Aretha Louise Franklin (born March 25, 1942) is an African American singer, songwriter and pianist commonly referred to as "The Queen of Soul". Although renowned for her soul recordings, Franklin is also adept at jazz, rock, blues, pop, R&B and gospel. In 2008, the American music magazine Rolling Stone ranked Franklin #1 on its list of The Greatest Singers of All Time.

Franklin is one of the most honored artists by the Grammy Awards, with 20 Grammys to date, which include the Living Legend Grammy and the Lifetime Achievement Grammy. She also sang at the presidential inauguration of 44th President of the United States Barack Obama. She has scored a total of 20 #1 singles on the Billboard R&B Singles Chart, two of which also became #1 hits on the Billboard Hot 100: "Respect" (1967) and "I Knew You Were Waiting (For Me)" (1987), a duet with George Michael. Since 1961, Franklin has scored a total of 45 "Top 40" hits on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.

In 1987, Franklin became the first female artist to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

Early life and career

Franklin was born on March 25,1942 in Memphis, Tennessee to the Rev. C. L. Franklin, a Baptist minister, and Barbara Siggers Franklin. Aretha's parents had a troubled relationship and separated when Aretha was six. Aretha's father's first pulpit after Memphis was in Buffalo, New York. Siggers and her son Vaughn remained in Buffalo when the rest of the Franklin family subsequently moved to Detroit, Michigan. Reverend Franklin assumed the pulpit of the 4,500 seat New Bethel Baptist Church at Linwood and Philadelphia on the city's West Side and gained national fame as a preacher. Barbara died under mysterious circumstances in 1952 when Aretha was ten. Aretha was adept at the piano as well as having a gifted voice while a little girl and ultimately became a child prodigy. At the age of fourteen, she recorded her first album for JVB/Battle Records, where her father recorded his sermons and gospel vocal recordings, and she issued Songs Of Faith in 1956. Her earliest influences included Clara Ward and Mahalia Jackson, both of whom spent a lot of time in the Franklin home.

Teenage pregnancies derailed Franklin's gospel career when she gave birth to Clarence in 1955 (at age 13) and Edward in 1957 (at age 15). When she returned to singing, Aretha decided to secure herself a deal as a pop artist. After being offered contracts from Motown and RCA, Franklin signed with Columbia Records in 1960. Her recordings during that time reflected a jazz influence and moved away from her gospel roots. Franklin initially scored a few hits on Columbia including her version of "Rock-A-Bye Your Baby With A Dixie Melody", which peaked at number 37 on the Billboard Pop Singles chart in 1961, and the Top 10 R&B hits, "Today I Sing The Blues", "Won't Be Long" and "Operation Heartbreak". However, by the end of 1966, with little commercial success in six years with Columbia and desperate for a sound of her own, she accepted an offer to sign with Atlantic Records. According to Franklin years later, "they made me sit down on the piano and the hits came".