ROLLING STONE Ranking: The Greatest Female Singer of All Time, #1: Aretha Franklin
By Mary J Blige
You know when something is sent from heaven. You know when God had a hand in it. And Aretha is a gift from God. When it comes to throwing every fiber into a song, she’s second to none. She’s the reason women want to sing. Aretha has it all – the power, the technique. She is honest in everything she says. Everything she thinks or does can be found in her music, from “Chain Of Fools” to “Respect” and her live performances. And she doesn’t doubt herself for a second.
I think that confidence has to do with their gospel roots, because in gospel you don’t mess around – it’s about who’s the best, who gets the best parts. For them it’s not just a game. When I was little, we played “Do Right Woman” and “Ain’t No Way” every day. My mother cried when she heard these songs and I cried with her. It was through the soundtrack to Sparkle that I discovered Aretha for myself. I think I played Giving Him Something He Can Feel 30 times in a row before realizing that that was the voice my mom loved so much heard.
Even the way she pronounces words is fantastic: on “Giving Him Something He Can Feel” she sings “Many say that I’m too young” – and the way she says “I’m” you can almost see it she’s pissed off, but you’re still hanging on her every word. I picture her hands when she sings “You’re tying both of my hands” on “Ain’t No Way” because she attacks the word “both” so much. When you see her at work, you can see why Aretha is the way she is.
She was already a gospel great before she had her first world hit. Patronized by the pastor’s father and the legendary Reverend James Cleveland, who was also back at the piano when she entered the Baptist church in her walle dress, tucked behind the wooden pulpit and sang the most beautiful things from Jesus to Marvin Gaye. Two historic days: show and service, finally reconciled.
“Where did she find the clay?”
When we were recording “Don’t Waste Your Time” for my album “Mary” she just walked in and plastered the record like Pac-Man. She could sing a gospel phrase and it turned into something spacy jazzy I’d never heard before: “Now where did that come from? Where did she find the tone?” It’s wonderful to experience something like that because it helps people like me who don’t really believe in their talent. I look at her and I think, “I need a piece of that too. Whatever it is.”
- Birthday: March 25, 1942
- Key Songs: “(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman,” “Respect,” “I Never Loved A Man (The Way I Love You),” “Think,” “Chain Of Fools”
- Inspiration for: Whitney Houston, Alicia Keys, Aaron Neville, Annie Lennox