ROYAL TREATMENT
The Queen of Soul on why she loves Chicago
She may have just celebrated her 75th birthday on March 25, but to her fans, Aretha Franklin is ageless — her music timeless.
The Queen of Soul earlier this year announced her retirement from full- on touring, but that excludes periodic engagements, such as her concert March 31 at the Chicago Theatre.
“It’s more of a semiretirement,” Franklin says. “I’m doing no more than two dates per month. … I had been doing four or five a month [ most recently], but it just does not give you time to do anything else but that. I didn’t have time to keep my home. I was constantly getting on and off buses [ Franklin has eschewed flying since 1979, traveling instead by her exquisitely appointed tour bus].
“I have everything I need on the bus,” she says. “It was custom- made for me. But still, the traveling was just getting to be too much. At this point in my career, those 500- or 600- mile drives are a little bit much,” the singer says, noting she was on her way back from a concert in Connecticut.
Though she had been singing in her pastor father’s church choir since she was a small child, Franklin’s professional career began in the late 1950s, and by the late 1960s the Memphis, Tennesseeborn and Detroit- raised singer had already scored what would become her iconic hits: “Respect,” “Think” and “You Make Me Feel ( Like a Natural Woman).” She would go on to other megahits including “Freeway of Love,” “Chain of Fools,” “I Say a Little Prayer” and “Until You Come Back to Me ( That’s What I’m Gonna Do).” She performed at the inaugurations of presidents Carter, Clinton and Obama. She became the first female artist to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Rolling Stone ranked her No. 1 on its list of 100 Greatest Singers of All Time. She’s amassed 19 Grammy Awards, and in September Franklin will release her latest studio album ( she has more than 40 of them to her credit).
“I certainly was never prepared for [ this huge success],” Franklin says with a chuckle. “I didn’t think we’d arrive where we are. And I didn’t think that we would not arrive. I just didn’t ever really think about it. I just [ focused my efforts] on the work. … But I am very happy with the respect I got from the industry and very, very grateful to the loyalty of the fans. It’s just been super.”
The new project is somewhat of a family affair. She will be joined by her granddaughter Victorie Franklin, who will contribute the classic Christian song “Mary Did You Know?”; and by her son, Eddie Franklin, on Marvin Gaye’s iconic hit, “What’s Going On.”
“I just try to get the best out of them as artists,” Franklin says, when asked about working with her family members in the studio. “I think music is in them,” she continues. “There’s no way they could not be in the business.” Franklin quickly adds that their music careers take a back seat to school. “The one thing I’ve always insisted on is that they get their education.”
“It’s actually really amazing that I get to look up to somebody like that. I get pointers and sometimes lessons and I get to learn from the best,” the 17- yearold Victorie Franklin said of her grandmother in a recent interview with a Detroit television station.
In addition to her family, Franklin says Stevie Wonder and Jamie Foxx are also part of the new project.
“This will be our first time, in all the years we’ve known each other and worked on the stage together, that Stevie and I will be working in the studio together,” Franklin says of the legendary Wonder. “He’s writing three songs [ including a duet] for me, so I’ve very anxious to hear them.”
As for Chicago, Franklin says the city is one of her favorites.
“I love Chicago because it’s very cosmopolitan and very contemporary, but at the same time it also has some of that Old World charm,” she says. “I love the people, the food, the music. And it’s very similar to my Detroit.”
NOTE: Aretha Franklin will perform at Ravinia on June 17. Visit ravinia. org.