Aretha Louise Franklin was an American singer, songwriter and pianist. Honored as the "Queen of Soul", she was twice named by Rolling Stone magazine as the greatest singer of all time.
The 15th Annual Grammy Awards were held on March 3, 1973, at the Tennessee Theatre in Nashville, Tennessee. The event was the first Grammy ceremony not to be held in either New York City or Los Angeles. The 15th Grammys were also the first to be broadcast live on CBS, which has carried every Grammy telecast since.
I Never Loved a Man the Way I Love You is the tenth studio album by American singer Aretha Franklin, released on March 10, 1967, by Atlantic Records. It was Franklin's first release under her contract with the label, following her departure from Columbia Records after nine unsuccessful jazz standard albums, and marked a commercial breakthrough for her, becoming her first top 10 album in the United States, reaching number 2 on the Billboard 200. Two singles were released to promote the album: "Respect" and "I Never Loved a Man ". The former topped the Billboard Hot 100, while latter reached the top 10.
Donny Edward Hathaway was an American soul singer, keyboardist, songwriter, backing vocalist, and arranger who Rolling Stone described as a "soul legend". His most popular songs include "The Ghetto", "This Christmas", "Someday We'll All Be Free", and "Little Ghetto Boy". Hathaway is also renowned for his renditions of "A Song for You", "For All We Know", and "I Love You More Than You'll Ever Know", along with "Where Is the Love" and "The Closer I Get to You", two of many collaborations with Roberta Flack. He has been inducted into the St. Louis Walk of Fame and won one Grammy Award from four nominations. Hathaway was also posthumously honored with a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 2019. Dutch director David Kleijwegt made a documentary called Mister Soul – A Story About Donny Hathaway, which premiered at the International Film Festival Rotterdam on January 28, 2020.
Tapestry is the second studio album by American singer-songwriter Carole King. Produced by Lou Adler, it was released on February 10, 1971, by Ode Records. The album's lead singles, "It's Too Late" and "I Feel the Earth Move", spent five weeks at number one on both the Billboard Hot 100 and Easy Listening charts.
James Edward Cleveland was an American gospel singer, musician, and composer. Known as the "King of Gospel," Cleveland was a driving force behind the creation of the modern gospel sound by incorporating traditional black gospel, soul, pop, and jazz in arrangements for mass choirs.
"Take My Hand, Precious Lord" is a gospel song. The lyrics were written by Thomas A. Dorsey, who also adapted the melody.
"Precious Memories" is a traditional gospel song credited to J. B. F. Wright in 1925. Wright was born in Tennessee on February 21, 1877. The song has been performed by a wide variety of famous recording artists, including Tammy Wynette, Bill Monroe, Rosetta Tharpe, Johnny Cash, Willie Nelson, Alan Jackson, Emmylou Harris, Daniel O'Donnell, Gerry Rafferty, the Edwin Hawkins Singers, a duet by George Jones and Patti Page, Jim Reeves, Bob Dylan, Waylon Jennings, J. J. Cale, and James Blackwood's quartet.
"(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman" is a 1967 song by American soul singer Aretha Franklin released as a single by the Atlantic label. The lyrics were written by Gerry Goffin from an idea by Atlantic producer Jerry Wexler, and the music was composed by Carole King. Written for Franklin, the record reached number 8 on the Billboard Hot 100, and became one of her signature songs. It made history on the UK Singles Chart a week after her death, finally becoming a hit almost 51 years after it was first released, entering at No. 79. Franklin also included a live recording on the album Aretha in Paris in 1968.
"Amazing Grace" is a Christian hymn.
Hey Now Hey (The Other Side of the Sky) is the nineteenth studio album by American singer-songwriter Aretha Franklin.
This discography documents the releases of albums and singles by Aretha Franklin. Widely regarded as the "Queen of Soul", she has sold more than 75 million records worldwide, making her one of the best-selling R&B female artists of all time. Billboard ranks her as the 34th Greatest Artist of all time. Franklin has scored 73 entries on the Billboard Hot 100, the most among women for nearly 50 years until Nicki Minaj passed her in 2017. Billboard listed her as the 41st Top Gospel Artist of the 2010s. She has accumulated 20 No. 1 hits on Billboard's Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs.
Thomas Anthony Whitfield was an American gospel singer, songwriter, arranger, pianist, choir director and producer best known for helping to shape the fabric of contemporary gospel music with his elaborate choral arrangements and the merging of musical styles ranging from jazz to classical into traditional gospel foundations. This style earned him the respectable title of "Maestro" by many of his colleagues and supporters. He was best known for organizing one of the popular contemporary gospel choirs of all time, the Thomas Whitfield Company, and for producing best-selling records for Vanessa Bell Armstrong, Shirley Caesar, Yolanda Adams, Douglas Miller, Keith Pringle, Paul Morton and for Aretha Franklin.
"How I Got Over" is a Gospel hymn composed and published in 1951 by Clara Ward (1924–1973). Ward's original release sold 1 million copies and is one of the best-selling gospel songs of all time. Other notable recordings of this work have been made by Mahalia Jackson, and the Blind Boys of Alabama. It was performed by Mahalia Jackson at the historic March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom in 1963 before 250,000 people.
One Lord, One Faith, One Baptism is a 1987 gospel album recorded by Aretha Franklin, for Arista Records. Recorded at New Bethel Baptist Church in Detroit, Michigan, over the course of three nights, One Lord, One Faith, One Baptism became an album that combined the gospel talents of Aretha, her sisters Erma and Carolyn, and fellow gospel singer Mavis Staples.
The Southern California Community Choir is a choir founded by the Rev. James Cleveland.
"Let Us Go Back to the Old Landmark", also known as "The Old Landmark", is a gospel song. Sometimes credited as "traditional", it was written by William Herbert Brewster, Sr. and published in 1949 in an arrangement by Virginia Davis. It was recorded by Brewster's own group, the Brewster Singers, and by many other gospel performers including Edna Gallmon Cooke, Clara Ward, Sister Rosetta Tharpe, and The Staple Singers. Later recordings were made by Aretha Franklin, Dionne Warwick, and Sweet Honey in the Rock. Some of the recordings credit the writing of the song to Adeline Brunner. It is featured in the 1980 film The Blues Brothers, where it is performed by James Brown with the Rev. James Cleveland Choir. It also appears on the film's soundtrack album.
Aretha Franklin Sings the Great Diva Classics is the thirty-eighth and final studio album by American singer Aretha Franklin and was released on October 17, 2014. It features ten covers of songs made famous by female recording artists.
Amazing Grace is a 2018 concert film "realized and produced" by Alan Elliott. The film's footage was shot under the direction of Sydney Pollack, who does not receive directorial credit, just a "special thanks." Amazing Grace stars Aretha Franklin recording her 1972 live album of the same name. It co-stars James Cleveland, Alexander Hamilton, and the Southern California Community Choir, and features her father C. L. Franklin.
Respect is a 2021 American biographical musical drama film directed by Liesl Tommy, written by Tracey Scott Wilson and Callie Khouri, based on the life of American singer Aretha Franklin. The film stars Jennifer Hudson as Franklin, with Forest Whitaker, Marlon Wayans, Audra McDonald, Marc Maron, Tituss Burgess, and Mary J. Blige in supporting roles. The film follows the first three decades of Franklin's life, from being born as a musical prodigy in an affluent African-American family, the repercussions of losing her mother at age 10 to her arduous rise to international musical stardom, while enduring an abusive marriage, ultimately concluding with the recording of her influential live album Amazing Grace (1972).
