So many deserving tributes to the Queen of Soul. But do you know this story?
One year at the Grammys, Pavoratti was supposed to sing “Nessun Dorma,” the famous final act opener from Giacomo Puccini’s Turnadot. He developed a sore throat and couldn't go on. So who stepped in last minute? Aretha. And all she had to do was perform it at Radio City on live national TV later that night. My R-E-S-P-E-C-T has no bounds.
UPDATE: Thanks to some astute readers, here is that performance. Check it out. What a spectacular and courageous talent.
It was the most breathtaking moment I have ever seen. P!nk’s acrobatics, Neil Diamond & Barbara Streisand, and Michael aside, Aretha was beyond words. She knew the audience was skeptical and at the end accepted the accolades humbly, but with that “I told you so” attitude.
ReplyDeleteWe have lost one the best of our generation.
Pam, St Louis.
A true legend who puts arrogant 'divas' like Jennifer Lopez and Mariah Carey to shame.
ReplyDeleteRest in Peace.
Here's a link to her Grammy performance
ReplyDeletehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HqECvv7ecPk
Courtesy of one of the folks on my Classic American Top 40 FB group:
ReplyDeletehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ovkGD13RxI0
Aretha always seemed ageless, timeless, like we could never lose her.
ReplyDeleteAt least we will never lose her music.
I remember Franklin singing the national anthem to open the 1968 Democratic National Convention in Chicago that August. The event, and America, all went downhill from there.
ReplyDeleteShe was a force of nature.
ReplyDeleteThe first song by Aretha Franklin I ever bought was "Think," from the Blues Brothers movie.
ReplyDeleteShe played her role in the movie with a twinkle in her eye. Good touch with comedy.
That's my favorite Aretha Franklin moment, too. I'd turned on the Grammy Awards to catch Fleetwood Mac (it was the year they'd reunited to release "The Dance") but great as they were, it was Franklin's incandescent performance that we all talked about for days afterward.
ReplyDeleteYes! This! As if she wasn't already the queen, this just blew everybody away
ReplyDeleteThat was an incredible moment. Also her performance of "Natural Woman" at Carole King's Kennedy Center Honors.
ReplyDeleteIf you'd permit me, here's the (radio) promo I made once her death was announced:
https://soundcloud.com/sean211-1/aretha-franklin-promo
That was great. Thanks Ken!
ReplyDeleteDid you read this about Natalie?
https://www.usmagazine.com/entertainment/news/lana-wood-natalie-wood-was-sexually-assaulted-as-a-teen/
Asking a Friday question today. Sorry.
Apart from Natalie, was there any other celebrity who you wanted to meet?
Or the inverse of it - Have you met any of the famous celebrities and thought "Boy!That was not what I imagined it would be like".
And finally have you met Natalie?
Not being in to classical music or opera, my favorite Aretha moment is "Blues Brothers" scene in the restaurant.
ReplyDeleteChills...
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ReplyDeleteBlogger Roger Friedman has his own personal take on what happened....
http://www.showbiz411.com/2018/08/17/exclusive-the-real-story-of-how-aretha-franklin-sang-nessun-dorma-at-the-1998-grammy-awards
Oh, yeah, and when Ken says Aretha went on "at the last minute," he's not kidding. Pavarotti backed out after the awards telecast began.
ReplyDeleteThe producer knew Aretha was backstage for a separate number and asked, "Could you please do this as well?"
Aretha, being a trouper, of course agreed and the rest is history as they say.
Stellar. The KCH for Carole KLing - superb. Obama inauguration - wonderful; and so was the hat.
ReplyDeleteOn CBS News the other morning they stated that some singers as the age lose some of the range of their singing voice but that she did not. She left us far too soon.
ReplyDeleteRegrettably, Aretha's version was horribly wrong. She had a voice that could encompass just about anything -- but not this.
ReplyDeleteAstonishingly brave (because even a classical tenor would have to be brave to go up against this), and a talent for the ages.
But not here, I fear.
@Dr Loser: Aretha Franklin did not have an operatic voice, but I don't think that disqualifies her from doing a performance of an opera. She put her own unique spin on it, just as the Three Tenors did when they performed My Way and other pop songs.
ReplyDelete@Barry Traylor: Maybe it's a coincidence, but the Motown greats seemed to be able to hang on to their range into retirement age. Witness Darlene Love on the Letterman shows. She's best known for her annual Christmas performance, but she also did a version of River Deep Mountain High that I think is one of the best musical performances ever on that show. She was 66 years old at the time. (And kudos to Paul Shaffer and Tom Malone for having the audacity to reproduce the Wall of Sound in a live performance.)
https://youtu.be/1W3C_xOPT9M
Andy Rose: This is common in other areas of music, too, and there's an obvious reason, which is that older singers learned to perform before PA systems. If you were going to sing every night, you *had* to learn good technique (like projection and enunciation). There was a piece a year or two back in the Guardian about why today's singers are losing their voices - it's here: https://www.theguardian.com/news/2017/aug/10/adele-vocal-cord-surgery-why-stars-keep-losing-their-voices - and a big reason is that they push their voices too hard because we seem to have decided that louder is better. And then once their voices are injured, they keep pushing through it. Plus, some people just naturally have better technique and stronger physical infrastructure, and if you're lucky enough to be surrounded by people who understand how to sing you're likely to learn from them.
ReplyDeletewg
I've come to the reluctant conclusion that Dr Loser is a jerk.
ReplyDeleteVideo is now unavailable sadly.
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