Aretha Franklin
Booking Aretha Franklin
To book Aretha Franklin or another Adult Contemporary musician for your private party, corporate event, fundraiser or other function, please fill out our Booking Agent Entertainment Request Form to quickly connect with one of our Booking Agents.
We will work with you to produce a memorable event. Get started now by filling out our no-obligation Booking Agent Entertainment Request Form and we will work with you to book Aretha Franklin or another Adult Contemporary artist for your event.
Aretha Franklin’s Biography
Aretha Franklin is one of the giants of soul music, and indeed of American pop as a whole.. Her astonishing run of late-’60s hits with Atlantic Records — ‘Respect,’ ‘I Never Loved a Man,’ ‘Chain of Fools,’ ‘Baby I Love You,’ ‘I Say a Little Prayer,’ ‘Think,’ ‘The House That Jack Built,’ and several others — earned her the title ‘Lady Soul,’ which she has worn uncontested ever since. Franklin’s roots in gospel ran extremely deep. With her sisters Carolyn and Erma (both of whom would also have recording careers), she sang at the Detroit church of her father, Reverend C.L. Franklin, while growing up in the 1950s Ultimately, however, Franklin ended up with Columbia, to which she was signed by the renowned talent scout John Hammond. Franklin would record for Columbia constantly throughout the first half of the ’60s, notching occasional R&B hits (and one Top 40 single, ‘Rock-a-bye Your Baby with a Dixie Melody’) but never truly breaking out as a star.
The Columbia period continues to generate considerable controversy among critics, many of whom feel that Aretha’s true aspirations were being blunted by pop-oriented material and production. When Franklin left Columbia for Atlantic, producer Jerry Wexler was determined to bring out her most soulful, fiery traits. As part of that plan, he had her record her first single, ‘I Never Loved a Man (The Way I Love You),’ at Muscle Shoals in Alabama with esteemed Southern R&B musicians.
In the late ’60s, Franklin became one of the biggest international recording stars in all of pop. The chart statistics are impressive in and of themselves: ten Top Ten hits in a roughly 18-month span between early 1967 and late 1968, for instance, and a steady stream of solid mid- to large-size hits for the next five years after that. Her Atlantic albums were also huge sellers, and far more consistent artist,ically than those of most soul stars of the era. Franklin’s commercial and artist,ic success was unabated in the early ’70s, during which she landed more huge hits with ‘Spanish Harlem,’ ‘Bridge Over Troubled Water,’ and ‘Day Dreaming.’ She also produced two of her most respected, and earthiest, album releases with Live at Fillmore West and Amazing Grace.
There was also another return to gospel in 1987 with One Lord, One Faith, One Baptism. In 1986 Franklin released her follow-up to Who’s Zoomin’ Who?, the self-titled Aretha, which saw the single I Knew You Were Waiting for Me, a duet with George Michael, hit the top of the charts. There was also another return to gospel in 1987 with One Lord, One Faith, One Baptism. Now solidly an iconic figure and acknowledged as one of the best singers of her generation no matter what her record sales were, Franklin contributed songs to several movie soundtracks in the next few years before releasing the R&B-based A Rose Is Still a Rose in 1998. So Damn Happy followed five years later in 2003 and saw the Grammy-winning song Wonderful. Franklin left Arista Records that same year after 23 years and started her own label, Aretha’s Records, two years later in 2005.
Having an Event?
Our Services Include
- Contacting and negotiating with celebrity talent
- Facilitating communication between talent and your staff
- As necessary, our production staff is available to oversee all production elements, ensuring a performance that will exceed expectations
- Looking for a headline entertainer? Contact us and let’s discuss the opportunities that are available to you.