Part of the story of Aretha Franklin, a musical prodigy raised in church who turned to secular music, is not unlike that of other American artists. But she revolutionized American music. Ms. Franklin, who died on Thursday at the age of 76, sang for kings and presidents and luminaries. And she met them as an equal.
Throughout it all, Ms. Franklin's profound religiosity permeated everything she did. Aretha Franklin was a daughter of the Rev. C. L. Franklin, the most celebrated black preacher of his day and whose church in Detroit was a religious and cultural hub for black America in the middle of the last century.
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