Aretha Franklin (1942-2018)

Aretha Franklin is arguably the greatest singer-songwriter of all time and defined soul music’s golden age in the 1960s. Adorned and recognized as a vocal prodigy, were compiled into the album “The Gospel Sound of Aretha Franklin” in 1956. After she switched from gospel to secular music at the age of 18 and releasing top hits, she switched back to releasing gospel music and released more world-renowned songs such as “I Never Loved a Man (the Way I Love You)” in 1967 and “Think” in 1968. During this time, she was labeled “the Queen of Soul”, a moniker she carried out for herself for the rest of her life. In 1987, she became the first woman inducted to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and received the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2005. During her career, she would focus on civil rights activism, often touring with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and vowing never to perform in front of a segregated crowd. She died in 2018 but left a long-lasting legacy on black artists and social justice.