Aretha Franklin (Getty)
Aretha Franklin has decided to call it quits after one more album in 2017. She has declared her last concert in 2017 as well. The Queen of Soul has been singing professionally since her teens and has been given multiple awards and accolades from a wide variety of institutions.
We will be sad to see her go, although she did say that she will continue to do small concerts here and there, she will be leaving the limelight that she has known for so long. We honor 18 time Grammy winner with a 5 fast facts you need to know about Aretha Franklin.
1. She has the Most Charted Singles of any Female Artist in Billboard History.
Aretha Franklin (Getty)
Aretha Franklin (Getty)
Franklin has a total of 112 singles that have charted on Billboard in her career including; 77 Hot 100 singles, 17 top tens, 100 R&B entries, and 20 R&B number one songs. This includes her anthems “Respect”, “Natural Woman”, and “Freeway of Love.” Her last charted single was the 1998 song “A Rose is Still a Rose.”
2. She was the First Woman Inducted into the Rock N Roll Hall of Fame
Franklin has been honored with numerous awards, but in 1987 she became the first female artist inducted into the Rock n Roll Hall of Fame. She was also the second female artist inducted into the UK Music Hall of Fame in 2005. She was also featured on two Rolling Stone all-time lists including #9 on the “100 Greatest Artists of All Time”, and #1 on the “100 Greatest Singers of All Time.”
3. Franklin’s First Record was a Gospel Record called Songs of Faith
Shortly after her mother’s death, Franklin began singing solos in the church where her father was pastor. When she was 14 her father began managing her and she would hit the road with hi on his “gospel caravan” tours. She received her first recording deal on J.V.B. Records and recorded the album Songs of Faith in 1956. J.V.B. released two singled on gospel radio; “Never Grow Old”:, and “Precious Lord, Take My Hand.”
4. Her Anthem “Respect” was written by Otis Redding
Otis Redding wrote “Respect” in 1965 and it’s vastly different from Franklin’s version. Redding’s version is about a man who will give a woman what she wants so that she will stay, as long as he gets a little respect. Franklin’s version became a feminist and civil rights anthem shooting to #1 and earning her two Grammy awards in 1968 for “Best Rhythm & Blues Recording”, and “Best Rhythm & Blues Solo Vocal Performance.” The song was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1987 and was added to the National Recording Registry in 2002.
5. She has an Asteroid Named After her called asteroid “249516 Aretha”
Aretha Franklin (Getty)
Aretha Franklin (Getty)
Aretha Franklin has been given multiple awards in her 6 decade career including; a star on the Hollywood Hall of Fame in 1979. Her voice was declared a “natural resource” by the state of Michigan in 1985, she was awarded a Grammy Legend Award in 1991, was a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 1994, and a Kennedy Center Honoree in 1994. She was also give a National Medal of Arts in 1999, and a Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2005… and Asteroid 249516 Aretha named in her honor in 2014.