Aretha Franklin the voice known by millions, but the story is known by none. The traumatized child, teenage mother, Gospel Prodigy, and above all, the Queen of Soul, who still resides in the heart of people. Aretha Franklin was an American singer and songwriter. She is wildly recognized as the most influential female vocalist of the 60s. The eighteen times Grammy winner has topped Rolling Stone’s 100 Greatest Singer of all time. Her signature hit ‘Respect’ ranked number 4 on “Songs of the Century”. Moreover, Franklin performed at the inaugurations of the former United States presidents Bill Clinton and Barack Obama. At the ceremony, Aretha’s big felt hat with its crystal-studded bow grabbed more attention than herself.
The deep, complicated humanity imbued her song with realism. Her singing moved seamlessly among different styles such as Jazz, gospel, soul, pop, blues, and even opera. Franklin singles hit ” Baby I love you” “Chain to fools” and “Respect” gave her a major crossover success. Sadly, we lost her in August 2018, but she leaves a sparkling legacy of hit classic songs includes “A natural woman”, ” Angel”, ” Think”, and “Freeway of Love”. Today in the article we will talk about the American singer “Aretha Franklin”. Firstly, we will talk about her career and achievements and thereafter about her Net Worth.
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All About Aretha Franklin’s Career and achievements
Aretha Louis Franklin was born in Memphis on March 25, 1942, to Clarence LaVaughn Franklin and Barbara Siggers Franklin. Her mother died when Aretha was 10, but still, she grew up in an environment where Franklin can nurturing her singing skills. She embarked on a secular- music career at the age of 18 as a recording artist for Columbia Records. Her career blossomed in 1966 after singing a song with Atlantica Records. The hit continued to pile up as she continued to record albums such as “I never loved a man the way I love you,” released back in 1967. Then later in 1968, Aretha’s new album ‘Lady soul’ was released. Not only that, in 1970, she again released her then superhit album ‘spirit in the dark’. Her hit albums also include the 1972 albums ‘Young, gifted, and black’ and Amazing Grace.
Franklin left the Atlantic records in 1979 and signed with the ” Arista record”. Aretha also appeared in films like “The blues brothers” and “Who’s zoomin’ Who”. Aretha recorded 112 charted on Billboard, including 77 Hot 100 and 17 top ten pop hits. She received 18 Grammy awards, including the first eight grammy given for Best Female R&B vocal performance between 1968-1975. She was also the receipt of Grammy living legend honor and Grammy lifetime achievement award.
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Aretha Franklin Net Worth
Aretha Franklin had an estimated net worth of $80 Million at the time of her death in August 2018. The major source of her income was her music catalog and royalty stream. She earned a huge amount of money from her music career. After her death, it was revealed that Aretha owned an IRS worth between $5 million -$8million. The IRS claimed that Franklin owned more than $7.8 million in unpaid income taxes. Anyway, her sons could manage to pay more than half of the tax, and the remaining 15% will be paid very soon.
However, she also owned a large property portfolio, stocks, and other assets like luxurious cars and jewelry. The most interesting thing about her salary was that she demanded to pay in cash. It was even included in her contracts that the club promoters were required to hand $25,000 in cash. Anything beyond $25,000 could be paid in cheque. After her death, Aretha’s estates were equally split between her four sons.
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