The Queen Has Left The Building

Aretha Franklin, The Queen Of Soul, has passed away at the age of 76.

Rest in peace.

Aretha Franklin takes US National Anthem To Church @ NFL Game

You ever wanted to hear Aretha Franklin take 5 minutes-ish to sing The Star Spangled Banner? Me neither! But here we find ourselves.

To those of you with patriotism running through your veins, maybe this rambling rendition will have you waving those flags fervently in reverie. Either that, or you'll find this to be so entirely self-indulgent that it's tantamount to treason and will now be boycotting Aretha and pianos hence forth. After all, it wasn't just Aretha up on that stage. Piani gotta take some of the heat too.

Aretha Franklin Brings Kennedy Center Honors To Their Feet With "Natural Woman" Rendition

In a year of not so great Aretha Franklin performances, this one of (You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman, recorded at the Kennedy Center Honors comes as a redeeming closer to 2015 for the Diva.

Singing before a host of stars, including the American President, Aretha gave us a vocal that finally saw her break free from the curse that kept her channelling a forever boiling kettle and back delivering measured and musically astute performances. Sure, she wasn't scaling old heights (no sh*t, Sherlock, she's 73) but the voice was sounding mighty good.

[Wailing wall] C5 Showdown!

I know some of y'all are impatient, but please give the page about 10 seconds to load. Lot of audio files- Fank you!

[Listening Party] "Aretha Franklin Sings The Great Diva Classics"

Did you guys sign up to Spotify? Well if you did, you can now stream the entire Aretha Franklin Sings The Great Diva Classics for free!

[New Music] Aretha Franklin Covers Gloria Gaynor And Destiny's Child

Are you guys ready for another slice from the pie that is Aretha Franklin Sings The Great Diva Classics? Well too bad! You're getting another poorly produced, and questionably sung, piece, whether you want it or not. Open wide!

Aretha Franklin Covers "Rolling In The Deep" Live @ Late Show

Yesterday had many of us suffering a Marmite-like response to Aretha Franklin's cover of Rolling In The Deep. Some loved it, some hated it, but with the release also came suspicions!! Suspicions that....brace yourself.... the Queen Of Soul's vocal weren't all her own, having had some help from a computer. SAY THERE AIN'T NO WAY!

[New Music] Aretha Franklin Covers Adele's "Rolling In The Deep"

"Drunk aunt" pretty much sums up my thoughts on this, must have been a one-take, cover by Aretha Franklin of Adele's  Rolling in the Deep. The addition of  Ain't No Mountain High Enough at the end is just as unexpected as some of the weird vocal choices made by the Diva, but I can see why the producer added it. Aretha's improv sounds better, and less jarring, over that than the Rolling in the Deep backing.

[Battle] Aretha Franklin Vs. Patti LaBelle: Which Is The Better Singer?

These two iconic Divas have had an alleged feud since WAAAAAAAAAAAY back before most of us were even born! Admittedly it seems one-sided, but still, you'd have hoped the animosity would've dissipated as time passed and the pair took their place in the pantheon of Legendary Divas.

But this is Aretha Franklin we're talking about! A Diva who has been ruling over the dominion of Soul and Shade for as long as anyone can remember. And clearly, she ain't giving up either crown anytime soon. Just witness this moment involving the pair, filmed just last year:

J Hud Honors Aretha Franklin (AGAIN) @ 2014 BET Honors

I feel like I've seen Jeniffer Hudson perform more of Aretha Franklin's material than I have her own. Still, she's one of a few Divas who has the requisite pipes to do the material justice.

The BET Honors saw the Diva cover a medley of Aretha's hits. Obvious inclusions were Rock Steady, Think and Respect, but there were some lessor known songs like Sparkle's Look Into Your Heart, too. (And that's where the video kept breaking for me, so I can't really add any more!)

Though the Diva struggled on some of the lower notes (from what I saw), there were no such problems at the top of the range- girl was WAILING!

This was another fitting tribute to the Queen of Soul. And that's lucky too, because Aretha ain't afraid of shading anyone!

[Duelling Divas] Which Diva Sang Les Misérables' "I Dreamed A Dream" Best?

This "Duelling Divas" seemed a timely one considering a feature film of the stage show, from which the song sprung, is currently winning awards and putting bums on seats in cinemas around the world. What could I possibly be talking about? I Dreamed A Dream from the musical Les Misérables, of course! (I'm sure the post title and it's accompanying image didn't give that away...)

Let's see what Wiki has to tell us about this iconic number;

"I Dreamed a Dream" is a song from the musical Les Misérables.[1] It is a solo that is sung by the character Fantine during the first act. The music is by Claude-Michel Schönberg, with orchestrations by John Cameron. The English lyrics are by Herbert Kretzmer, based on the original French libretto by Alain Boublil from the original French production.

The song is a lament, sung by the anguished, dying Fantine, who has just been fired from her job at the factory and thrown onto the streets. She thinks back to happier days and wonders at all that has gone wrong in her life.

In the original Musical, the song occurs after Fantine has been fired, and before Lovely Ladies. In the film adaptation, these two musical numbers were swapped around, to place dramatic emphasis on Fantine's depressing descent into prostitution.

