Aretha Franklin Page 2

The 2018 MTV VMAs were finally handed out last night but rather than the event being a cause for celebration, many people are unhappy with how everything went down. From the winners to the speeches, there was little that inspired Video Music Awards viewers this year. Ratings are not expecting to be at an all time high.

Camila Cabello at 2018 MTV VMAs

For a start, plenty of people have taken to Twitter to complain about Camila Cabello winning Video of the Year with 'Havana' rather than Childish Gambino's 'This Is America' taking the prize. For a video that managed to win Video With a Message, Best Direction and Best Choreography, you would have thought Video of the Year was a given for Donald Glover.

Continue reading: Full 2018 MTV VMA Winners! (And Why Everyone Was Disappointed In Madonna)

Aretha Franklin TRIBUTES POUR IN

The world of music is in mourning this weekend, following the passing of legendary singer Aretha Franklin, the Queen of Soul, on Thursday at the age of 76. Tributes have been pouring in from the great and good of the worlds of music and beyond.

Sir Elton John took to social media and said he “adored and worshipped” the singer, and “the loss of Aretha Franklin is a blow for everybody who loves real music.”

Continue reading: Music News Round-Up: Aretha Franklin Tributes, Katy Perry In The Studio, Lily Allen's Book

Aretha Franklin, one of popular music’s most enduring icons and known as the Queen of Soul, passed away this week at the age of 76.

The legendary vocalist died in Detroit on Thursday morning (August 16th) from pancreatic cancer. She had been diagnosed with the condition in 2010, and last year had announced that she was retiring from music. Her family revealed that her death had been due to advanced pancreatic cancer of the neuroendocrine type.

In a brief statement, her family said: “In one of the darkest moments of our lives, we are not able to find the appropriate words to express the pain in our heart. We have lost the matriarch and rock of our family. The love she had for her children, grandchildren, nieces, nephews and cousins knew no bounds.”

Continue reading: RIP Aretha Franklin - Seven Of Her Most Captivating Songs

When word spread the Queen of Soul Aretha Franklin was "gravely ill", the music world came out in its droves to wish her well. Now superstar couple Jay Z and Beyoncé have dedicated their latest concert to 76-year-old Aretha.

Beyonce and Jay Z are in the middle of their second joint tour

Franklin has been cited by many as one of the women who paved the way for Beyoncé's style including her gospel-inspired singing and powerful lyrics about women around the world.

Continue reading: Beyonce Dedicates On The Run II Concert To Ailing Aretha Franklin

No-one can live forever, but some people's legacies are set in stone. Aretha Franklin is thought to be living her final days on this Earth, though her loving family are staying by her bedside to see her off. The news was revealed yesterday, though it remains unclear exactly what is putting her life at risk.

Aretha Franklin at the Billboard Women in Music Luncheon

The 76-year-old soul legend is thought to be extremely ill back home in Detroit after a lifetime of battling health issues and serious illnesses. Fans can take comfort in the fact that she is currently 'surrounded by family and people close to her', but reports are not looking good for her.

Continue reading: Aretha Franklin Could Be Fighting Her Final Health Battle

Rag 'n' Bone Man was shocked when Elton John told him he liked his music.

The 'Human' singer was amazed when he received a call from the 'I'm Still Standing' hitmaker - who he dubbed ''one of the best songwriters of all time'' - to praise his songs.

He said: ''He called me up on the phone, he's Elton John, he can get anyone's number.

Continue reading: Rag 'n' Bone Man Surprised By Elton John Phone Call

Soul legend Aretha Franklin has announced her intention to retire from making music in order to spend more time with her family and grandchildren – but only after recording one final album in collaboration with fellow icon Stevie Wonder.

The 74 year old, dubbed The Queen of Soul, whose immense singing career spans seven decades, told Detroit TV station WDIV Local 4 on Thursday (February 9th) that she was planning to retire from the vast majority of her activities in order to spend more time with her family, saying she was “exuberant” about the decision.

She has been performing since the age of 19, and kept up a prolific recording and touring schedule right up until 2010, when she put her career on hold following abdominal surgery.

Continue reading: Aretha Franklin, The Queen Of Soul, To Retire From Music

Aretha Franklin was awarded a last-minute injunction to prevent the premiere of the documentary movie Amazing Grace at the Telluride Film Festival last night. Organisers of the festival alerted attendees, just a matter of hours before it was due to screen, that “a Colorado judge has granted the injunction to block the screening.”

The Sydney Pollack-produced documentary, which looked at the recording of Franklin’s 1972 live album Amazing Grace at the Los Angeles' New Temple Missionary Baptist Church – which became the highest-selling gospel album of all time and the most successful of Franklin’s career – was one of the most anticipated movies of the festival.

Aretha Franklin at the premiere of 'Selma' in 2014

Continue reading: Aretha Franklin Gets Injunction To Stop Screening Of 'Amazing Grace' Documentary

Known as one of music’s great divas herself, Aretha Franklin’s newest album of covers puts diva on top of diva as the Queen of Soul tackles some of music’s biggest tunes, starting with a version of Adele’s Rolling in the Deep. The album, Aretha Franklin Sings the Great Diva Classics, is due out on 21 October and includes a number of well-known melodic masterpieces from Etta James, Gladys Knight and The Pips, Alicia Keys and The Supremes amongst others.

