Aretha Louise Franklin ( ə-REE-thə; March 25, 1942 – August 16, 2018) was an American singer, songwriter and pianist. Honored as the "Queen of Soul", Rolling Stone magazine twice named her as the greatest singer of all time.

As a child, Franklin was noticed for her gospel singing at New Bethel Baptist Church in Detroit, Michigan, where her father C. L. Franklin was a minister. At the age of 18, she was signed as a recording artist for Columbia Records. While her career did not immediately flourish, Franklin found acclaim and commercial success once she signed with Atlantic Records in 1966. She recorded albums such as I Never Loved a Man the Way I Love You (1967), Lady Soul (1968), Spirit in the Dark (1970), Young, Gifted and Black (1972), Amazing Grace (1972), and Sparkle (1976), before experiencing problems with the record company. Franklin left Atlantic in 1979 and signed with Arista Records. Her success continued with the albums Jump to It (1982), Who's Zoomin' Who? (1985), Aretha (1986) and A Rose Is Still a Rose (1998).

Franklin is one of the best-selling music artists, with over 75 million records sold worldwide. She recorded 112 charted singles on the US Billboard charts, including 73 Hot 100 entries, 17 top-ten pop singles, 96 R&B entries and 20 number-one R&B singles.