Aretha Franklin: "Queen of Soul"

The daughter of a Baptist preacher famous for his fiery sermons, Aretha Louise Franklin was born in Memphis, Tenn., on March 25, 1942, but grew up primarily in Detroit where she sang in the church choir. With her father's encouragement and connections to the major gospel artists of the day, Aretha was making records by the age of 14.

By CBSNews.com producer David Morgan

Aretha Franklin

Today Franklin is recognized as one of the leading song artists of our time, performing jazz, blues, R&B and standards as well as gospel. She is affectionately called the Queen of Soul.

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Aretha Franklin with record producer John Hammond. From his early years in the 1930s to his retirement from Columbia Records in 1975, Hammond was responsible not only for producing countless classic jazz recordings, radio programs and live concerts, but also introducing such major artists as Count Basie, Bob Dylan, Benny Goodman, Billie Holiday, Robert Johnson, Pete Seeger, Bessie Smith and Bruce Springsteen. Hammond was also instrumental in helping to break the color barrier in music: He convinced Benny Goodman to integrate his band, and he helped bring black spiritual music to the attention of white audiences. When Hammond discovered Franklin - on a demo recording presented by a songwriter - he found whom he later called the greatest singer since Billie Holliday.

Aretha Franklin

Aretha toured with Sam Cooke - a gospel singer who had crossed over to become a pop idol - before signing with Columbia Records.

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Aretha Franklin, c. 1961. Franklin's early recordings for Columbia were a blend of her gospel roots and swinging jazz.

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Aretha Franklin at a recording session for her 1962 album, "Laughing on the Outside."

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Left to right: Aretha Franklin is shown with Cissy Houston, Dee Dee Warwick, Judy Clay and Estelle Brown - members of the backup group Sweet Inspirations - in New York City, 1964.

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A promotional photo of Aretha Franklin.

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An undated photo of Aretha Franklin. Between 1961 and 1969, she recorded 10 albums with Columbia Records.

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Aretha Franklin, c. 1965. One of her Columbia albums - "Yeah!! In Person With Her Quartet" - was marketed as a live performance but was actually a studio session with ambient sounds and applause added in the mix.

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An undated promotional photo of Aretha Franklin. Franklin worked with a series of producers at Columbia, which led to wide variations in recordings, arrangements and music selections.

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Aretha Franklin, c. 1967.

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An undated promotional photo of Aretha Franklin. At the end of her five-year contract the singer left Columbia for Atlantic Records in 1967, where she found greater success in the R&B genre. Columbia continued to release albums of previously-recorded material through 1969, some with new arrangements added to "sweeten" the sound. Franklin sued, claiming that altering the original recordings' arrangements had violated her contract, and she received an out-of-court settlement.

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Aretha Franklin's first two Grammy Awards - for Best Rhythm & Blues Recording and Best Female R&B Vocal Performance - were for her 1967 recording of "Respect," from her first album for Atlantic, "I Never Loved a Man the Way I Love You." It was also her first platinum album.

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Aretha Franklin is shown at a news conference, March 26, 1973.

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Singer Aretha Franklin is shown at a news conference, March 26, 1973.

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Franklin performs an Oscar-nominated song - "Wherever Love Takes Me," from the movie "Gold" - during the 47th Annual Academy Awards ceremony in Los Angeles, Calif., April 8, 1975.

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Franklin performed with John Belushi and Dan Aykroyd in the 1980 comedy "The Blues Brothers," singing "Think."

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Franklin and singer James Brown perform at the Taboo night club in Detroit, Jan. 11, 1987, for a show taped for television.

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Franklin performs at the inaugural gala for President Bill Clinton in Washington, D.C., Jan. 19, 1993.

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Kennedy Center Honors recipient Aretha Franklin is pictured with fellow honorees composer Morton Gould and actor Kirk Douglas, following a dinner at the State Department in Washington Saturday, Dec. 3, 1994. Also honored were sing-songwriter Pete Seeger and theater director Harold Prince.

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Opera singer Luciano Pavarotti laughs along with singer Aretha Franklin and the group Boyz II Men, after accepting the eighth MusiCares Foundation's "Person of the Year" award, in New York, February 23, 1998.

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Aretha Franklin onstage performing at "VH1 Divas Live: The One and Only Aretha Franklin," held at Radio City Music Hall in New York City, Tuesday, April 10, 2001.

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Aretha Franklin performs the national anthem before Game Five of the NBA Finals between the Detroit Pistons and the Los Angeles Lakers, June 15, 2004, at The Palace of Auburn Hills in Auburn Hills, Mich.

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Aretha Franklin receives the Medal of Freedom from President George W. Bush at a White House ceremony in Washington, D.C., November 9, 2005.

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In 2008 Aretha Franklin was named the greatest singer of the rock era according to Rolling Stone magazine's survey of 179 musicians, producers, Rolling Stone editors, and other music-industry insiders. Behind Franklin were Ray Charles (No. 2), Elvis Presley (No. 3), Sam Cooke (No. 4) and John Lennon (No. 5).

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Aretha Franklin performs during the inauguration ceremony for President Barack Obama at the Capitol in Washington, D.C., January 20, 2009.

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Aretha Franklin and Annie Lennox perform onstage at the 25th Anniversary Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Concert at Madison Square Garden, October 30, 2009 in New York City.

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Aretha Franklin performs with the Philadelphia Orchestra at the Mann Center for Performing Arts on July 27, 2010 in Philadelphia, Pa.

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The cover photo from Franklin's 2011 album, "A Woman Falling Out of Love," released on her own label, Aretha Records.

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Aretha Franklin performs at a gala benefit for the Candie's Foundation, May 3, 2011 at Cipriani 42nd Street, in New York City.