Wednesday, July 15, 2026

Happy Birthday to the Queen of Soul, Miss Aretha Franklin!

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Happy Birthday to the Queen of Soul, Miss Aretha Franklin. She turns 74 years young today, and she’s still rocking. The Queen was voted number 1 singer of all time by Rolling Stone, and she keeps rolling! Born in Memphis, raised in Detroit, Aretha is the standard bearer of all great American performers. She’ll celebrate today with her kids and grandkids in Detroit, then come to New York in mid April for her annual gala.

Here’s her beautiful tribute to Natalie Cole from New Year’s Day this year

And the Kennedy Center 1992

1975 Grammy Awards

and this past Kennedy Center Honors

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Roger Friedman
Roger Friedman
Roger Friedman is the founder and editor-in-chief of Showbiz411. He wrote the FOX411 column on FoxNews.com from 1999 to 2009, where he covered Michael Jackson, and previously wrote the "Intelligencer" column at New York magazine in the mid-1990s, where he covered the O.J. Simpson trial. He also edited Fame magazine. His bylines have appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, the New York Daily News, the New York Post, Vogue, Details, and the Miami Herald. He is a voting member of the Critics Choice Awards (Film and Television branches), and his movie reviews are tracked by Rotten Tomatoes. With D.A. Pennebaker and Chris Hegedus, he co-produced the 2002 documentary "Only the Strong Survive," which screened at Directors' Fortnight at the Cannes Film Festival.

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