35:01.059 --> 00:35:03.780 on her technical prowess and her ability to weave 00:35:03.780 --> 00:35:06.440 together the fabric of American musical history. 00:35:06.699 --> 00:35:09.239 She is rightly described as the quintessential 00:35:09.239 --> 00:35:12.119 soul artist. Richie Unterberger noted that she 00:35:12.119 --> 00:35:15.460 was one of the giants of soul music, and indeed 00:35:15.460 --> 00:35:18.539 of American pop as a whole, epitomizing soul 00:35:18.539 --> 00:35:21.840 at its most gospel -charged core. But let's dig 00:35:21.840 --> 00:35:24.119 into the technical side of that genius. What 00:35:24.119 --> 00:35:26.659 specifically made her voice so untouchable? First, 00:35:26.800 --> 00:35:30.059 the sheer instrument. A powerful mezzo -soprano 00:35:30.059 --> 00:35:32.920 voice, but with unparalleled flexibility. She 00:35:32.920 --> 00:35:35.440 was a master of gospel vocal runs and melisma, 00:35:35.579 --> 00:35:37.599 that stretching of a single syllable over multiple 00:35:37.599 --> 00:35:40.179 notes that she deployed with precision and emotional 00:35:40.179 --> 00:35:42.780 timing. But what truly set her apart was her 00:35:42.780 --> 00:35:45.619 rhythmic intelligence. Yes, that concept, rhythmic 00:35:45.619 --> 00:35:48.039 intelligence, is crucial to understanding her 00:35:48.039 --> 00:35:50.380 genius. It is. David Revnick pointed out that 00:35:50.380 --> 00:35:52.860 what distinguished her was her way of singing 00:35:52.860 --> 00:35:55.159 behind the beat, of spraying a wash of notes 00:35:55.159 --> 00:35:57.639 over a single word or syllable. Most singers 00:35:57.639 --> 00:36:00.480 strive to hit the beat exactly. Aretha would 00:36:00.480 --> 00:36:03.239 sometimes deliberately lag, pull back, or push 00:36:03.239 --> 00:36:06.059 ahead of the established rhythm. And this created 00:36:06.059 --> 00:36:08.940 an incredible tension and release, injecting 00:36:08.940 --> 00:36:11.340 a palpable sense of improvisation and urgency 00:36:11.340 --> 00:36:14.480 into every track, particularly on her Atlantic 00:36:14.480 --> 00:36:17.119 recordings. And we have to loop back to her piano 00:36:17.119 --> 00:36:19.280 playing. It wasn't just accompaniment. It was 00:36:19.280 --> 00:36:21.380 the foundation of her arrangements. Exactly. 00:36:22.090 --> 00:36:24.590 The critic Randy Lewis called her piano playing 00:36:24.590 --> 00:36:28.489 magic and inspirational. She didn't rely on outside 00:36:28.489 --> 00:36:30.429 arrangers to dictate her feeling for a song. 00:36:30.630 --> 00:36:33.269 She used the keyboard to anchor her powerful 00:36:33.269 --> 00:36:35.809 voice, allowing her to spontaneously shift the 00:36:35.809 --> 00:36:38.469 dynamics and structure in real time. That combination 00:36:38.469 --> 00:36:41.289 of instrumental command and vocal genius gave 00:36:41.289 --> 00:36:43.170 her the confidence and authority to transform 00:36:43.170 --> 00:36:45.690 something like Otis Redding's Respect into an 00:36:45.690 --> 00:36:48.570 entirely new creation. The synthesis of sound 00:36:48.570 --> 00:36:50.789 was so eloquently captured by President Barack 00:36:50.789 --> 00:36:53.610 Obama. who stated that she embodies more fully 00:36:53.610 --> 00:36:55.309 the connection between the African -American 00:36:55.309 --> 00:36:58.889 spiritual, the blues, R &B, rock and roll, the 00:36:58.889 --> 00:37:00.710 way that hardship and sorrow were transformed 00:37:00.710 --> 00:37:02.829 into something full of beauty and vitality and 00:37:02.829 --> 00:37:05.429 hope. And that transformation of hardship into 00:37:05.429 --> 00:37:09.230 hope is the core of her activist legacy. Absolutely. 