Who is Aretha Franklin, and what is she most famous for?
There is far too much about Aretha to fit into this answer so I’ll give you the basics: Aretha Louise Franklin, born 3/25/1942 in Memphis, TN. Often referred to as the Queen of Soul. Franklin was born on March 25, 1942, in Memphis, Tennessee to the Rev. C. L. Franklin, a Baptist minister, and Barbara Siggers Franklin. Aretha’s parents had a troubled relationship and separated when Aretha was six. Siggers died of a heart attack when Franklin was ten. The fourth of five siblings, Aretha’s father’s first pulpit after Memphis was in Buffalo, New York. The family subsequently moved to Detroit, Michigan where they grew up, Rev. Franklin assumed the pulpit of the New Bethel Baptist Church, and gained national fame as a preacher. Adept at the piano as well as having a gifted voice, Franklin became a child prodigy. By the age of fourteen, she signed a record deal with Battle Records, where her father recorded his sermons and gospel vocal recordings, and she issued Songs of Faith in 1956. Her ea