Aretha Franklin is one of music's greatest soul singers

While 26-year-old Adele may seem particularly young within the company of greats such as Chaka Khan and Gloria Gaynor, many fans are excited about the cover, which went live on Monday.

Continue reading: Aretha Puts Diva On Top Of Diva

Legendary singer Aretha Franklin has publically scolded an employee at Johnny Rockets, a Canadian fast food franchise, for being disrespectful. The accused waitress reportedly "screamed" at Franklin for attempting to eat her takeout inside the Niagara Falls restaurant.

Franklin was shocked by the waitress' attitude

The 72 year-old stopped by the fast food joint on Tuesday evening (July 22nd) after performing a sold-out show in Lewiston, N.Y., when the confrontation took place.

Continue reading: Aretha Franklin Lashes Out At Canadian Fast Food Join For Showing Her No Respect

Who could even have the nerve to treat Aretha Franklin without R-E-S-P-E-C-T? A Johnny Rockets server in Niagara Falls, Ontario, apparently. After an apology for the shameless use of that reference, here’s the rundown of exactly what happened.

This is not how you treat the queen of soul. Or anyone else, for that matter.

According to USA Today, Mrs Franklin had just finished performing a sold out show on Tuesday, when she decided to stop at the chain establishment for a burger. All was going relatively well, until she wanted to stay in and eat her food. This was when a server reportedly started yelling at the soul icon that she couldn’t eat her burger in, because she had ordered it “to go”. This sounds sharply, uncomfortably familiar to at least a few readers already. 

Continue reading: R-E-S-P-E-C-T Was Not Served To Aretha Franklin In Ontario Fast Food Joint

Beyoncé's fabulous collection of stage outfits in addition to some of her red carpet looks will be the focus of a new exhibition hosted at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Museum. 

Beyonce's 'Single Ladies' outfit has been immortalised at Madame Tussauds.

Read More: It's "All Good" Between Solange Knowles & Jay-Z Following Elevator Fight.

Continue reading: Beyoncé "Honoured & Humbled" By Hall Of Fame Exhibition

Soul legend Aretha Franklin has cancelled a Michigan show due to an ongoing medical treatment. According to Reuters, Franklin issued an open letter of apology to her fans, explaining that there was a “miscalculation” with the duration of her treatment and that it would be counterproductive to discontinue the procedures in favor of her scheduled shows. Franklin and her reps have refused to explain the nature of the singer’s ailments, however. The statement reassures fans that Aretha plans to get back into performing as soon as she has completed the full course of treatments.

Franklin performed a string of concerts earlier this year.

“It would be totally disruptive to stop them now and go into concert with total success right at the door,” Franklin explained in the statement.

Continue reading: Undisclosed Illness Causes Aretha Franklin To Cancel Michigan Show

The 'Turn On Your Love Light' star, also known as Bobby "Blues" Bland and "The Lion of the Blues", was extremely influential in the blues genre, establishing a unique sound that incorporating gospel-influenced singing into blues and R&B. Robert Calvin Bland was born in 1930 in Rosemark, Tennessee, and later moved to Memphis where he would join gospel groups and frequent Beale Street with its reputation for blues clubs. His career as a singer was temporarily put on hold after serving a stint in the US army, but he fell back into the music scene upon his return. He hit his No.1 spot on the R&B charts with his 1957 single 'Further On Up The Road' and continued to feature in the charts in the late fifties and sixties. He emerged as a unique blues singer with a characteristic vocal style, described by biographers as a "supple, confidential, soul-blues delivery" that would become known as a "chicken-bone sound", characterised by "guttural growls and snorts" whilst retaining a "smooth as velvet quality."

Listen To Blues Legend Bobby Bland Performing St James Infirmary:

Continue reading: R.I.P Bobby Bland: "The Lion Of The Blues" Singer Dies Aged 83

Err, shooting into first place for the most awkward piece of television for 2013, it's Aretha Franklin telling everyone who won American Idolseason twelve before the result was officially announced! Appearing via satellite from New York for the season finale of Idol - which pitted Kree Harrison versus Candice Glover - Franklin appeared to spoil the result, saying, "Candice, you're a winner," from a huge screen in the Nokia Theater.

The audience were confused - had Aretha just told everyone who had won? Candice fans cheered, Kree fans fell silent. After an excruciating pause, the Queen of Soul added, "Win or lose - you're a winner," - which makes absolutely no sense to anyone.

The whole car-crash led host Ryan Seacrest to nervously ask Franklin whether she had the results. "I do," Franklin answered, "but I won't tell you." But she did tell everyone. She told everyone that Candice Glover had won. Which is actually what she went on to do.

Continue reading: Awkward: Did Aretha Franklin Already Know The 'American Idol' Result?

...Or not miming the national anthem, as we can't quite figure out whom to believe. 

Either way, Beyonce's fellow celebs have weighed in on the controversy, but first, some context: The U.S. Marine Band said in a statement on Tuesday that the musical accompaniment was pre-recorded, explaining that "there was no opportunity for Ms. Knowles-Carter to rehearse with the Marine Band before the Inauguration so it was determined that a live performance by the band was ill-advised for such a high-profile event."

They then backtracked on that saying in the statement that "regarding Ms. Knowles-Carter's vocal performance, no one in the Marine Band is in a position to assess whether it was live or pre-recorded."

Continue reading: Stars Have Their Say On Beyonce Miming The National Anthem...