By Rachel Ison 5th grade
•
Aretha Louise Franklin was born March
25, 1942 in Memphis, Tennessee.
•
Her father was Baptist preacher
Reverend Clarence La Vaughan "C.L."
Franklin, and her mother Barbara
Siggers Franklin was a gospel singer.
•
Aretha was the fourth out of five
children- sisters Erma and Carolyn and
brothers Cecil and Vaughn
•
Her parents divorced when she was six
and four years later her mother died of
a heart attack.
•
The family moved to Detroit, Michigan
where her father became nationally
renown as a preacher.
THE EARLY YEARS
• Aretha was largely self-taught musically and was
regarded as a child prodigy.
• By the age of 14, Aretha recorded some early tracks
and sang for her father’s traveling revival where she
met gospel greats like Mahalia Jackson, Sam Cooke
and Clara Ward.
• Life was not easy because she became a teenage
mother at the age of 15. Two years later, she had her
second child.
• In 1960, Aretha moved to New York.
The Recording Years
• Aretha was already a talented pianist
as well as power-house voice.
• After being courted by many record
companies, Aretha signed with
Columbia Records.
• With Columbia, Aretha had one song
hit No. 37 in 1961 but had a few top
ten singles on the R&B charts but they
failed in showcasing her voice.
• In 1967, Aretha moved to Atlantic
Records.
• Her reign became solid in 1967 and
1968 when her album "I Never Loved
A Man (The Way I Love You)" was
released.
The Recording Years Cont’d
• The first song on the album, "Respect," reached No. 1 on both the R&B
and pop charts, and won Aretha her first two Grammy awards.
• She also had top 10 hits with "Baby I Love You,'' "Think," "Chain of Fools,''
"I Say A Little Prayer," and "(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman.“
• In 1968, Aretha Franklin sang at the Democratic Convention and as well as
performed at Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s funeral.
• The death of long-time friend and inspiration, Mahalia Jackson motivated
Aretha’s next album that sold over 2 million copies.
• In the ’70s, Aretha took home eight consecutive Grammy awards for Best
R&B Female Vocal Performance, she rightfully earned the title "The Queen
of Soul.“
• Aretha worked constantly but her career slowly waned in the disco era.
• In 1978, Aretha married actor Glynn Turman.
The Later Years
•
After many hardships, Aretha reemerged after her cameo in the film The Blues
Brothers which exposed her to a new generation of R&B lovers, and she soon
signed to Arista Records.
•
In 1982, her new album enjoyed much success on the R&B charts and earned
Franklin a Grammy nomination. Two years later, she endured a divorce from
Turman as well as the death of her father.
•
The next years were much of a success for Aretha Franklin with her best selling
album and another album went gold.
•
In 1987, Aretha Franklin was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
marked the first time a woman had ever been awarded such an
honor. Franklin scored the second Number One pop hit of her career - “I Knew
You Were Waiting (for Me),” a duet with George Michael - which came exactly
twenty years after she topped the charts with “Respect.”
•
In 1994, Franklin was given a lifetime achievement award at the Grammys.
Aretha Franklin Now!!!
In 2003, Aretha recorded her last
album with Arista and then left to
create her own label
In 2005, she was awarded the
Presidential Medal of Freedom and
became the second woman ever to
be inducted into the UK Music Hall
of Fame.
In 2008, she received her 18th
Grammy Award for " Never Gonna
Break My Faith“ for her
collaboration with Mary J. Bilge
Most recently, Franklin's released
her first album on her own label, A
Woman Falling Out of Love.
TN State Standards for 5th
grade
• GLE 5.1.02 Discuss cultures and human patterns of places
and regions of the world.
• GLE 5.0.03 Recognize the contributions of individuals and
people of various ethnic, racial, religious, and
socioeconomic groups to the development of
civilizations.
• GLE 5.1.04 Understand the contributions of individuals
and people of various ethnic, racial, religious, and
socioeconomic groups to Tennessee
Works Cited
Aretha Franklin. (2011). Biography.com. Retrieved 10:21, Sep 21 2011 from
http://www.biography.com/articles/Aretha-Franklin-9301157
Aretha Franklin Biography. (2010). The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Retrieved
10:25, Sep 21 2011 from http://rockhall.com/inductees/arethafranklin/bio/