Aretha Louise Franklin ( ə-REE-thə; March 25, 1942 – August 16, 2018) was an American singer-songwriter and pianist. Regarded as the "Queen of Soul", she was twice named by Rolling Stone magazine as the greatest singer of all time.
As a child, Franklin was noticed for her gospel singing at New Bethel Baptist Church in Detroit, Michigan, where her father, C. L. Franklin, was a minister. At the age of 18 she was signed as a recording artist for Columbia Records. While her career did not immediately flourish, Franklin found acclaim and commercial success after signing with Atlantic Records in 1966. There she recorded significant hit albums such as I Never Loved a Man the Way I Love You, Lady Soul and Aretha Now in the late 1960s and Young, Gifted and Black, Amazing Grace and Sparkle in the 1970s, before experiencing problems with the record company. Franklin left Atlantic in 1979 and signed with Arista Records, where her career was revived with the hit albums Jump to It, Who's Zoomin' Who?, Aretha and A Rose Is Still a Rose.
Franklin is one of the best-selling music artists, with more than 75 million records sold worldwide.
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