It was a small moment that would reverberate for decades. On January 24th, 1967, Aretha Franklin was struggling to record "I Never Loved A Man" (The Way I Love You). As she would recall, something with the studio musicians wasn’t clicking until someone said, “Aretha, why don’t you sit down and play?” According to Rolling Stone, Franklin quickly cut the smouldering track that would become her first No.1 R&B hit after she started playing the piano. “It just happened,” she said. Wexler, the Atlantic Records producer who helped raise the singer to her incomparable soul heights described, “Her eyes are incredible, luminous eyes covering inexplicable pain. Her depressions could be as deep as the dark sea. I don’t pretend to know the sources of her anguish, but anguish surrounds Aretha as surely as the glory of her musical aura.”
Reigning as the Queen Of Soul, Franklin loomed over culture in several monumental ways. She was more than just a titanic vocalist who could effortlessly move through pop, jazz, R&B, gospel, and disco. Indeed, the Hall Of Fame singer used both her platform and her voice to fight for equal opportunities for black autoworkers and then for the broader mission of voting rights and non-discrimination. “Black people will be free,” said Franklin, who throughout her career contributed positively to shaping the social fabric of America.
Today would’ve been the 77th birthday of Aretha Franklin. BAZAAR honour her legacy of astounding artistic achievement and humanitarianism efforts by compiling some of the greatest artworks she had inspired.
Pictures via Getty Images, The Warhol Museum, Avedon Foundation, AnandaNahu, Luisboa.Art, Jerry Schatzberg
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