A biography for Aretha Franklinhasn’t been written yet.
“The duet with Frank Sinatra, 'What Now My Love,' is one of my favorites.”
“I've never recorded anything I didn't like.”
“I don't do crazy things - I just don't.”
“As a very small girl, I listened to Charlie Parker and loved him and Max Roach and people like that.”
“We've come a long way, but there is still a lot of discrimination.”
“I've probably cried with a lot of songs - in teenage crushes, adult crushes.”
“I've done the Kennedy Center many times. I've sang for Marian Anderson. I've sang for Marion Williams. I've sang for Lionel Hampton.”
“I like 'Bootylicious,' 'Survivor' - my little granddaughter loves 'Survivor.'”
“I paid my dues; I certainly did.”
“Prince is gone. But the music will go on.”
“I don't feel one's personal medical condition is everybody's business. It just isn't something you advertise, and it's not open to discussion.”
“Christmases past, my sister Carolyn and I - we'd been waiting for Santa all night. Nothing! Where is this man?”
“John Legend is, in my opinion, classic. He is one of the best finds that has come along in a long time.”
“I always felt rock and roll was very, very wholesome music.”
“If a song's about something I've experienced or that could've happened to me it's good. But if it's alien to me, I couldn't lend anything to it. Because that's what soul is all about.”
“I think the hardest thing is losing weight. That's the hardest thing more than anything else.”
“I think you have a lot of really good artists today. You have your Beyonce, Usher, Nicki Minaj and the like. But our generation, the artists were stronger. You're talking about myself, Ray Charles, Stevie Wonder, Roberta Flack, Gladys Knight, The Temptations, The Four Tops.”
“Be your own artist, and always be confident in what you're doing. If you're not going to be confident, you might as well not be doing it.”
“My upbringing was in the church. We had to attend regularly. And, of course, the church provided a training ground for me, so to speak, as a young vocalist and certainly gave me all of the spiritual values that I needed as a young lady.”
“My mentor was Clara Ward of the famous Ward gospel singers of Philadelphia. And my dad was my coach. He coached me. And just my natural love for music is what drove me.”