The Originals: Aretha Franklin

You may be saying to yourself, "I don't hear Aretha Franklin on the radio anymore, except for the oldies dial once in a while." And, yes, it's true that the "Queen of Soul" hasn't had a new release since 2003's "So Damn Happy," but you can't help but hear her on the radio. It'll be her influence coming out of the mouths of artists like Mariah Carey, Celine Dion, Mary J. Blige, and countless others. The line forms long and strong behind this Original.

The Queen made her entrance on March 25, 1942, in Memphis, Tennessee, the third of Reverend C.L. and Barbara Siggers Franklin's four children. If there was a genre of music that aptly described Aretha's early childhood, it would probably be the blues. At six, her parents seperated, having had problems for a long time. By ten, Barbara was gone.

The highest calling led Reverend Franklin and his family from Memphis, up to Buffalo, New York, and then to the city that would become Aretha's adopted hometown, Detroit. Here, he assumed the pulpit of the New Bethel Baptist Church, becoming a national legend in his own right from there. Aretha's prodigious talents became sharper at this time as well, becoming a voice and piano prodigy, and she was so good at the age of 14 that she got a record deal at the same company her father recorded his sermons, Checkers Records.

Her first release was 1956's "The Gospel Soul of Aretha Franklin," and while gospel would continue to be a strong part of her musical career, it was forced to the sidelines by teenage pregnancy, the first two of her four sons being born in 1955 and 1957. When she returned to music, it was to try her hand at the pop charts.

There were a few false starts in this time period. After fielding offers from giants RCA and Motown, Aretha opted for Columbia Records in 1960, but saw little success with them. Six years later, she found herself signed to Atlantic Records. They "made me sit down on the piano," Aretha later said, "and the hits came."

The results would make that statement a candidate for "Understatement of the Century." First single: 1967's "I Never Loved A Man (The Way That I Love You)," was a number-one R&B single and a top ten Hot 100 entry. Next single: "Respect." Enough said.

This set her off for a long run of dominance in the musical field. The next ten months brought "Baby I Love You," "Chain of Fools," and "(You Make Me Feel Like)A Natural Woman." In 1968, "Respect" won her the first of eight straight Grammys from then to 1974. The single that broke the streak, Natalie Cole's "This Will Be (An Everlasting Love)," was passed on by Aretha herself. In 1972, she released "Amazing Grace." It's sold over two million copies and is the best-selling gospel album ever.

But the embarrassment of riches would come to a screaming, and tragic, halt in the later seventies. She played out her Atlantic string with a succession of busts, both financially and artistically, until both sides decided to call it quits in 1979. That same year, on June 10, her father, Reverend C.L. Franklin, was critically injured in a robbery attempt at his home in Detroit, so badly hurt that he remained in a coma from then until his death five summers later.

And signing with Arista in 1980 didn't halt the skid either. Until she recorded a record with a longtime admirer in the producer's chair, some guy named Luther Vandross.

The two combined their extraordinary talents to produce 1982's "Jump To It," and it became Aretha's first gold record since 1976's Sparkle, and the waterfall reopened. Great artists of all walks wanted in on the Queen of Soul's court, for proof, you only need look at the cover of 1985's "Aretha," and see the last work of one Andy Warhol. And a musical, "From These Roots," based on her autobiography, is coming soon, with the Queen herself coaching actors in the audition phase.

And the great lady isn't done yet, not by a long shot. Planning to release her next album of new material in 2008, entitled "A Woman Falling Out of Love," she will do so under her own label, Aretha Records. On November 13 of this year, a album titled "Jewels In The Crown: All-Star Duets With The Queen" is set to be released, featuring songs with Vandross, Carey, John Legend, Fantasia, Whitney Houston, Annie Lennox, and Frank Sinatra, just to name a few. Plus, it's also said to include her performance of "Nessun Dorma," from the 1998 Grammys, when she was called off the bench to replace another legend, Luciano Pavorotti, who was ill. Talk about the best backup ever.

In 2004, "Rolling Stone" put in perspective the greatness of "Lady Soul," listing her ninth on their "100 Greatest Artists of All Time." Who'd you have to be to beat her? The Beatles, Bob Dylan, Elvis, the Rolling Stones, Chuck Berry, Jimi Hendrix, James Brown, and Little Richard. Who finished just behind? Ray Charles. The Queen, indeed, still rules.