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With 112 singles reaching the Billboard charts, including 17 top-ten smash hits, and more than 75 million records sold, Aretha Franklin is one of the most successful musicians of all time. But how much do you really know about her rise to the top of the charts?
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Humble beginnings
Franklin was born in Memphis, Tennessee in 1942. Her father was a Baptist minister and preacher and her mother a gifted piano player and singer. The family moved first to Buffalo and then Detroit, with her parents separating and her mother tragically dying when she was just 10.
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First signs of talent
As a child, Aretha attracted attention for her singing ability at the New Bethel Baptist Church in Detroit, Michigan. At the age of just 18 she was signed to Columbia Records, however her career really took off when she switched to Atlantic Records in 1966.
Aretha Franklin performing "(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman" during the concert for the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame (September 2, 1995)Rock & Roll Hall of Fame
The hits start coming
Aretha found fame with a startling succession of hits in the 60s, with songs including 'Respect', 'I Say a Little Prayer', and 'Chain of Fools'. In fact, many of her songs from this era have entered the songbook as pop staples. But no one could sing them quite like Aretha.
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Recognition arrives
As well as having an astonishing number of chart successes, Aretha's contribution to music has also been marked by the Presidential Medal of Freedom and by being the first female inductee of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
Franklin, ArethaLIFE Photo Collection
More accolades
In 2019, she was awarded a special Pulitzer Prize for her "indelible contribution to American music and culture" and in 2022, Rolling Stone magazine ranked Franklin number one on its list of the '200 Greatest Singers of All Time'.
"Think" (2009) by Rock & Roll Hall of FameRock & Roll Hall of Fame
Style and influence
Aretha had incredible vocal flexibility and a powerful tone, but she was also blessed with natural musical intelligence. She was able to inject emotion into her performance and was an influence on a generation of singers that followed, including Whitney Houston and Chaka Khan.
Franklin, ArethaLIFE Photo Collection
Death and legacy
Aretha Franklin died in 2018, surrounded by family and friends, including Stevie Wonder and Jesse Jackson - a reflection of her importance to the worlds of both music and civil rights. She leaves behind an incomparable body of work and her legacy as the 'Queen of Soul'.
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