But it has been argued that the inspiration for Franklin's passionate vocals was likely drawn from a painful place. Encouraged by her father, Aretha made her first recording, the album Songs of ...

Countless Aretha Franklin songs topped the charts throughout her 60-plus year career, and she earned not only the Grammy Legend Award and its Lifetime Achievement Award, but 18 Grammy wins out of ...

Aretha Franklin grew up in 1950s Detroit, surrounded from childhood by the now-famous faces of the civil rights movement. Her songs would become their anthems. Her Baptist minister father was the ...