Aretha Louise Franklin was born on March 25, 1942 in Memphis, Tennessee (bio 1). She was one of five children born to Rev. Clarence L. Franklin and Barbara (Siggers) Franklin (Moritz 132). Aretha was born into a very musical family. Her mother, Barbara, was a gospel singer and her sisters, Erma and Carolyn, are both vocalists, too (Glickman 1, Moritz 132). Her brothers took a different, unmusical approach to their lives. Her brother, Cecil, is the Assistant Pastor at his father’s church and her other brother, Vaughn, is a career man in the United States (Moritz 132). When Aretha was two years old her father took her, and the rest of his family, North (Moritz 132). Five years after they moved, they settled in Detroit, Michigan (Moritz 132). By the time she was six, Aretha’s parents had separated (bio 1). Four years later, in 1952, her mother passed away due to a heart attack (bio 1, Moritz 132). The tragedy took a toll on the young ten year old. Many times, Aretha and her siblings were left in the care of the housekeepers while their father was away on tour for weeks at a time (Moritz 132). At the age of fifteen, Aretha had her first son, and her second was only two years after that (bio 1). Saying Aretha had a rough childhood would be an understatement. Throughout her childhood, Aretha had many influential guests in her home and at her father’s church. While shaping her singing style, she was influenced by the blues and jazz legends Billy Holiday, Dinah Washington, and Sarah Vaughn (Rock 1). Her greatest influences were her aunt, Clara Ward and Mahalia Jackson (Rock 1). Many men inspired her, too. For example, Ray Charles, Nat King Cole, and Sam Cooke were just a few (Rock 1). Aretha’s style of music was also wid... ... middle of paper ... ...o 2). She had become the female artist with the second most Grammys of all time with a whopping eighteen Grammys (bio 1). She has also received a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award and a Grammy Living Legend Award (Sony 1). In 1987, Aretha was the first woman ever to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1987 (Glickman 2). Many years later, in 2005, she received a Presidential Medal of Freedom honor (Sony 1). Aretha had many opportunities to sing at important events. She sang at the 1968 Demorcratic Convention (bio 2). Aretha also sang her rendition of “Precious Lord” at the funeral of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. (bio 2). Another funeral Aretha performed at was one of her major influences, Mahalia Jackson, in 1972 (bio 2). Aretha has been invited to sing at several presidential inaugurations, including our current president, Barack Obama (bio 3).
Ethel Waters overcame a very tough childhood to become one of the most well known African American entertainers of her time. Her story, The Eye on the Sparrow, goes into great detail about her life and how she evolved from taking care of addicts to becoming the star of her own show. Ethel was born by her mother being raped at a young age. Her father, John Waters, was a pianist who played no role in Ethel’s life. She was raised in poverty and it was rare for her to live in the same place for over a year. Ethel never fit in with the rest of the crowd; she was a big girl, about five nine when she was a teenager, and was exposed to mature things early in her life. This is what helped shape Ethel to be the strong, independent woman she is.
She is viewed as an amazing entertainer with a continuous impact on American music. She is the beneficiary of four Grammy grants, every one of them after death grants for Best Historical Album. Occasion herself was accepted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1973. Woman Sings the Blues, a film about her life, featuring Diana Ross, was discharged in 1972. She is the essential character in the play and later film Lady Day at Emerson's Bar and Grill; the part was started by Reenie Upchurch in 1986, and played by Audra McDonald on Broadway (she got a Tony Award for her execution) and in the
Ella was born in Newport News, Virginia on April 25, 1917. When alled “The First Lady of Song” by some fans. She was known for having beautiful tone, extended range, and great intonation, and famous for her improvisational scat singing. Ella sang during the her most famous song was “A-tiscket A-tasket”. Fitzgerald sang in the period of swing, ballads, and bebop; she made some great albums with other great jazz artists such as Duke Ellington, Count Basie, and Louis Armstrong. She influenced countless American popular singers of the post-swing period and also international performers such as the singer Miriam Makeba. She didn’t really write any of her own songs. Instead she sang songs by other people in a new and great way. The main exception
Her influence is simply not a question; it is a salutation to a musical icon that has embedded her legacy into musical history. When I think of the word artist, I think of someone who is innovative, original and someone who has style and a sound all their own. One artist that comes to mind is Janet Jackson. They simply don’t make artists like Janet anymore. Unfortunately, she was the last of her kind.
...ng to this day, she is one of few who could compete with the men of hip-hop, but she never pretended to be anything but a woman. She not only sang about female empowerment, but she wrote about being a woman from the insecurities that we as women sometimes feel to the nirvana of being in love. Sensuality and femininity were always as important to her which was her strength, and message to get out to women especially those of color.
Coretta Scott King was born on April 27, 1927 in Heiberger, Alabama. Heiberger was a small segregated town. Coretta’s parents were Obadiah and Bernice Scott. She has an older sister named Edythe and a younger brother, Obie. Coretta was named after her grandmother Cora Scott. Her family was hard working and devoted Christians. Coretta had a strong temper, feared no one and stood up for herself.
The Web. 11 Feb. 2013. http://muse.jhu.edu/journals/callaloo/v034/34.1.brooks.html>. Lewis, Andrea. A. "Nina Simone remains a powerful inspiration for black women."
