{"id":40785,"date":"2018-08-16T18:14:15","date_gmt":"2018-08-16T22:14:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.wendybrandes.com\/blog\/?p=40785"},"modified":"2018-08-20T13:55:44","modified_gmt":"2018-08-20T17:55:44","slug":"rip-aretha-franklin","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.wendybrandes.com\/blog\/2018\/08\/rip-aretha-franklin\/","title":{"rendered":"RIP, Aretha Franklin"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Aretha Franklin &#8212; the Queen of Soul &#8212; always knew how to create a <a href=\"http:\/\/www.latimes.com\/entertainment\/music\/la-et-ms-aretha-franklin-appreciation-20180815-story.html\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Moment<\/a>. <\/p>\n<p><center><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/giphy.com\/embed\/mSeg2EN0smXjG\" width=\"480\" height=\"360\" frameBorder=\"0\" class=\"giphy-embed\" allowFullScreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/giphy.com\/gifs\/anywhere-mSeg2EN0smXjG\">via GIPHY<\/a><\/p>\n<p><\/center><\/p>\n<p>She was the diva of divas, as she proved <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thedailybeast.com\/when-aretha-franklin-proved-she-was-the-greatest-diva-ever\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">20 years ago this October<\/a>, during the debut &#8220;VH1 Divas Live&#8221; special, at the end of which which she famously dominated Mariah Carey, Gloria Estefan, Celine Dion, Shania Twain, and Carole King throughout a group performance of &#8220;(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman.&#8221; <\/p>\n<p><center><a id='yS3pwhZdQrBemjfz1UIBrA' class='gie-single' href='http:\/\/www.gettyimages.com\/detail\/160937280' target='_blank' style='color:#a7a7a7;text-decoration:none;font-weight:normal !important;border:none;display:inline-block;'>Embed from Getty Images<\/a><script>window.gie=window.gie||function(c){(gie.q=gie.q||[]).push(c)};gie(function(){gie.widgets.load({id:'yS3pwhZdQrBemjfz1UIBrA',sig:'6Yb14Rx8HieIbscu-y2-w5hWzDgOiVSTQBRlUYnQqDU=',w:'594px',h:'415px',items:'160937280',caption: true ,tld:'com',is360: false })});<\/script><script src='\/\/embed-cdn.gettyimages.com\/widgets.js' charset='utf-8' async><\/script><\/center><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=Ng3JFevjEa4&#038;feature=youtu.be\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">She sang right over Celine<\/a>! I love her duet with <a href=\"https:\/\/www.rollingstone.com\/music\/music-news\/mariah-carey-mourns-aretha-franklin-my-inspiration-my-mentor-my-friend-712121\/\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Mariah Carey<\/a> on &#8220;Chain of Fools&#8221; from that night even more. Mariah had a great set of pipes then, and she sang her heart out, but you could tell from her hesitant body language that she knew who the star was. Check out Mariah&#8217;s uncertain facial expression here &#8230;<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.wendybrandes.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/mariah.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"498\" height=\"348\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-40786\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.wendybrandes.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/mariah.jpg 498w, https:\/\/www.wendybrandes.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/mariah-300x210.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 498px) 100vw, 498px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>&#8230; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=4wErvWqlMYY\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">right before Aretha grandly said, &#8220;Go &#8216;head,&#8221; and permitted Mariah to take her solo turn<\/a>. I feel like Mariah wasn&#8217;t confident that was going to happen.<\/p>\n<p>Then there was 2015&#8217;s performance of &#8220;(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman&#8221; at the Kennedy Center Honors, during which President Obama was moved to tears; songwriter and honoree Carole King pretty much lost her mind; and the audience surged to its feet for a mid-song standing ovation at the drop of a fur coat.<\/p>\n<p><center><iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/8cF0tf35Mbo\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"autoplay; encrypted-media\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/center><\/p>\n<p>Considering the above examples, which don&#8217;t even scratch the surface of the number of times that Aretha <a href=\"https:\/\/www.urbandictionary.com\/define.php?term=snatching%20wigs\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">snatched wigs<\/a> &#8230;<\/p>\n<p><center><\/p>\n<div class=\"tenor-gif-embed\" data-postid=\"8122980\" data-share-method=\"host\" data-width=\"100%\" data-aspect-ratio=\"1.33\"><a href=\"https:\/\/tenor.com\/view\/aretha-singing-wig-concert-throw-gif-8122980\">Aretha Singing GIF<\/a> from <a href=\"https:\/\/tenor.com\/search\/aretha-gifs\">Aretha GIFs<\/a><\/div>\n<p><script type=\"text\/javascript\" async src=\"https:\/\/tenor.com\/embed.js\"><\/script><\/center><\/p>\n<p>&#8230; the timing of Aretha&#8217;s death today at age 76 from pancreatic cancer couldn&#8217;t be more in keeping with how she lived her life. While reading <a href=\"https:\/\/www.usatoday.com\/story\/life\/music\/2018\/08\/13\/aretha-franklin-gravely-ill-report\/974950002\/?utm_source=feedblitz&#038;utm_medium=FeedBlitzRss&#038;utm_campaign=usatodaycommusic-topstories\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">reports about Franklin&#8217;s declining health over the past several days<\/a>, I had a premonition about this, because why shouldn&#8217;t the Queen of Soul steal the show one more time? Sure enough, Franklin took her last bow on this earthly plane on the same day the Queen of Pop &#8212; Madonna &#8212; celebrated her 60th birthday. It doesn&#8217;t often happen that a female star is publicly feted for turning the big 6-0 &#8212; an age when she&#8217;s &#8220;too old&#8221; to be sexy but not old enough to be recognized as a national treasure. Yet Madonna managed it, with <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/interactive\/2018\/08\/16\/arts\/music\/madonna-birthday-impact.html\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">ample pre-planned coverage<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.independent.co.uk\/life-style\/fashion\/madonna-60-birthday-material-girl-fashion-influencer-style-80s-a8490701.html\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">this morning<\/a> celebrating her influence on popular culture. Then Aretha figuratively dropped her fur coat one final time; I hope Madonna enjoyed the headlines while they lasted! Right now, tribute must be paid to Aretha and I&#8217;m collecting some of my favorite Franklin-related links for you below. <\/p>\n<p><center><strong>Recommended Reading<\/strong><\/center><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.newyorker.com\/magazine\/2016\/04\/04\/aretha-franklins-american-soul\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">The New Yorker profile from 2016<\/a>.<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.vanityfair.com\/style\/1994\/03\/aretha-franklin-soul-of-the-queen\/\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">1994 Vanity Fair interview<\/a>.<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2018\/08\/16\/obituaries\/aretha-franklin-dead.html\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">New York Times obituary<\/a>.<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.independent.co.uk\/news\/obituaries\/aretha-franklin-dead-queen-soul-music-singer-atlantic-detroit-a8489536.html\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">The Independent obituary<\/a>.<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/local\/obituaries\/aretha-franklin-musics-queen-of-soul-dies-at-76\/2018\/08\/16\/c35de4b8-9e9f-11e8-83d2-70203b8d7b44_story.html?utm_term=.f928b1810de6\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Washington Post obituary<\/a>.<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/time.com\/5369587\/aretha-franklin-civil-rights\/\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Time Magazine obituary<\/a>.<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.elle.com\/culture\/music\/a22748379\/aretha-franklin-tribute-legend\/\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Elle Magazine tribute<\/a>.<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nme.com\/blogs\/aretha-franklin-1942-2018-icon-feminism-civil-rights-movement-greatest-soul-singer-generation-2366941\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">NME obituary<\/a>.<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.clickondetroit.com\/news\/politics\/john-lewis-aretha-franklin-inspired-us-all-during-civil-rights-movement\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Congressman John Lewis paid tribute today to Franklin&#8217;s civil-rights activism.<\/a><\/li>\n<li>The Nation: &#8220;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.thenation.com\/article\/aretha-franklin-musical-genius-truth-teller-freedom-fighter\/\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Musical Genius, Truth Teller, Freedom Fighter<\/a>.&#8221;<\/li>\n<li>The Atlantic: &#8220;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.theatlantic.com\/entertainment\/archive\/2018\/08\/aretha-franklins-revolution\/567715\/\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Aretha Franklin&#8217;s Revolution<\/a>&#8220;<\/li>\n<li>Vanity Fair: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.vanityfair.com\/style\/2018\/08\/aretha-franklin-history-with-civil-rights\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Franklin&#8217;s history with civil rights<\/a>.<\/li>\n<li>Washington Post: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/news\/retropolis\/wp\/2018\/08\/14\/how-aretha-franklins-respect-became-an-anthem-for-civil-rights-and-feminism\/?utm_term=.c8b1f40bf2b8\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">How &#8220;Respect&#8221; became an anthem for feminism and civil rights<\/a>.<\/li>\n<li>Atlanta Journal Constitution: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ajc.com\/news\/aretha-franklin-used-her-voice-deliver-music-for-social-justice\/5yr4uEf2f4jYhAbPOtHBLN\/\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Music for social justice<\/a>.<\/li>\n<li>Bustle: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bustle.com\/p\/aretha-franklins-civil-rights-quotes-confirm-why-she-will-always-be-a-queen-10136491\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Franklin&#8217;s civil-rights quotes<\/a>.<\/li>\n<li>People Magazine: <a href=\"https:\/\/people.com\/music\/aretha-franklin-divas-live-1998-mariah-carey-celine-dion-gloria-estefan-shania-twain-carole-king\/\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Tributes from the VH1 Divas<\/a>.<\/li>\n<li>Variety: <a href=\"https:\/\/variety.com\/2018\/music\/news\/arethas-biographer-on-the-complicated-woman-behind-the-diva-she-tried-to-paint-a-picture-of-a-happy-life-1202907825\/\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Interview with Franklin biographer David Ritz<\/a>.<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/time.com\/5365484\/aretha-franklin-time-cover\/\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Time Magazine had Franklin on its cover just over 50 years ago<\/a>.<\/li>\n<li>New York Times: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2018\/08\/16\/arts\/music\/aretha-franklin-natural-woman-kennedy-center-honors.html?smid=tw-nytimesarts&#038;smtyp=cur\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Interviews about the Kennedy Center performance<\/a>.<\/li>\n<li>Rolling Stone: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.rollingstone.com\/music\/music-news\/flashback-aretha-franklin-owns-a-natural-woman-alongside-mariah-carey-and-others-710446\/\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">The VH1 Divas special<\/a>.<\/li>\n<li>Slate: <a href=\"https:\/\/slate.com\/culture\/2018\/08\/aretha-franklin-dead-the-story-of-respect-the-greatest-cover-of-all-time.html\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Why &#8220;Respect&#8221; is the greatest cover song of all time<\/a>.