Aretha Franklin

Aretha Louise Franklin (born March 25, 1942) is an American singer, songwriter and pianist. Although known for her soul recordings and referred to as the The Queen of Soul, Franklin is adept at jazz, blues, R&B and gospel music. Rolling Stone magazine ranked Franklin No. 1 on its list of The Greatest Singers of All Time.

Aretha Franklin is one of the most honored artists by the Grammy Awards, with 18 competitive Grammys to date, and two honorary Grammys. She has scored a total of 20 No. 1 singles on the Billboard R&B Singles Chart, one of which also became her first No. 1 hit on the Billboard Hot 100: "Respect" (1967). "I Knew You Were Waiting (For Me)" (1987), a duet with George Michael, became her second No. 1 on the latter chart. Since 1961, she has scored a total of 45 "Top 40" hits on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. She also has the most million-selling singles of any female artist with 14. Between 1967 and 1982 she had 10 #1 R&B albums - more than any other female artist.

In 1987, Aretha Franklin became the first female artist to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Aretha Franklin was the only featured singer at the 2009 presidential inauguration for Barack Obama.

In 2003, after 23 years with Arista, Aretha Franklin parted with the company and decided to go on the independent route. Her own label, Aretha Records, formed in 2005 but no albums have been issued from the label. Franklin released a duets compilation album, Jewels in the Crown: All-Star Duets with the Queen, in 2007. The album featured the Fantasia duet, "Put You Up on Game", which despite becoming a hit on Urban AC radio, stalled at number 41 on the R&B charts. A year later, Franklin issued her first holiday album, This Christmas, Aretha. After initially being released as a Borders exclusive, it was later released by the DMI label. In 2006 Aretha announced the upcoming release of her next album, A Woman Falling Out of Love on her label. However, release dates for the album have been scheduled and delayed numerous times. Franklin said she recorded duets for the album with gospel singer Karen Clark Sheard as well as pop-rock superstar Richard Marx and country artist Faith Hill. In 2008, Franklin was honored as MusiCares "Person of the Year," two days prior to the 50th Annual Grammy Awards, where she was awarded her 18th career Grammy. Franklin was personally asked by then newly-elected President Barack Obama to perform at his inauguration singing "My Country 'tis of Thee". The memorable hat she wore at the ceremony was donated to the Smithsonian Institute. In 2010, Aretha Franklin received an honorary music degree from Yale University.

 In September 2010, Franklin's second eldest son Edward Franklin was attacked by three people while at a gas station on Joy Road in northwest Detroit. A month prior, Aretha Franklin had to cancel her dates with Condoleeza Rice on their joint tour after breaking two ribs in a fall. In November, Franklin's doctor ordered the ailing singer to not perform until May 2011 after she reportedly spent a week in Detroit's Sinai-Grace Hospital for a 'serious illness' which was later revealed to be pancreatic cancer.