Aretha Franklin – Updated March 2024

Aretha Franklin was a notable American singer. Aretha Franklin was also famous as a civil rights activist. As a singer, she won numerous awards and received many honors.

Early life

Aretha Franklin was born on March 25, 1942 and she went 76 years At the time of his death the August 16, 2018. His birthplace is Memphis, Tennessee, USA, and his zodiac sign is Aries. Likewise, her full name is Aretha Louise Franklin.

Talking about her family, Aretha’s parents are her mother Barbara (née Siggers) and her father Clarence LaVaughn “CL” Franklin. She was born in her family’s home at 406 Lucy Avenue, Memphis, Tennessee. Aretha’s father was a Baptist minister and circuit preacher. Clarence was originally from Shelby, Mississippi. Likewise, Aretha’s mother was also a pianist and vocalist.

Caption: Aretha posing for a photo with her father, Clarence, and sister Carolyn (right). Source: Flipboard

Aretha Franklin – Brothers

Both of Aretha’s parents had children from previous relationships. Together, the couple welcomed 4 biological children. Therefore, Aretha’s biological siblings were Erma Franklin, Carolyn Franklin, and Cecil Franklin. His two sisters were professional musicians who spent years providing backing vocals on Aretha’s recordings.

Likewise, Aretha’s brother became her manager until his death from lung cancer on December 26, 1989. Carolyn died in April 1988 from breast cancer and Erma died in September 2002 from throat cancer. Aretha’s half-siblings are Vaughn and Carol Kelley. Vaughn passed away in late 2002, while Carol passed away in 2019.

At the age of 2, Aretha’s family moved to Buffalo, New York. By the time she was 5, her family had moved permanently to Detroit. There, her father assumed the pastorate of New Bethel Baptist Church.

Aretha Franklin

Caption: Aretha was captured during one of her performances. Source: Instagram

About Aretha’s Parents

Likewise, Aretha’s parents had a troubled marriage due to her father’s infidelities. Finally, Aretha’s parents separated in 1948. At that time, her mother returned to Buffalo with her half-brother, Vaughn. After her separation, Aretha went to see her mother in Buffalo during the summer, while her mother frequently visited them in Detroit.

Additionally, her mother died of a heart attack on March 7, 1952. This was before Aretha turned 10 years old. Aretha then attended public school in Detroit. He spent his freshman year at Northern High School. However, Aretha dropped out of this school during her second year.

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Many celebrities visited Aretha’s father at his house. Some of them were early Caravans members Albertina Walker and Inez Andrew, and gospel musicians Clara Ward and James Cleveland. Additionally, Martin Luther King Jr., Jackie Wilson, and Sam Cooke became friends with Aretha’s father. The musician Clara also had a romantic relationship with her father from around 1949 until Clara’s death in 1973.

Career and professional life

Aretha Franklin

Caption: Aretha performing at President Barack Obama’s inauguration ceremony on January 20, 2009. Source: Twitter

Professionally, Aretha Franklin was a famous singer and civil rights activist. She began her career as a child singing gospel. She started at New Bethel Baptist Church in Detroit, Michigan. This was where Aretha’s father was a minister.

Then, at the young age of 18, Aretha embarked on a secular music career. It was a career as a recording artist for Columbia Records. Aretha gained commercial success after signing with Atlantic Records in the year 1966. Some of Aretha’s most successful songs are I never loved a man (How I love you), think, you make me feel (A natural woman, respect, chain of foolsand I say a little prayer. In the late 1960s, Aretha was popular as the “Queen of Soul.”

Subsequently, Aretha continued to record famous albums, including I never loved a man like I love you in 1967, lady soul in 1968, Spirit in the dark in 1970, Young, gifted and black as well as amazing grace in 1972, and Shine in 1976.

After this, Aretha experienced problems with her record company. The famous singer left Atlantic Records in the year 1979. Later, the singer signed with Arista Records. Aretha also starred The blues brothers. It is a 1980 movie. Shortly after, Aretha released her hit albums. Jump to it in 1982, Who is zooming in on who? in 1985, and aretha in 1986.

Aretha Franklin – 1990 onwards

Aretha Franklin

Caption: Aretha performing on stage in 2017. Source: Charles Sykes/Invision

Then, in 1998, Aretha returned to the Top 40 with her song A rose is still a rose. Aretha later released an album of the same name. This album was later certified gold. Also in 1998, Aretha gained international recognition for her performance as Nessun Dorma at the Grammy Awards. During this event, Aretha replaced Luciano Pavarotti at the last minute. Luciano canceled his appearance only when the show had already started.

