Jimmy Johnson, the guitarist for the Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section (a.k.a. “the Swampers”) whose foundational R&B-based playing could be heard on hundreds of records, including iconic hits by Aretha Franklin, Paul Simon, Wilson Pickett and Lynyrd Skynyrd, died at the age of 76. His death was confirmed by his son …
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The Michigan House of Representatives voted 101-6 on Tuesday to rename a section of Detroit, Michigan’s M-10 as “Aretha L. Franklin Memorial Highway.” The legislation is now set for the state Senate. The bill’s sponsor, Democratic Rep. Leslie Love of Detroit, called the soul icon a “special lady” who battled …
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Thelong-shelved Aretha Franklin concert film Amazing Grace will receive a nationwide release in early 2019. Following the Queen of Soul’s death in August, the 1972 film was finally unveiled at the DOC NYC festival ahead its Oscar-qualifying run in Los Angeles and New York. Franklin’s estate and film distributor Neon …
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Clive Davis remembered Aretha Franklin as “the ultimate natural woman,” a “singer’s singer” and a “musician’s musician” at the Queen of Soul’s star-studded funeral in Detroit on Friday. Davis worked closely with Franklin for more than 30 years and had a hand in many of her late-career successes. “When I …
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Stevie Wonder remembered his longtime friend Aretha Franklin in an interview with CBS This Morning Friday, a day after the legendary singer’s death at the age of 76. Wonder visited Franklin’s Detroit home Tuesday following reports that the Queen of Soul was “gravely ill.” “She wasn’t able to speak back, …
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An all-star tribute concert to ailing soul icon Aretha Franklin is being planned to take place in New York City this fall. Record exec Clive Davis, who signed Franklin to his Arista Records in 1980, is leading the charge on the show, which Billboard claims could be titled “Clive Davis …
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