‘Queen of Soul’ loses battle with cancer

20th August 2018   ·   0 Comments

Aretha Franklin, the daughter of a prominent Baptist minister who began singing in church at an early age and was world-famous for seminal songs like “Natural Woman,” “Respect” and “Ain’t No Way,” died Thursday in her Detroit home after a battle with pancreatic cancer. She was 76.

Franklin’s music inspired women to stand up for their rights and to insist on being heard by their partners. It also fueled the activism of the Civil Rights Movement and inspired several generations to find their own voice and make music that empowers and uplifts the masses.

Twenty of Aretha Franklin’s singles topped Billboard’s R&B chart and more than 50 reached the R&B Top 10 over a career that spanned six decades. She earned volumes of praise for her innovative and emotive vocal performances, even when the material didn’t quite measure up to her talents, The Washington Post reported.

The Louisiana Legislative Black Caucus said in a statement last week that Franklin’s masterful cover of the Otis Redding hit “Respect” “became the anthem for African Americans.”

The LLBC added that when she recorded the song in 1967, Franklin “had no idea that the song would become a rallying cry for African Americans, women and anyone else who felt marginalized because of what they looked like or who they loved. …Ms. Aretha Franklin will truly be missed but remembered for her musical talents and contributions to the Civil Rights Movement.”

Franklin was the standard-bearer for R&B and soul music for six decades and recorded songs with a who’s who of popular music including Curtis Mayfield, Luther Vandross. Lauryn Hill, George Benson, George Michael and gospel artist Bishop Paul S. Morton of Greater St. Stephen Full Gospel Baptist Church in New Orleans.

“I’m truly saddened by the passing of Aretha Franklin,” Morton said of his longtime friend with whom he recorded the heartfelt Gospel song “Seasons Change.” “Our friendship spans 50 years and it progressed to me being deemed her spiritual counselor. We were not only connected via our love for each other’s music and vocal abilities, but via ministry as well…our fathers, the Rev. C.L. Franklin and Bishop C.L. Morton, Sr., had back-to- back international radio programs on CKLW radio for over 30 years. Of course recording a song with the ‘Queen of Soul’ is something I will always remember, but one of the highlights of my singing career was performing with her on the main stage at the Essence Music Festival. May the Lord bless and comfort the Franklin family in this time of grief. She’s gone, but will never be forgotten.”

“The loss of Aretha Franklin is a blow for everybody who loves real music,” Elton John said in a post on social media. “Music from the heart, the soul and the Church. Her voice was unique, her piano playing underrated — she was one of my favorite pianists.”

“I’m sitting in prayer for the wonderful, golden spirit Aretha Franklin,” Diana Ross said.

Anita Baker succinctly described what Aretha Franklin meant to her with a post on social media. “Queen… my Queen,” she wrote.

“I am deeply saddened about the passing of the Queen of Soul and my sister in song, Aretha Franklin,” Patti LaBelle wrote. “Today the world has experienced a tremendous loss. Aretha was a rare treasure whose unmatched musical genius who helped craft the soundtrack to the lives of so many.”

Motown great Smokey Robinson said he is mourning the loss of “my longest friend in this world.”

“If you could choose one artist to embody the African-American experience of the 20th century, it would have to be Aretha Franklin,” National Urban League President and former New Orleans Mayor Marc Morial said. “In her voice, you can hear the impassioned call-and-response preaching style of her father, C. L. Franklin, a civil rights leader and ally of Martin Luther King, Jr. You can hear the eclectic bustle of her childhood home in Paradise Valley, Detroit, the heart of the post-war Black community. You can hear the social awakening of the 1960s, when she made her mark and became an international star.

“Aretha’s songs became anthems of feminism and racial justice – not because of their lyrics, but because it was Aretha singing them,” Morial added.

“She has said her performance at the Kennedy Center in 2015 was ‘one of the three or four greatest nights of my life,’ not because she was honoring Carole King, the composer of her signature song, “(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman,” but because she made President Obama cry. She crowed, ‘The cool cat wept!’

“We all did. And we do now. We join her family, the nation and the world in mourning her loss.”

“[E]very time she sang, we were all graced with a glimpse of the divine,” former President Barack Obama said last week.

“Through her compositions and unmatched musicianship, Aretha helped define the American experience. In her voice, we could feel our history, all of it and in every shade — our power and our pain, our darkness and our light, our quest for redemption and our hard-won respect. She helped us feel more connected to each other, more hopeful, more human. And sometimes she helped us just forget about everything else and dance,” Obama continued.

“Aretha may have passed on to a better place, but the gift of her music remains to inspire us all. May the Queen of Soul rest in eternal peace. Michelle and I send our prayers and warmest sympathies to her family and all those moved by her song.”

Franklin had been scheduled to perform at next year’s Jazz Fest but was forced to cancel that appearance because of her health issues.

An ocean of flowers, candles and balloons adorned her star on Hollywood’s Walk of Fame late last week.

Funeral arrangements were incomplete at press time.

This article originally published in the August 20, 2018 print edition of The Louisiana Weekly newspaper.