00:37:09.250 --> 00:37:11.630 Beyond the music, her impact on the civil rights 00:37:11.630 --> 00:37:14.309 and women's rights movements was enormous. She 00:37:14.309 --> 00:37:16.849 grew up steeped in activism. And she didn't just 00:37:16.849 --> 00:37:19.530 sing the songs, she provided crucial, tangible 00:37:19.530 --> 00:37:22.340 support. The sources confirmed she provided financial 00:37:22.340 --> 00:37:25.039 aid for civil rights groups, covering payroll 00:37:25.039 --> 00:37:27.360 when funds were low, performing at countless 00:37:27.360 --> 00:37:30.440 benefits and protests. She weaponized her fame 00:37:30.440 --> 00:37:32.969 and her income for the movement. And she took 00:37:32.969 --> 00:37:37.210 bold, public political stands. Famously, in 1970, 00:37:37.570 --> 00:37:39.909 she publicly offered to pay the bail for political 00:37:39.909 --> 00:37:42.469 activist and philosopher Angela Davis, who was 00:37:42.469 --> 00:37:44.570 jailed at the time on questionable charges. And 00:37:44.570 --> 00:37:46.949 her quote from that time is fantastic. She said 00:37:46.949 --> 00:37:49.369 she would help see Davis go free, saying, I've 00:37:49.369 --> 00:37:51.329 been locked up and I know you got to disturb 00:37:51.329 --> 00:37:53.659 the peace when you can't get no peace. That quote 00:37:53.659 --> 00:37:55.679 equating personal struggle with the need for 00:37:55.679 --> 00:37:58.860 political confrontation is quintessential Aretha. 00:37:58.940 --> 00:38:01.039 And her actions were consistent right up until 00:38:01.039 --> 00:38:04.320 the end. Her decision not to participate in President 00:38:04.320 --> 00:38:07.400 Donald Trump's 2017 inauguration was viewed by 00:38:07.400 --> 00:38:09.960 many as a powerful mass act of musical protest. 00:38:10.570 --> 00:38:12.889 aligning her with a lifetime of political statements 00:38:12.889 --> 00:38:15.789 made through her art and her choices. The sources 00:38:15.789 --> 00:38:18.909 also highlight her quiet but strong support of 00:38:18.909 --> 00:38:21.849 Native American rights worldwide. The list of 00:38:21.849 --> 00:38:25.530 formal honors she received is just immense, covering 00:38:25.530 --> 00:38:29.079 every facet of American culture. She broke ground 00:38:29.079 --> 00:38:31.400 by becoming the first female artist inducted 00:38:31.400 --> 00:38:33.440 into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1987. 00:38:34.000 --> 00:38:36.119 She was also inducted into the Gospel Music Hall 00:38:36.119 --> 00:38:38.539 of Fame and the National Women's Hall of Fame. 00:38:38.679 --> 00:38:40.519 She received the Presidential Medal of Freedom 00:38:40.519 --> 00:38:44.559 in 2005, the Kennedy Center Honors in 1994, and 00:38:44.559 --> 00:38:46.639 numerous Grammy honors, including the Living 00:38:46.639 --> 00:38:49.360 Legend and Lifetime Achievement Awards. But perhaps 00:38:49.360 --> 00:38:52.500 the ultimate most academic recognition came posthumously 00:38:52.500 --> 00:38:56.079 in 2019. The Pulitzer Prize jury awarded her 00:38:56.079 --> 00:38:58.699 a special citation for her indelible contribution 00:38:58.699 --> 00:39:01.099 to American music and culture for more than five 00:39:01.099 --> 00:39:04.539 decades. That Pulitzer is monumental. It signifies 00:39:04.539 --> 00:39:06.760 the mainstream American establishment, recognizing 00:39:06.760 --> 00:39:09.460 that popular music specifically. African -American 00:39:09.460 --> 00:39:12.360 spiritual soul and R &B traditions holds the 00:39:12.360 --> 00:39:14.519 same artistic and cultural weight as classical 00:39:14.519 --> 00:39:17.480 or jazz compositions. And she was the first individual 00:39:17.480 --> 00:39:19.679 woman to receive such a citation, confirming 00:39:19.679 --> 00:39:21.619 that her work transcended mere entertainment 00:39:21.619 --> 00:39:24.099 and should be considered foundational American 00:39:24.099 --> 00:39:26.760 art. And the