Adrastos at First Draft has a nice remembrance while the BBC doesn’t forget to include a formal obituary.
The Queen of Soul took songs written by or for others and made them hers. Otis Redding could never top her version of his song, “Respect”, and Carol King lost “A Natural Woman” to the Queen.
She was only in one movie, The Blues Brothers, but she laid down my favorite version of “Think”.
She is missed.
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That will always be the iconic Aretha Franklin for me.
I’ve been obsessively reading obituaries all day, and yes, Rolling Stone got it right — the greatest singer of all time.
So one of my office-mates was new to the United States from China back in the 1990’s. He didn’t know Aretha Franklin from Benjamin Franklin, and there was a trade show in New Orleans and the person he was with says, “Oh, Aretha Franklin is in town at the House of Blues! Let’s go!” And he says “Who?”
It was a night he still remembers, all these years later. “She had such a BIG voice!” he exclaims, hands sweeping wide. “I didn’t know someone could sing so BIG!”
That she did. That she did.
Mustang Bobby found a clip of her singing the aria “Nessun Dorma”, when Pavarotti was too ill to perform at the Grammys.
She could fill a bar, cathedral, or a stadium with sound. She made every song she selected hers. Hymns, Gospel, R&B, Jazz, Pop, Opera – If she liked it, she made it hers.
She will indeed be missed! Mom loved her music & got me hooked (easily) as a teen! And I was a serious head banger & rocker then! She had a voice like no other I’ve heard.
😢😳
She was unique. An American icon with amazing innate abilities that leave normal people in awe. She is one of the few people on the planet who could actually sing the “Star Spangled Banner”.
One of my friend’s on Twitter tweeted this great tribute video(s) from her Funeral (via Yahoo):
Bill Clinton remembers ‘my friend’ Aretha Franklin
I admit I did get a bit teary! But also smiled & remembered when I first heard Aretha when mom got home from shopping with an Aretha record (I forget which one now) and asked me to put it on! I was planning to leave while Mom listened… But it started & I heard her voice & the music… And I was hooked! She had that awesome power. I bought every record/CD since! What a sad loss, but she has left us a great legacy!
She, like many great musical talents left us her recordings. People who never saw her perform will still be able to appreciate what she did.