It is clear that because her family’s involvement with religion would be one reason why Aretha Franklin became as famous as a Gospel singer. Some people would say that her love for religion is unbelievable, but after researching her childhood it is very believable. Her father, Reverend Clarence LaVaugh Franklin, jumped off a mule in Shelby Mississippi and preached while living the life of a sharecropper. As soon as he had enough money, he would move to Memphis, Tennessee to become a pastor of two churches. After a couple of years he attended LeMoyne College, and he studied Education and English Literature. With his education he was able to bring a more liberal view to his preaching’s. Then he moved the family to Buffalo, New York. When he had the resources, he moved the family again to Detroit, Michigan were he settled and became a pastor of a churched called New Bethel Baptist Church. He quickly became one of the most famous pastors in the city of Detroit. Aretha was two years old when they made their final move, she would grow up here and grab the emotion of Church and incorporate it into her music. Aretha Franklin’s mom, Barbara V.
Ella Fitzgerald, has not only inspired me, but also many other people.She is a huge inspiration to many musicians, artists and even regular people. Ella set the grounds for jazz and blues all over the world. She sang a form of jazz called scat (this was notes thrown together using nonsense syllables put together right on the spot). She was very famous for her scat singing. Ella Fitzgerald worked hard and patiently to reach her goals. Ella Fitzgerald, is a huge inspiration to many musicians, artists and even regular people. She was able to overcome many troubles and was confident she would get where she wanted to go. Although Ella is no longer alive, her music is still alive in many people's hearts.
Whitney Houston is considered as one of the greatest singers of our generation. According to the Guinness Book of World Records, she holds the record of being the most rewarded female artist of all time. I chose her as my topic, because she represents resiliency and tenacity, despite her troubled experiences with drugs and her personal life. Whitney Houston comes from a family with an amazing, musical pedigree; her mother, Cissy Houston, was a successful back-up singer for Aretha Franklin and Elvis Presley. Dionne Warwick is her first cousin and Aretha Franklin is her godmother. In 1983, Houston was signed to Arista Records and music executive, Clive Davis, became her mentor and helped launch her successful career. Whitney Houston was known as the innocent, girl-next-door, who promoted positivity and love within her professional career. Houston's good-girl image was shattered, when she married R&B bad boy, Bobby Brown in 1992. Towards the late 90's, it was rumored that she was using drugs and she looked very thin. In 2006, Houston divorced Bobby Brown and entered into rehab, to end her addiction to cocaine and other drugs. The world was happy to see her healthy and singing again; everyone thought she had made a full recovery and was ready for her to appear back into the spotlight. Tragically, on February 11, 2012, Whitney Houston was found dead in her Beverly Hills hotel, she was 48 years old. Her mother, Cissy Houston, has written a book about her daughter's life, entitled: Remembering Whitney, which depicts the rise and fall of the tragic singer's life.
Aretha was then moved with her father and siblings to Michigan because of her father’s preaching calling “Guided by C.L.'s preaching assignments, the family relocated to Detroit, Michigan. C.L. eventually landed at Detroit's New Bethel Baptist Church, where he gained national renown as a preacher”("Aretha Louise Franklin."). In Michigan, they found a church in which they attended by the name of, Detroit’s New Baptists. Her father was recognized as a preacher and her talent was starting to peek out when she would sing at her Father’s congregation. She mostly self-taught h...
...veral American Music Awards. Ross was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1988 as part of the Supremes” (Duckett, 2013). In 2007, she was also presented with an award for her hard work, when she received the BET Lifetime Achievement Award. Ross was honored by Michael Jackson in the year of 2009. He titled her as a possible caretaker for his children. The list goes on.
The movie Lady Day: The Many Faces Of Billie Holiday paints an interesting, and thought provoking portrait of one of jazz and blues most charismatic, and influential artists. The incomparable talent of Billie Holiday, both truth and legend are immortalized in this one-hour documentary film. The film follows Holiday, also referred to as “Lady Day” or “Lady”, through the many triumphs and trials of her career, and does it’s very best to separate the facts from fiction. Her autobiography Lady Sings The Blues is used as a rough guide of how she desired her life story to be viewed by her public. Those who knew her, worked with her, and loved her paint a different picture than this popular, and mostly fictional autobiography.
Women’s sufferage was at it’s peak with the ratification of the United States Nineteenth Amendment. Women recived more independence after the end of the First World War and took a greater part in the work force. In the 1920s, there were many famous women Jazz artists such as Lovie Austin, a piano player and band leader, Lil Hardin Armstrong, a pianist who was originally a member of King Oliver’s band, and Bessie Smith, an African-American blues singer who inspired women like Billie Holiday and Janis Joplin. Although women were also making a difference in the Jazz industry, it wasn’t until the 1930s when they were recongnized as successful artists in the music world.
Bessie Smith impacted Billie Holiday because Holiday learned a lot through Smith’s records by thinking that Smith was kind of a teacher. Even though Billie Holiday did not have a voice as powerful as Bessie Smith, Billie Holiday’s musical interpretations and phrasing were similar to Bessie Smith. Frank Sinatra was impacted by Bessie Smith because he believed that she was an early blues genius. Sinatra’s voice was more polished than Smith’s voice, but he did find inspiration in the emotions she sang with in the records. Bessie Smith was a highly influential artist that had the power to help people with their music even after her death proving that she truly is “The Empress of Blues” ("Bessie Smith"