Skip to main content
Clear icon
18º

Quick facts about Aretha Franklin, 'The Queen of Soul'

Trade ad for Aretha Franklin's single "Baby I Love You". (1967)

Here are some quick facts about Aretha Franklin, a.k.a. "The Queen of Soul."

Personal life facts:

Recommended Videos



-- She was born March 25, 1942 in Memphis, Tenn. to Pastor Clarence LaVaughn (C.L.) and Barbara Franklin. 

-- Her family moved to Detroit when she was just 2 years old. 

-- She moved to Los Angeles in 1976. 

-- She moved back to Detroit in 1982 when her father was in a coma. He was shot in 1979. 

-- In 1961, Franklin married Ted White, who was her manager early in her career. They divorced in 1969. 

Aretha Franklin performs onstage at the Elton John AIDS FoundationNew York Fall Gala at Cathedral of St. John the Divine on November 7, 2017, in New York City.

-- Franklin married her second husband, Glynn Turman, in 1978. They were divorced in 1984. 

-- Franklin has four children: Clarence Franklin Jr. and Edwin Franklin, who were both born in the 1950s when Franklin was a teen; Ted White Jr., who was born in 1969 (father Ted White); and Kecalf Cunningham, who was born in 1970 (father Ken Cunningham). 

-- Two of Franklin's sisters died from cancer. Carolyn Franklin died in 1988 from breast cancer. She was 44. Her other sister, Erma Vernice Franklin, died in 2002 from throat cancer. She was 64. 

-- Franklin has other siblings: Her brother Vaughn was born in 1934. He is Barbara Franklin's son from a relationship before she was with Aretha's father. Her sister Carl Ellan Kelley was born in 1940. Kelley is C.L. Franklin's daughter by Mildred Jennings, who was a congregant of New Salem Baptist Church in Memphis, Tenn. where C.L. was pastor in the late 1930s and early 40s. 

-- On June 10, 1979 C.L. Franklin was shot twice at point blank range during what was believed to be an attempted robbery at his home on Detroit's west side. He was taken to Henry Ford Hospital and he remained in a coma for the next five years. The Franklin children moved him back to his home six months after he was shot and installed a 24-hour nurse at the residence to monitor him. He remained at the home until the middle of 1984. He died on July 27, 1984 just one week after being placed in Detroit's New Light Nursing Home. He was entombed at Detroit's historic Woodlawn Cemetery. 

-- Barbara Franklin died of a heart attack at age 34 in 1952. 

-- In August 2010, Aretha Franklin had to cancel her dates with Condoleezza Rice on their joint tour after breaking two ribs in a fall

-- In September 2010, Franklin's second eldest son, Edward Franklin, was attacked by three people while at a gas station on Joy Road in west Detroit. 

-- In November 2010, Franklin's doctor ordered the singer not to perform until May 2011 after she reportedly spent a week in Detroit's Sinai-Grace Hospital for what was called a "serious illness."

No description found

Professional career facts:

-- Franklin scored a total 20 No. 1 singles and 45 top 40 singles -- the most by any woman. 

-- Franklin has won 18 Grammy Awards in total during a half-century career. She first charted in 1961.

-- Franklin holds the record for most Best Female R&B Vocal Performance awards with 11 to her name -- including eight consecutive awards from 1968 to 1975 (the first eight awarded in that category).

-- She originally signed with Columbia Records in 1960, then switched to Atlantic in 1966, then Arista in the 1980s. 

-- Franklin's first hit single was "I Never Loved A Man (The Way I Love You)" in 1967

-- On June 28, 1968, Aretha Franklin became the second black American woman to appear on the cover of Time magazine

-- In January 1987, she became the first woman inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

-- In November 2005, Franklin was honored with the Presidential Medal of Freedom from President George W. Bush at the White House along with Robert Conquest and Alan Greenspan. 

-- On Jan. 20, 2009, Franklin perform "My Country, 'Tis of Thee" during the inauguration ceremony of President Barack Obama. The distinctive hat she wore during the performance is now on display at the Smithsonian. 

-- On May 23, 2010, Franklin received an Honorary Doctorate in Music from Yale University. 

No description found