tributes continued beyond the formal 00:39:26.760 --> 00:39:29.460 institutions. Her voice was declared a Michigan 00:39:29.460 --> 00:39:33.280 natural resource in 1985. In 2017, a portion 00:39:33.280 --> 00:39:35.639 of Madison Street in Detroit was renamed Aretha 00:39:35.639 --> 00:39:38.559 Franklin Way. Even New York City subway stations 00:39:38.559 --> 00:39:40.880 that shared her name paid tribute after her death 00:39:40.880 --> 00:39:43.699 with respect stickers added next to the Franklin 00:39:43.699 --> 00:39:45.920 name signs at Franklin Street and Franklin Avenue. 00:39:46.139 --> 00:39:48.980 And in a nod to her truly global and lasting 00:39:48.980 --> 00:39:53.699 impact, Asteroid 249516 was named Aretha in her 00:39:53.699 --> 00:39:56.920 honor in 2014. She truly left an indelible mark 00:39:56.920 --> 00:40:00.369 on American culture, transcending genre, politics, 00:40:00.550 --> 00:40:03.210 and generations. Clive Davis said she understood 00:40:03.210 --> 00:40:05.789 the essence of both language and melody and was 00:40:05.789 --> 00:40:08.050 able to take it to a place very few, if any, 00:40:08.130 --> 00:40:11.030 could. The sources universally crown her a musical 00:40:11.030 --> 00:40:14.210 genius unmatched in her range, power, and soul. 00:40:14.710 --> 00:40:17.269 So we've traced the arc of a revolutionary career, 00:40:17.449 --> 00:40:20.110 from the profound spiritual foundation forged 00:40:20.110 --> 00:40:23.130 in C .L. Franklin's famous Detroit church, through 00:40:23.130 --> 00:40:25.510 the immense personal burdens of early motherhood 00:40:25.510 --> 00:40:28.010 and loss, to the strategic struggles at Columbia. 00:40:28.599 --> 00:40:31.179 We saw the explosive creative partnership with 00:40:31.179 --> 00:40:34.159 Jerry Wexler at Atlantic and her necessary reinvention 00:40:34.159 --> 00:40:36.980 for the MTV generation under Clive Davis. Her 00:40:36.980 --> 00:40:39.460 voice was never just an instrument. It was a 00:40:39.460 --> 00:40:41.780 vessel that carried the weight of American history, 00:40:41.980 --> 00:40:45.000 transforming deep hardship and sorrow into beauty, 00:40:45.139 --> 00:40:48.599 vitality and hope. She served simultaneously 00:40:48.599 --> 00:40:51.880 as a feminist rallying cry, a civil rights leader 00:40:51.880 --> 00:40:54.360 and a musical genius who never lost her rhythmic 00:40:54.360 --> 00:40:56.880 intelligence or that spontaneous gospel fire 00:40:56.880 --> 00:40:59.820 across five decades. So when you reflect on the 00:40:59.820 --> 00:41:01.780 sheer force of the Queen of Soul, you should 00:41:01.780 --> 00:41:04.079 always remember the profound symbolism embedded 00:41:04.079 --> 00:41:07.099 in her actions, especially that final glorious 00:41:07.099 --> 00:41:09.639 public declaration at the Kennedy Center Honors 00:41:09.639 --> 00:41:12.539 in 2015. The moment she dramatically dropped 00:41:12.539 --> 00:41:14.840 that fur coat was so much more than just showmanship. 00:41:15.059 --> 00:41:18.010 It was a defiant, deeply. felt gesture that simultaneously 00:41:18.010 --> 00:41:20.369 honored a contemporary artist like carol king 00:41:20.369 --> 00:41:23.110 while echoing the sacred defiant gospel tradition 00:41:23.110 --> 00:41:25.809 of casting off mortal sorrow and pain and this 00:41:25.809 --> 00:41:28.289 duality the sacred power forged in the church 00:41:28.289 --> 00:41:31.710 combined with the spectacular unparalleled performance 00:41:31.710 --> 00:41:35.489 skill of a global icon that is the singular defining 00:41:35.489 --> 00:41:37.969 essence of aretha franklin something for you 00:41:37.969 --> 00:41:39.670 to mull over the next time you hear that phenomenal 00:41:39.670 --> 00:41:43.929 voice demanding and earning it's r -e -s -p -e 00:41:43.929 --> 00:41:44.489 -c -t