March 1942
Aretha Franklin is born in Memphis, Tennessee. Her father, a prominent Baptist minister with gospel-music connections, would move the family briefly to Buffalo before settling in Detroit when Aretha was 2. She would call the city home for most of her life, and would always be closely associated with its massive musical legacy.
1956
Franklin releases her first album, a gospel collection called Songs of Faith, recorded at her father’s church when she was 14.
1961
Franklin marries her manager, Ted White. Their troubled eight-year union is believed to have inspired her performances on many songs.
February 1961
Franklin releases her first album for Columbia Records. She would have only minor hits in her six years with the label, which pushed her toward jazz and show tunes and away from her gospel roots.
November 1966
Franklin signs with Atlantic Records, where producer Jerry Wexler encourages her to embrace her classic soul-and-gospel sound. Several classic songs immediately followed, including (You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman and Chain of Fools.
February 1967
Respect, Franklin’s career-defining anthem, is recorded. The song would reach No 1 on the Billboard pop chart, win Franklin two Grammys and make her an international star. A month later it would be the opening track on her breakthrough album, I Never Loved a Man the Way I Love You.
June 1972
A live gospel album, Amazing Grace, is released amid a revival in spiritual music. It sold more than 2 million copies and is among Franklin’s biggest hits.
January 1977
Franklin sings God Bless America at the inauguration of Jimmy Carter.
June 1980
The hit film comedy The Blues Brothers is released, with Franklin appearing and singing Think in one of the film’s most popular scenes. It signaled that the 1980s would bring a career revival.
July 1985
“Freeway of Love” off of Franklin’s Who’s Zooming Who album, becomes her first top 10 hit in more than a decade.
January 1987
Franklin becomes the first woman inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.
April 1987
I Knew You Were Waiting (for Me), a duet with George Michael, reaches No 1 on the pop chart.
December 1994
Franklin, at age 52, becomes the youngest person ever chosen for the Kennedy Center honors. In his tribute, President Bill Clinton said he and the first lady considered her among their favourite artists. “You could say that Hillary and I went to college and law school with Aretha because there was scarcely a day when we didn’t listen to one of her songs,” said the president.
September 1999
She receives the National Medal of Arts and Humanities Award from President Bill Clinton, who says Franklin “brought sunshine to a rainy day and tenderness to a hardened heart.”
November 2005
President George Bush presents her with the 2005 Presidential Medal of Freedom, the US’ highest civil award.
February 2008
Franklin wins her last Grammy Award, her 18th, for Best Gospel Performance for Never Gonna Break My Faith with Mary J Blige. She is also a Grammy Lifetime Achievement and a Living Legend awardee.
January 2009
Franklin sings My Country, ‘Tis of Thee at the inauguration of Barack Obama.
October 2014
Franklin’s cover of Adele’s Rolling in the Deep reaches No 47 on Billboard’s R&B chart. It’s her 100th charting single, and she’s the first woman to reach the milestone.
