Aretha Franklin United States
Biography
Aretha Franklin (March 25, 1942) is a Memphis, Tennessee-born but Detroit, Michigan-reared American iconic gospel, soul, and R&B singer. Many have called her "The Queen Of Soul" and "Lady Soul". She is renowned for her soul and R&B recordings (on many, of which, she accompanies herself on keyboards and piano -- a skill she learned at an early age, learning to play by ear, according to lifetime friend Smokey Robinson) but is also adept at jazz, rock, blues, pop, and gospel.