Our Queen of Soul | Aretha Franklin

Several weeks ago, I had the pleasure to watch the United Negro College Fund's Tribute to Aretha Franklin. The tribute celebrated one of the signature voices of 20th Century music and a true female pioneer. Franklin continues a legacy that begain with Bessie Smith through Mahalia Jackson and Billie "Lady Day" Holliday to Whitney Houston and Mary J. Blige.

Her father was the legendary Reverand C.L. Franklin. Franklin's houseguest included a plethora of civil rights leaders, including the Reverand Martin Luther King, Jr. Aretha who counted MLK as a mentor and a friend, understood early that she was a black woman, but would not let race confine her to just singing R&B. Franklin successfully tackled soul, gospel, blues, rock and several years ago, opera on her musical journey.

She inspired an entire generation of woman to demand "Respect," showing us that no mater what she was always a "Natural Woman." To understand how prolific Franklin was at the onset of her career, she had 10 top 10 songs the first 18 months of her career! Along with James Brown, Franklin had number one hits each year from the late 1960s through the early 1970s. As a child, I remember my father playing her landmark gospel album "Amazing Grace" until we almost destroyed the grooves in the wax.

Franklin has continued to evolve and remain relevant today. One of my fondest memories was a decade ago while hosting an entertainment show, I interviewed her at DAR Constitution Hall during a soundcheck. I told her that "Angel" was my favorite song and she had me take a seat and serenaded me with the song. It would be years later that I realized that the song, written by her sister Carolyn, would elicit such tearful emotion from Franklin during the UNCF tribute.

To stay in the proper frame of mind to write about "The Queen of Soul," I watched various performances of her on YouTube (as many that were left after the "corporate purge" of videos) and discovered that the UNCF tribute was one of several honoring this icon. This latest tribute featured young singers, Rueben Studdard, Fantasia Barrio and Jennifer Hudson as well as veterans Herbie Hancock, Al Jarreau, Chaka Khan and Natalie Cole.

There were some wonderful renditions of Franklin's songs but the best performance belonged to Fantasia brought the house down with a passionate, energetic version of "Baby, I Love You," which featured her coming down from the stage and singing directly to Franklin.

With the passing recently of "The Godfather of Soul," James Brown, I'm delighted that Franklin is honored and saluted while she still remains with us. I'm not sure if I said it then, but thank you Ms. Franklin for being an "angel" for one adoring fan!