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Additionally, Aretha paid tribute to 2015 honoree Carole King. She did it in (You make me feel) a natural woman in the Kennedy Center Honors. Additionally, Aretha recorded 112 singles on the Billboard charts.

In addition to the above, Aretha’s famous hits also include There is no way, call me, love highway, Until you come back to me (that’s what I’m going to do), Don’t Play That Song (You Lied), Rock Steady, Who’s Zoomin’ Who, Spanish Harlem, Daydreaming, something you can feel, Jump to it, and I knew you were waiting (for me). Your song I knew you were waiting (for me) is a duet with singer George Michael.

Awards and honors

Aretha Franklin

Caption: Aretha was captured during her interaction with former President Barack Obama. Source: Twitter

Likewise, Aretha Franklin has 18 Grammy Awards. The first eight awards were given for “Best Female R&B Vocal Performance” from 1968 to 1975. Additionally, Aretha also received numerous honors throughout her career.

Aretha received the National Medal of Arts and the Presidential Medal of Freedom. Likewise, in 1987, Aretha became the first female performer to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Similarly, Aretha was also inducted into the UK Music Hall of Fame in the year 2005. Then in 2012, Aretha was inducted into the Gospel Music Hall of Fame.

Likewise, in 2010, Rolling Stone The magazine ranked Aretha No. 1 on its list of the “100 Greatest Singers of All Time.” The magazine also listed her at No. 9 on its list of “100 Greatest Artists of All Time.” Similarly, the Pulitzer Prize jury awarded the singer a posthumous Special Citation for her indelible contribution to American music and culture over more than five decades in 2019. Most recently, in 2020, Aretha Franklin was inducted into the National Hall of Fame. Women’s Fame.

civil status

Aretha Franklin was married and divorced twice. Aretha’s first husband was Ted White. The two married in 1961, when Aretha was just 18 years old. However, the two separated in 1968 and divorced in 1969. Following this, Aretha married her second husband, actor Glynn Turman, on April 11, 1978.

From this marriage, Aretha became the stepmother to Glynn’s three children from a previous marriage. Unfortunately, Aretha and Glynn separated in 1982 after she returned to Michigan from California. The two later divorced in 1984.

Aretha Franklin

Caption: Aretha posing for a photo with her second husband, Glynn Turman. Source: Daily Mail

Likewise, Aretha was the mother of 4 children. At the young age of 12, Aretha became pregnant for the first time. She gave birth to her first child, Clarence, on January 28, 1955. In one of her handwritten wills that were discovered in 2019, Aretha revealed that Clarence’s father was Edward Jordan.

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Then, on August 31, 1957, Aretha welcomed her second child with Jordan. They called him Edward Derone Franklin. Aretha then welcomed her third child in February 1964. His name is Ted White Jr. and his father was Aretha’s then-husband, Theodore “Ted” White.

Additionally, Aretha welcomed her youngest son in April 1970. His name is Kecalf Cunningham and his father is Ken Cunningham, Aretha’s road manager. Aretha never married after the second time. However, she was romantically linked to Willie Wilkerson since the late ’80s. Willie and Aretha announced their engagement in early 2012. However, the couple called off their wedding weeks later.

Death

On August 13, 2018, reports indicated that Aretha was seriously ill at her home in Riverfront Towers, Detroit. At the time, Aretha was under hospice care. Jesse Jackson, Stevie Wonder and Aretha’s ex-husband, Glynn Turman, visited her during her final moments.

Aretha Franklin passed away on August 16, 2018. She died at her home at the age of 76. The cause of her death was a malignant pancreatic neuroendocrine tumor. Numerous celebrities, along with former US President Barack Obama, paid tribute to him. Activist and civil rights minister Al Sharpton also paid tribute to her, calling her a civil rights and humanitarian icon.

Body measurements

Aretha Franklin’s height was 5 feet 5 inches or 1.65 meters. Likewise, the famous singer had dark brown eyes and hair of the same color.

Social media

Talking about her social media presence, Aretha Franklin’s Twitter account was created in January 2012 and till now she has more than 138.9k followers on her @ArethaFranklin account. Likewise, the late singer’s Instagram account is @arethafranklin, which has more than 129,000 followers as of May 2021.

Aretha Franklin – Net worth 2024

Similarly, there are 2.5 million people following Aretha’s journey on Facebook. The singer’s YouTube channel, “Aretha Franklin”, was created on November 9, 2018. This channel has earned more than 161.4 million views and 312,000 subscribers. Moving on, Aretha Franklin had a net worth estimated at 80 million US dollars. However, Aretha’s longtime attorney, David Bennett, shared that the singer owed $8 million in taxes at the time of her death.

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