Editor's Note: On Thursday, the legendary Aretha Franklin died in her Detroit home at 76. In February, 2013, she spoke with The Review's John Law before a show at the Seneca Casino in Niagara Falls, New York. We've reprinted our talk with the Queen of Soul below:
There have been health scares. She still refuses to fly. And she's going to be 71 next month.
You might think she has had enough, but the Queen of Soul has no use for the 'R' word: Retirement.
On the line from her beloved Detroit, Aretha Franklin wants to make one thing clear – if she can still stand and still sing, she isn't packing it in anytime soon.
"No, no, no … I am in great shape," she says. "Hoo, I've got at least 20 more years. At least! I stay in good physical condition, so I'm in great shape for a concert at any time."
No, um, disrespect intended, but it wasn't so long ago Franklin – arguably the greatest pure singer of all time – nearly didn't have a choice in the matter. In Dec., 2010, she abruptly canceled some shows and underwent surgery for an undisclosed illness. A Detroit TV station reported it as pancreatic cancer, citing a family member, but Franklin dismissed the rumour. She kept quiet about the illness before finally revealing it was a tumour last year. She had been suffering a crippling pain in her side since a Toronto concert in 2009.
These days, it's an afterthought. Franklin would rather talk about anything else.
"That's something I've really left behind me at this point," she says. "I'm just thankful that all is well and it all worked out. All is well that ends well."
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In other words, The Queen is doing fine, thanks for asking. As she makes her semi-annual visit to the Seneca Niagara Casino March 2, Franklin's place in music history just seems to get more vast. Already the first woman inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, in recent years she has received honourary Doctorates in Music from Yale, Princeton and the University of Pennsylvania; performed at Barack Obama's presidential inauguration; and was inducted into the GMA Gospel Music Hall of Fame.
In 2009, Rolling Stone magazine polled 179 musicians, producers and music experts to determine the best singer of the rock era. There was zero surprise who was #1.
"Aretha is a gift from God," wrote Mary J. Blige. "When it comes to expressing yourself through song, there is no one who can touch her. She is the reason why women want to sing."
The Seneca Casino has seen its share of icons over the years. Few get the capital 'I' Aretha does.
The daughter of a Baptist minister, Franklin first came to prominence singing at her father's church in Detroit, where the family relocated from Buffalo in 1946 ("Who could forget the Texas red hots?," she recalls from her childhood. "And my mother used to work at the Buffalo General Hospital"). Franklin's reputation grew so large in Detroit, Sam Cooke, Jackie Wilson and Martin Luther King all showed up to watch her sing.
After signing with Columbia in 1960, Franklin had moderate success as a jazz and R&B singer, but it was a mere prelude to what was coming. After being pried away to Atlantic Records, Franklin went on a legendary run that saw nine Top 10 singles in two years, including Respect, Chain of Fools, (You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman and Think. She also released two of the the most influential soul albums ever – 1967's I Never Loved a Man the Way I Love You and 1968's Lady Soul. Both are essential.
Had Franklin never made another album, her place in music history would be secure. While she has more than four decades of other music to draw from in concert, she knows this brief window is what people come to hear.
"I keep the hits in, things people want to hear," she says. "Like Respect and Think and Freeway (of Love). I try to keep those heirlooms in, and then add some new things just for me that I really love, and then a few surprises."
Nowadays, every pop singer Franklin has influenced – and they are legion – is inevitably compared to her voice. When asked if that's fair, she responds with "I don't know, what do you think?"
"No," I say, "because it will never be matched."
She laughs before modestly replying, "It certainly is a compliment and I do appreciate it."
Getting Franklin to talk about her accolades at all brings out her humble side. Ask her which award has meant the most - the Grammys, the doctorates, the inductions, the National Medal of Arts, etc. – and she refuses to pick favourites.
"I appreciate all of them," she says. "People don't have to give you anything, so I appreciate all of them."
Back home, Franklin is considered Detroit's First Lady – she is intertwined with the city like few other artists. And despite the city's nightmarish state in recent years, she never ponders leaving. It is and always will be her home.
"I have a great love for Detroit, and anything I can do to help make it better, I do," she says. "We are definitely a city in a crisis right now. There's a possibility it will go into receivership with the State."
Another battle is more personal – agoraphobia. For 30 years, Franklin's fear of flying has prevented her from performing overseas, forcing her to turn down Royal invitations. Everywhere she goes is either by car or bus.
But this is the year she gets back on a plane, she vows.
"It's a number of things I haven't been able to do or go to," she says. "I stopped flying in '83. I flew for about 20 or 21 years (beforehand), so if I never fly again it's okay, I have flown. But I do want to get back into flying, it would make it a lot easier. I could get where I'm going unruffled."
"I had a fabulous offer from a friend of mine, Shirley Ceaser the Queen of Gospel. She said if I came to North Carolina and do her anniversary, she would come and fly with me and be part of my support group. I kinda like that!"
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