January 21, 1987

Singer Aretha Franklin became the first female inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

Born in Memphis, Tennessee on March 25, 1942, Aretha Franklin moved with her family to Detroit when she was two. Her father, C. L. Franklin, became pastor of New Bethel Baptist Church and an important civil rights leader. As a teenager, Aretha was a star in her father’s traveling gospel show. Franklin struck out on her own at age seventeen to make it in the music business. Some of her early hits include “Respect,” which won two Grammy Awards and an honorary award from Martin Luther King Jr., “Think” and a remake of Carol King’s “A Natural Woman (You Make Me Feel).” Franklin, who still lives in Detroit, holds the record of most Grammy Awards for a female artist.

Thank you Michigan Start Pages for this glimpse into our past.  See more here.