Aretha Franklin

Aretha Franklin transformed American music by channelling gospel fervour through secular song, her voice a force of nature that could shatter glass or soothe wounds. Born in Memphis in 1942 and raised in Detroit's New Bethel Baptist Church, where her father preached, she absorbed the technique and conviction of Mahalia Jackson and Clara Ward before signing with Columbia Records in 1960. Her career ignited at Atlantic Records in 1967 when producer Jerry Wexler steered her towards grittier, Southern soul. "Respect," her reworking of Otis Redding's tune, became an anthem for both the civil rights and women's movements, exemplifying how her melismatic runs and gospel-honed intensity spoke to multiple liberation struggles simultaneously. Eighteen Grammy Awards followed, alongside immortal recordings like I Never Loved a Man the Way I Love You and Amazing Grace. Franklin's contralto could bend notes into new emotional shapes, her phrasing both technically precise and wildly improvisational. She remains the Queen of Soul, a title that acknowledges both her vocal mastery and her embodiment of Black American resilience.