Her voice was unmistakable. She was an icon, a legend, the Queen of Soul. Aretha Franklin. Her music will long outlive her and her songs will be sung by generations to come. It is in celebrating her life that we now get to see her genius come to life in the new series based on her life, “Genius: Aretha” on National Geographic.
Rebecca Naomi Jones and Patrice Covington, who play Aretha Franklin’s sisters on the show, Carolyn and Erma Franklin, spoke with Live In The D Host, Jason Carr about the series.
Covington has worked with Stevie Wonder on the stage and has been in “Motown The Musical” on Broadway, so she has a long history with Detroit music and says she loves the city.
While Jones always loved Aretha’s music, describing it as the soundtrack of her life, she admitted that she didn’t know much about the Queen of Soul before being cast in the show. In the process of filming, not only did she learn more about Aretha but about Carolyn and Erma as well.
“I learned so much about how much they held her up. We’ve talked a lot about sisterhood, and how much that was an aspect of Aretha’s rise to stardom,” explained Jones.
Carolyn and Erma sang back up for their sister, helped her write songs, and even watched her kids while she was on tour.
The two actresses also shared their favorite Aretha Franklin song, “Until You Come Back to Me.”
To see the full interview, watch the video above.
“Genius: Aretha” is on National Geographic. The show began airing Sunday and will continue until Wednesday, March 24th, with double-stacked episodes every night. The episodes will be made available on Hulu the next day.