Music & Culture

Music & Culture

How Fans Of R&B Singer Aretha Franklin Are Reacting To Her Death

5:02pm August 16, 2018

Fans of Queen of Soul Aretha Franklin are mourning the singer's death. From presidents to locals in her adopted hometown of Detroit, they remembering her contributions and voice.

Music & Culture

Honoring And Remembering Singer Aretha Franklin And Her Voice

5:02pm August 16, 2018

NPR's Audie Cornish talks with Thulani Davis about Aretha Franklin, the "Queen of Soul," who died Thursday at 76. Davis says Franklin let the style of singing African-Americans knew from church blend into popular music.

Queue Listen Now

Dee White's debut is called Southern Gentleman.

Music & Culture

First Listen: Dee White, 'Southern Gentleman'

4:10pm August 16, 2018

by Jewly Hight

On his debut, recorded with studio gurus Dan Auerbach and David Ferguson, Dee White does something very different with his vintage country tastes. Alison Krauss guests.

Music & Culture

Triad Musicians Remember The 'Queen Of Soul,' Aretha Franklin

3:48pm August 16, 2018

by David Ford and Sean Bueter

Triad musicians are celebrating the life of the “Queen of Soul” today.

The publicist for Aretha Franklin announced that she died at her home in Detroit at the age of 76.

A low cloud obscures the high ground in a remote part of the Isle of Skye.

Music & Culture

The Thistle & Shamrock: Ballads Of The Border

3:17pm August 16, 2018

Cattle raids, battles, betrayals and family loyalties are all commemorated in the ballads of the borderlands between Scotland and England, sometimes referred to as "the debatable lands".

Beyoncé performed "Lift Every Voice and Sing" during her set at the 2018 Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival in April.

Music & Culture

Till Victory Is Won: The Staying Power Of 'Lift Every Voice And Sing'

3:00pm August 16, 2018

by Claudette Lindsay-Habermann

Beyoncé sang it at Coachella. Kim Weston sang it at Wattstax. The song often called the "black national anthem" is still with us — in part because the struggle it describes never went away.

Queue Listen Now

Death Cab For Cutie inside the World Cafe Performance Studio

Music & Culture

Death Cab For Cutie Is Thankful For 20 Years Of Memories

2:52pm August 16, 2018

by Talia Schlanger

"We're still considered by virtually everybody as an indie band," says Death Cab for Cutie's Ben Gibbard.

Aretha Franklin sings with the Philadelphia Orchestra at the Mann Center for Performing Arts in 2010.

Music & Culture

Aretha Franklin: The Deep Cuts

1:40pm August 16, 2018

by Sidney Madden

Staff members of NPR remember the Queen of Soul beyond her No. 1 hits. These are Aretha Franklin's most essential deep cuts.

Aretha Franklin performs during the Mandela Day: A Celebration Concert July 2009 in New York City.

Music & Culture

Aretha Franklin: In Memoriam Playlist

1:15pm August 16, 2018

by Lauren Onkey

It's clear why Franklin was the undisputed Queen of Soul. Enjoy a playlist of the singer's biggest hits in a career that spanned decades and defied genre rules.

Aretha Franklin performs at the national Christmas tree lighting ceremony in Washington, D.C., in 2013. Franklin died on Thursday in Detroit.

Music & Culture

Aretha Franklin Was America's Truest Voice

12:59pm August 16, 2018

by Ann Powers

Her music has been sung at marches and political rallies, heard in churches and on chain restaurant jukeboxes. Everything popular music can be is there in the songs of Aretha Franklin.