biographer David Ritz In his second book about Franklin, “Respect,” he wrote of this distance, “Despite my determination to be a compassionate listener, my technique ultimately didn’t work, even though his gentle persistence would allow him to reveal all his sacred secrets. In the end, I didn’t cut a hole in his armor.” “She got …
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Ray Charles said Aretha Franklin “sang through them”. For his father, CL Franklin, “a stone That’s a good description of a great singer whose voice does something that even some brilliant, technically virtuoso vocalists can’t do. When Franklin was at his highest, his voice seemed to shape the whole of human emotions—joy and despair—as if …
Continue reading “‘Respect’ Review: Giving Aretha Franklin Her Rights”
Jennifer Hudson had plenty of time to think about how she would be portrayed. Aretha Franklin on screen. In 2007, shortly after Hudson won the Academy Award for best supporting actress for playing a girl group singer in “Dreamgirls,” Franklin told Hudson she should play him in a biopic, and a ten-year-long show filled with …
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When Cynthia Erivo was little, it seemed to her that Aretha Franklin was always on the radio. He remembers the name of the radio station (Magic FM) and the songs that seemed to repeat over and over: “Chain of Fools”; “Brothers Do It For Themselves”; “I Knew You Was Waiting”; and “(I Will Do This) …
Continue reading “Cynthia Erivo from ‘Genius: Aretha’ on Playing the Queen of Soul”