Aretha Franklin is an extremely gifted African-American singer popularly dubbed “The Queen of Soulâ€. As with so many of her ilk, she got her start singing gospel in church and made her breakthrough in the late sixties with such monumental hits as “Think†and “Respectâ€. Aretha is one of the best-selling female vocalists of all time, and has won numerous awards, including 17 Grammys, and has been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. She also did a hilarious turn as a singing waitress in the Dan Aykroyd and John Belushi comedy hit movie, “The Blues Brothersâ€, in 1980. In 2005, Aretha was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, but perhaps her crowning accomplishment to date is her singing “My Country, ‘Tis of Thee†at President Barack Obama’s 2009 inaugural ceremony.
