ALL HAIL THE QUEEN....

Aretha, Aretha ...I have written abt the Queen several times...because she is a musical BEAST! Aretha literally changed the style of mainstream singing.  One of Aretha's inspirations and heroes was Mahalia Jackson and she clearly influenced her but vocally, Aretha is the MOST influential singer in the pop era period!  It’s is pre and post Aretha! There is no male or female artist is before her.She is known for her vocal gymnastics hitting all then notes and she is the reason that every person tries to wail at the end of song! Some have claimed, she did not read music which is false and just crazy. Her father was a musician, she lived in an middle class life in Detroit at the height of it's musical influence, and one of her closet friends was Smokey Robinson. She attended Julliard,is a classically trained pianist and  was familiar with gospel and opera. Her voice was versatile and she could sing anything, there was no limit to her musicianship. At 1998 Grammy telecast, she stepped in for Pavarotti who had fallen ill. The show director ran to Aretha's dressing room to ask if she could fill in, she listened to a recording of his rehearsal & sang the aria Nessun Dorma in HIS key w/ NO REHEARSAL!!! The audience was astounded and she received a standing ovation and incredible reviews the next day. She was the Queen of remake, as an artist she didn’t imitate she reinvented..when she remade “Until you come back to me” Stevie Wonder basically said” ..well, that’s done “. When asked about the song Natural Woman Carole King said “it  belongs to the Queen". She charted for 6 decades, from the 1960' through the mid 2000's and  she is the highest selling female artist. She was an apologetically black woman, she supported the civil rights & black power movement. When Angela Davis was arrested, she offered money for her release saying ' my money is made from black people...it's only right it is used to support them". She paid a high price for her community, as an outspoken , ambitious female artist. I hope that artists and especially female artist understand this trailblazer. All Hail the Queen!#arethafranklin #artist #legend #trailblazer #womensvoices