S.O.D. "Respect" by Aretha Franklin

9/6/2018       It may have taken a while, but she certainly earned the respect she deserved.  releasing 39 albums and 131 singles with 26 #1 hits.  One amazing statistic we must note is that of her many singles, only 8 failed to chart.  Franklin's mother was an accomplished pianist and vocalist, her father a minister. After her mother's death when Aretha was 9, she began learning piano by ear.  She also had a little help in the vocal department from gospel great, Mahalia Jackson, who was a friend of the family's and often watched after Aretha and her siblings.  Clara Ward, another successful gospel vocalist, was also a role model to Aretha. 

      She got her start singing in church where her father was a minister and eventually became her manager, helping her sign her first record deal in her early teens.  Miss Franklin took an amazing stand for civil rights, women's rights, and Native American rights, donating thousands, often very quietly, not caring about being in the spotlight. 

     Aretha was always full of surprises such as in 1998 when she filled in for Luciano Pavarotti at the Grammy Awards singing "Nessun Dorma" from the opera, Turnadot. Pavarotti canceled after the show had begun and Franklin received international acclaim for the performance.    She has been bestowed with numerous awards as well as honorary degrees from 13 universities, including a Doctor of Law degree from Bethune-Cookman University in 1975.  She has been inducted into 4 music halls of fame.  Keep playing her music.  Everyone else will.