<\/li>\n<li>Los Angeles Times: <a href=\"http:\/\/www.latimes.com\/entertainment\/music\/la-et-ms-aretha-franklin-key-albums-sidebar-20180816-story.html\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Five must-own Aretha Franklin albums<\/a>.<\/li>\n<li>The Cut: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thecut.com\/2018\/08\/8-times-aretha-franklin-reminded-people-who-she-was.html\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">&#8220;8 Times Aretha Franklin Reminded People She Was Aretha Franklin<\/a>.&#8221;<\/li>\n<li>Glamour: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.glamour.com\/gallery\/aretha-franklin-best-fashion-moments\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Aretha&#8217;s most iconic fashion moments.<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/knowyourmeme.com\/memes\/aretha-s-hat\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Speaking of fashion, there was that time that her hat became a meme<\/a>.<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.rollingstone.com\/music\/music-features\/aretha-franklin-beatles-eleanor-rigby-712267\/\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">I love this Rolling Stone piece on how Aretha covered the Beatles like no other, by Beatles fanatic Rob Sheffield<\/a>.<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.wsj.com\/articles\/in-the-court-of-the-queen-1534432840\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Wall Street Journal subscribers only: Two decades of interviews with Aretha<\/a>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><center><strong>Recommended Watching<\/strong><\/center><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Variety: <a href=\"https:\/\/variety.com\/2018\/music\/news\/aretha-franklin-dead-best-live-performances-1202903223\/\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Legendary live performances, including Martin Luther King Jr.&#8217;s funeral and Barack Obama\u2019s first presidential inauguration<\/a>.<\/li>\n<li>NBC News: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nbcnews.com\/pop-culture\/music\/how-aretha-franklin-became-queen-soul-n901336\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">The moment Aretha became the Queen of Soul<\/a>.<\/li>\n<li>The Guardian: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/music\/video\/2018\/aug\/16\/one-song-six-decades-aretha-franklin-sings-you-make-me-feel-like-a-natural-woman-video\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">&#8220;A Natural Woman&#8221;: One song, six decades<\/a>.<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=og3BhJ8SExY&#038;feature=youtu.be\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">In 1987, Aretha was the first woman inducted into the Rock &#038; Roll Hall of Fame. She wasn&#8217;t in attendance. Keith Richards, Clive Davis, and her brother Cecil did the honors<\/a>.<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=2dbf3HlNirE\"\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">60 Minutes interview from 1990<\/a>.<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=U2IzkQGFnKs\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Conan O&#8217;Brien interview from 2002<\/a>.<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=zkKb25aS-OY\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Assorted moments with Oprah<\/a>.<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=cnz2d8kVFU0\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">That famous quote about Taylor Swift<\/a>.<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.esquire.com\/entertainment\/music\/a22757514\/aretha-franklin-final-performance-video\/\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Aretha&#8217;s final performance in 2017, via Esquire<\/a>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Actually, I will be back with my pre-planned Madonna post later tonight. Stay tuned. I&#8217;ll also update the links here with as many great Aretha tributes as I can find.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Aretha Franklin &#8212; the Queen of Soul &#8212; always knew how to create a Moment. via GIPHY She was the diva of divas, as she proved 20 years ago this October, during the debut &#8220;VH1 Divas Live&#8221; special, at the end of which which she famously dominated Mariah Carey, Gloria Estefan, Celine Dion, Shania Twain,&#8230;<\/p>\n<p><a class=\"more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.wendybrandes.com\/blog\/2018\/08\/rip-aretha-franklin\/\">Read More &raquo;<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":40812,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[726,10,49,54,42,47],"tags":[1621],"class_list":{"0":"post-40785","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-art-entertainment","8":"category-celebrities","9":"category-in-the-news","10":"category-madonna","11":"category-music","12":"category-obits","13":"tag-aretha-franklin","14":"entry"},"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wendybrandes.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40785","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wendybrandes.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wendybrandes.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wendybrandes.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wendybrandes.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=40785"}],"version-history":[{"count":28,"href":"https:\/\/www.wendybrandes.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40785\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":40833,"href":"https:\/\/www.wendybrandes.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40785\/revisions\/40833"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wendybrandes.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/40812"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wendybrandes.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=40785"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wendybrandes.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=40785"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wendybrandes.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=40785"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}