PEOPLE Aretha

By Meredith Corporation

PEOPLE celebrates the peerless Aretha Franklin. In words and pictures, this special edition offers an in-depth look at Franklin's career, from singing in her father Rev. C.L. Franklin's Detroit church choir after her mother's early death, to finding chart success as she became a powerful voice for civil rights, to performing at three presidential inaugurations. The book includes chapters on Franklin's Amazing Grace, the best-selling gospel album of all time; her collaborations with Whitney Houston, George Michael, Lauryn Hill, and more; and the special connection she shared with President Barack Obama. Plus: a behind-the-scenes peek at the Aretha biopic, Respect, and an interview with its star, Oscar-winner Jennifer Hudson.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Meredith Corporation
• Release date: Aug 6, 2021
• ISBN: 9781547859528

Book preview

HER LIFE IN PICTURES

ALL HAIL THE QUEEN

FROM SINGING IN THE CHOIR OF HER FATHER’S CHURCH TO PERFORMING FOR PRESIDENTS, ARETHA FRANKLIN BLAZED A PATH ALOFT ON THE VOICE SHE CALLED A GIFT FROM GOD

RECORD REVIEW Franklin’s 14th LP, Soul ’69, an album of cover versions that includes two takes on songs by friends: Sam Cooke’s Bring It On Home to Me and Smokey Robinson’s Tracks of My Tears.

SWEET HARMONY On a break from recording 1970’s This Girl’s in Love with You. The album featured backing vocals by the Sweet Inspirations.

VERY SPECIAL GUEST In October 1970 Aretha visited the TV variety show This Is Tom Jones and joined the Welsh superstar for a medley of her See Saw and Spirit in the Dark.

MIRROR, MIRROR Aretha did her own makeup before taking the stage at Newark’s Symphony Hall in 1969.

SONS AND ROSES Aretha with Clarence Franklin, the oldest of her four sons, and Kecalf, the youngest, in 1976.

FAMILY PORTRAIT In 1979 Aretha’s second husband, actor Glynn Turman, lined up members of their blended family (from left, Aretha’s son Teddy, Aretha, Kecalf and Turman’s son Glynn Jr. and daughter Stephanie) at home in Encino, Calif. Though Aretha and Turman divorced in 1984, they remained friends until her death.

IN THE SWIM Franklin and her sisters worked hard—both Carolyn (above right) and Erma were musicians too. They also sometimes enjoyed a break together.

BROTHERLY LOVE Aretha celebrated her 35th birthday with a March 1977 party at the Beverly Hills Hotel. With her was brother Cecil, a pastor who later became her manager and spoke at his sister’s 1987 induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame: Tonight [she] has been written into history.

LEAGUE OF LEGENDS Coretta Scott King, widow of Martin Luther King Jr., met up with friend and activist Aretha in Atlanta in 1993. Franklin sang at memorials for both Martin and Coretta, who died in 2006.

WHITE NIGHT LL Cool J paid his respects during Sean Diddy Combs’s annual White Party in Bridgehampton, N.Y., in 2004. According to The New York Times, Aretha’s transparent purse revealed great handfuls of $20 bills.

MUSE AND MOGUL Aretha in 1989 with Arista Records chief Clive Davis, who oversaw her career for 20 years starting in 1980. She was worried about having hits after turning 40, he said. He assured her, To me, you’re timeless.

PARTNERS Luther Vandross (with Aretha in 1982) produced two of her albums, that year’s Jump to It and 1983’s Get It Right.

FLASH FRIENDS In 1986 Aretha (with Whoopi Goldberg) recorded a version of the Rolling Stones’ Jumpin’ Jack Flash for the Goldberg film of the same name.

CAR TUNE The 1985 song Freeway of Love was Aretha’s highest-charting single in 12 years. A 1989 show at Radio City Music Hall paid homage to its signature line, "We’re goin’ riding on the freeway of love/ in my pink Cadillac."

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

—ARETHA FRANKLIN

MOVING AHEAD In 2011, after recovering from what was later revealed to be pancreatic cancer surgery, Franklin got back to making music and living life. She told People that year, You might see me out in the market, chatting with other women. Just everyday things.

PEOPLE IN THE CHECKOUT LINES SAID THEY PRAYED FOR ME. IT’S AMAZING HOW BEAUTIFUL PEOPLE CAN BE

—ARETHA FRANKIN, TO PEOPLE IN 2011

HER CHILDHOOD

A GIRL GENIUS

THE DAUGHTER OF A FAMOUS PREACHER AND A MOTHER SHE ADORED BUT LOST TOO SOON, ARETHA FRANKLIN WAS A MUSICAL PRODIGY WHO GREW UP FAST

BY JEANNINE AMBER

THE MINISTER’S KIDS C.L. Franklin with his children (from left)Cecil, Erma, Carolyn and Aretha in 1953 at Detroit’s New Bethel Baptist Church, where Rev. Franklin preached.

There is much we don’t know about Aretha Franklin’s formative years; the Queen was not often inclined to share. She was guarded with reporters and even with the biographer, David Ritz, she selected to help write her 1999 memoir Aretha: From These Roots, in which she recounts a happy childhood. [Aretha] fashioned the book according to her fantasy of an idyllic life, Ritz wrote in