大象传媒

Continuing an in-depth profile of Aretha Franklin, who died on 16th August. Introduced by Paul Sexton and first broadcast in 2011.

In episode 2, Paul continues to shine a light on the life and times of Aretha Franklin. Tonight's programme picks up where the first left off - at the turn of the 1970s - and follows Aretha's story to 2011. It features many more of the songs that made the Queen of Soul's recording career so unforgettable, including the all-time Franklin favourites of Elton John, Jennifer Hudson and Mick Jagger.

The insights are more than just musical, as they also take us into Aretha's personal world. George Michael, for example, remembers their international chart-topping duet I Knew You Were Waiting (For Me) and how her skill in the studio extended to more than just singing. Record executive Clive Davis explains how his Arista label revived her career and put her back in the charts.

Elton John describes the feeling of having one of his early songs covered by Aretha when he was just making his own way as an artist, while her record producer Narada Michael Walden (also the writer of such massive hits as Who's Zoomin' Who and Freeway of Love) explains that she would rarely do more than two takes on any song.

Michael McDonald recalls his own thrill at having Franklin cover his Doobie Brothers smash What a Fool Believes and then how he got to duet and perform with her a decade later on the song Ever Changing Times. We hear how Aretha performed for presidents, sang opera at 30 minutes' notice to a multi-million audience, and survived health scares to be active again both on stage and in the studio at the age of 69.

First broadcast on 大象传媒 Radio 2 in 2011.