Disclaimer: this countdown isn’t meant to be an all-time definitive list. These are simply my favorites.
There are legends, and there’s royalty. Aretha Franklin falls into that second category.
There has never been a more apt nickname for a vocalist than “Queen of Soul,” and for decades, she proved how well she earned that moniker time and time again.
Everyone knows songs like “Respect” and “Chain of Fools,” but not everybody realizes how she even outshone her peers with cover versions of hits — including my all-time favorite of hers:
And here’s one I’d never heard until I was looking up videos for this article:
Her soulful style and powerful voice came, of course, from her background in gospel music. As a pastor’s daughter, it’s clear how she took the church into her music for generations to hear.
And don’t forget: she even appeared on the big screen:
I can only imagine how the choirs in heaven have sounded for the past five years that Aretha’s been part of them.
Photo: Atlantic Records, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons