Legend’s hit songs became anthems for world

THE ARETHA Franklin songbook includes a collection of hits that for many admirers defined the American experience in the second half of the 20th century. Her signature number, Respect, was written and originally performed by Otis Redding, but Franklin’s rendition is considered the definitive version, held up as a feminist and civil rights anthem.

Containing the line: “R-E-S-PE-C-T, find out what it means to me”, it went to the top of the US charts.

She also recorded (You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman,

co-written by Carole King and her former husband, Gerry Goffin. A Franklin original, it has been covered by the likes of Celine Dion and Mary J Blige.

Sir Rod Stewart also sang it from a male perspective. In the 1980 film The Blues

Brothers, she performed to a new generation an extended version of Think, another classic song of female empowerment.

A version of the track, with Franklin’s sisters Carolyn and Erma on backing vocals, featured on the film’s soundtrack, and the 1968 original was named by the music website Pitchfork as the 15th best song of the decade.

Ms Franklin’s friend, the singer Kim Sledge, compared her performances to those of her contemporaries, Michael Jackson and Prince.

And the British singer, Annie Lennox, described her as “simply peerless”.

“Superlatives are often used to describe astonishing artists, but in my view even superlatives seem insufficient,” Ms Lennox said. “Everyone who loved Aretha will be saying little prayers of gratitude, appreciation and respect for the musical life force that enriched our lives.”

The record executive Clive Davis, who is credited with reviving her career in the 1980s, said: “She was truly one of a kind. She was more than the Queen of Soul. She was a national treasure to be cherished by every generation throughout the world”.