Life Lessons from Aretha Franklin

Welcome to Life Lessons. This week, we’re looking Aretha Franklin for some words of wisdom to close out Women’s History Month. The Queen of Soul got her start in the gospel choir at New Bethel Baptist Church in Detroit, Michigan, before giving us hit after hit in the ‘70s and ‘80s. In December of 1986, Interview managed to snag Franklin for a cover story. Franklin showed up to set smiling and decked out in diamonds, and shared her thoughts on everything from book deals to the Queen of England. Now, nearly 40 years later, her conversation with Interview’s Pat Hackett remains as illuminating as ever. So sit back, grab a pen—you just might learn a thing or two.

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“Let’s start with the church. As you know, it’s my background, it’s a natural setting for me and it’s definitely my roots.”

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“[I started singing at] eight? Heck no! I couldn’t even sing then. I guess at twelve, on weekends in the young-adult church choir at my father’s church. Sometimes I played [piano] for them; sometimes I was a featured vocalist.”

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“I had early influences—Clara Ward, James Cleveland.”

“[Gospel is] bigger now. I think it’s coming to the forefront of American music, and I think it’s wonderful they’ve started including gospel artist in the Grammys telecast, too. That helps expose a lot of the older artists. And then artists like Amy Grant and Reba McEntire give it more exposure still…”

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“I like ‘Live, and let live.’”

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“I did a Coke commercial with Ray Charles? I don’t remember that.”

“I was booked once to go on Ed Sullivan and I got bumped and ran out the back door crying…And, of course, I had told everybody in the world, ‘I’m going to be on the Ed Sullivan Show!’”

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“[My beauty regime is] just Pond’s cold cream and a good attitude. And I go to Vic Tanny.”

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“In music? I know people I feel are extremely talented, but I don’t know that I’ve ever heard any geniuses.”

“After the performance [at a variety show] the royal family came down on stage. Lady Di wasn’t married to Prince Charles yet, but she was there, and the Queen Mum, and I found them to be warm, genuine kind of people.”

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“[I first heard myself called the Queen of Soul] many years ago in Chicago. I was crowned in Chicago.”