Being from such a famous musical, it's unsurprising that I Dreamed A Dream has been covered by a number of Divas. But what makes this a change to other Duelling Diva posts is that this one contains singers that many won't be familiar with. But that shouldn't stop you getting involved; it's always good to try new things and discover new singers!

So let's get to it and watch some Divas sing!

Rest In Peace, Hal David

A death that passed many of us by on the first of the month (September, 2012) was that of Hal David. A genius of  a lyricist, he wrote many a great song over the decades- even though you probably weren't aware of him or his contribution to music. Well, regular commenter (and also, post writer) Opie wrote a few words regarding his passing in an email, and I thought I'd share them:

Songwriters, where would our Divas be without them? Would we remember the great Divas if their wonderful voices weren't singing words and music which touch our hearts across time?

This week saw the passing away, at the ripe old age of 91, of one of the great lyricists of popular music, Hal David.

His words to the enduring tunes by Burt Bacharach surely served the following Divas well?

In celebration...

Could Aretha Franklin Be Joining American Idol?

Don't mess with my awesome Photoshop skills.

With the current line-up of judges on American Idol falling faster than the chances of me magically receiving tickets for the opening ceremony of the Olympics, it looks like an unlikely candidate has stepped up to the mark and stated their desire to claim one of the coveted (now empty) seats. Enter, Aretha Franklin!

Stars Pay Musical Tribute To Whitney Houston

With a Legacy as great as Whitney Houston's, it's no surprise that singers are continuing to pay tribute, many during their own shows, to the vocal genius since her untimely death. I'm sure this will be a list that grows as time progresses, but here are those I've found so far.

Please let me know of any others missed.

Duelling Divas: "O Holy Night". Which Diva Sang It Best

What better way to celebrate this festive and cosy time of year then by pitting Diva against Diva in a deadly O Holy Night Sing off! Okay, so this isn't a new thing, having done the same thing last year with Silent Night, and it isn't that deadly really, but its still fun for me to do! Besides this year's post features the added bonuses of my comments about the versions, as well as- more importantly- the chance for you to express your opinion via the poll at the bottom!

Some fun facts about the Christmas carol, courtesy of Wikipedia of course, before we begin. O Holy Night was written by French Poet Placide Cappeau and was composed by Adolphe Adam in 1847! The words to the carol have been changed somewhat since then, and for anyone wanting to sing along as they listen, they are as follows;

Review : Aretha Franklin 2011 Grammy tribute- Christina Aguilera the superstar vocalist is REBORN

Aretha Franklin tribute singers: Florence Welch, Jennifer Hudson,
Christina Aguilera, Martina McBride and Yolanda Adams

The most exciting performance, and the one I was looking most forward to, of the 2011 Grammy Awards was the Aretha Franklin tribute. Divas in training, well in comparison to Ms Franklin, Yolanda Adams, Christina Aguilera, Jennifer Hudson, Martina McBride and Florence Welch all come together on one stage to honour the Queen of Soul by performing some her classic hits.

Merry Christmas Everyone: Silent Night Diva sing off

Merry Christamas y'all! To celebrate both the Holiday season and the excuse it gives me to listen to Christmas music without looking like a total nutter here is a collection of some of my Favourite Diva's singing the classic carol ,Silent Night.

The styles Range from country- Faith Hills and Taylor Swift- to gospel- Mariah Carey and Aretha Franklin- to pop- Beyonce and Britney Spears-and finally the traditional interpretation-  Celine Dion and Annie Lennox.

So get those song words printed and prepare for some Christmas carolling after the jump! 

Does Aretha Franklin have cancer?

Though I'm loath to quote the trash that is the Daily Mail below is an article by them claiming that Aretha Franklin's recent unspecified surgery was in fact to  treat aggressive pancreatic cancer. 

Did Christina Aguilera's "Impossible" copy Aretha Franklin's "Ain't No Way"

Is "Impossible" a rip off of "Ain't no way"

The first time I  heard  Christina Aguilera's Impossible it reminded me immediately of an Aretha Franklin classic that  I just couldn't put my finger on.

Aretha Franklin - Vocal Profile/ Range

Aretha Franklin

Vocal Type: Mezzo-soprano
Whistle Register: No
Vocal Range: 3.5 G2- E6 (approx)
Longest Note: 5 seconds ("old landmark")
Vocal Pluses: Powerful, passionate voice, which is grounded in the Gospel tradition. Both a technical and an emotive singer, Aretha Franklin is able to sing complex vocal runs, that can span the top of her range right down to the bottom, as well as hold notes for lengths of time with ease.

Aretha Franklin has a well connected range, that appears to sound easily accessible both at the top and the bottom. The lower range is thick and weighty with a dark colouring and a slightly smoky timbre. The midrange begins to become more nasal, and lighter as it ascends into the belting range.

The belting range is incredibly elastic and powerful, having been known to hit a D6 when mixed with its head voice [listen here]. This part of the range is characterful and easily attributable to Aretha Franklin, due in part to its quick vibrato and nasal tone. Though her voice becomes lighter as its frequency increases, it still retains its resonance and power up into its top reaches. Her flexibility and ease in this part of the range is almost unparalleled.

Vocal Negatives: The voice has become more nasal as she has aged which has lessened the power, and quality of the higher notes.