“RESPECT” — God welcoming Aretha Franklin to Heaven
“Aretha is a gift from God. When it comes to expressing yourself through song, there is no one who can touch her. She is the reason why women want to sing.” Mary J Blige
Aretha Franklin truly among all-time music greats
In 2010, when Rolling Stone magazine placed the incomparable Aretha Franklin at the top of its list of the 100 Greatest Singers of All Time, another black artist, the singer Mary J Blige remarked: “Aretha is a gift from God. When it comes to expressing yourself through song, there is no one who can touch her. She is the reason why women want to sing.”
Franklin, who died yesterday at 76 from advanced pancreatic cancer, had such a phenomenal voice that was also the reason why, when you heard her sing, it was easy to become transfixed.
Her musical influence is immeasurable. Besides her priceless voice, she was an instinctive arranger and pianist, even though she did not read music. She made the soundtrack to soul, to gospel, to rhythm and blues and to American civil rights. Her earliest albums, released in the 60s, were sold in segregated sections of US music shops. She still had the power to thrill as recently as four years…
