Aretha Frankln Oakland Oracle Arena Aug 10th 2015

Ticket Link: http://www.ticketmaster.com/event/1C004E5ADA46945B

Aretha Franklin schedules Oakland concert, first Bay Area show in 30 years

Legendary vocal diva Aretha Franklin, who is famously afraid of flying, will be performing her first show in the Bay Area since the 1980s when she plays Oakland's Oracle Arena on August 10. According to a press release, tickets for the show start at $42.50 and go on sale on Friday, March 13.

Franklin's shows will feature an A-list opening act in R&B producer and singer Babyface. The concert will support the Queen of Soul's latest album, Aretha Franklin Sings the Great Diva Classics, which features covers of Adele's “Rolling in the Deep,” Sinead O'Connor's “Nothing Compares 2 U,” Etta James' “At Last” and Gladys Knight's “Midnight Train to Georgia.”

The Oakland concert is her third on the West Coast planned for the month of August, following shows in Los Angeles and Santa Barbara earlier in the week. Expect more dates to be announced in the future, since it would make sense for Franklin to perform as many shows as possible while she's out there.

Though Franklin refuses to fly, she does travel around the country frequently via bus. A few years ago, when there was speculation that she could become a judge on American Idol, Franklin insisted that she could take the gig despite her refusal to fly. “I’ve been to California from Detroit four times this year and Florida,” she said at the time. “I go wherever I choose to go comfortably on my custom bus.”

Franklin has performed at the Grammys and other functions in Los Angeles many times over the years, so she doesn't seem to have a problem getting around in America. She did miss out on an opportunity to perform at Queen Elizabeth's 50th Jubilee years ago because she wouldn't fly to England.

Aretha Franklin Sings the Great Diva Classics was the singer's highest-charting album since 1985's Who's Zoomin' Who? Her remake of “Rolling in the Deep” reached the Top 50 on the R&B chart, giving Franklin her 100th career hit on that survey, the most ever among female artists. The dance remix of that track went all the way to No. 1, marking her first chart-topper on that countdown in 16 years.

Franklin has always been a great live performer and has made a remarkable comeback since her unspecified illness in 2010 had some tabloid outlets reporting that she was near death. She came back with a strong performance the next year at the Chicago Theatre, firmly establishing that she was back at the top of her game.

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THE QUEEN OF SOUL-ARETHA FRANKLIN

Image by [puamelia] via Flickr
Aretha Louise Franklin was born in Memphis in 1942, she was the third of four children and the fifth of six overall between her parents past relationships. When Aretha was six her family settled in Detroit. Soon after the moved her parents split up, due to her fathers work as a Baptist minister. Aretha was raised by her grandmother Rachel, her mother died when she was ten. At a young age she was singing in church and learned to play the piano by ear. When Aretha was in her preteens she was singing solos at New Bethel Baptist Church where her father was the minister.

While growing up Aretha was around celebrities who hung out at their home.
Some of the gospel greats were Albertina Walker and The Caravans, Mahalia Jackson and Clara Ward. These three women had a role in her vocal development. Aretha’s father recorded his sermon for Checker Records and was becoming famous and more popular with his work as a civil rights activist. In 1956 Aretha’s father helped her sign a contract with Checker’s JVB gospel record division. At the age of fourteen she released her first album, Songs of Faith. Aretha worked under James Cleveland and toured the gospel circuit. Aretha became a mother of two son, so her gospel career was short. When she turned eighteen, she wanted a secular career. Aretha turned down Motown and Sam Cook’s RCA label, she decided on Columbia Records and moved to New York. Aretha released her first single in the fall of 1960 “Today I Sung the Blues”, it made it to the top ten on the R&B charts but didn’t make to the pop charts.


Aretha recorded a jazz album in 1961 for her first album, because of her love of Dinah Washington. Her record label was hoping it would due as good as Billie Holiday.  Aretha had two R&B top ten hits “Operation Heartbreak”
and “Won’t Be Long” in 1961. “Rock-A-Bye Your Baby With a Dixie Melody”

was her first top 40 on the pop charts. In 1963 she almost had a top fifty hit with “Runnin’ Out of Fools”. Columbia records went in another direction with Aretha they wanted her to record songs like “The Shoop Shoop Song (It’s In His Kiss)”, “Every Little Bits Hurts” and “Mockingbird but this just didn’t bring any success. Aretha  had gained a reputation as multi-talented vocalist and musician. In 1965 Aretha was doing a show and the master of ceremonies gave her a tiara crown declaring her “the queen of soul”. Little did she know that this title would stick. In 1966 she decide to leave Columbia for Atlantic, Columbia would continue to release Aretha recordings until 1969.

Image via Wikipedia

Aretha’s first song with Atlantic in 1967 was “I Never Loved a Man (The Way I Love You)” this song showed her gospel roots. There was tension between Aretha’s then husband and manager Ted White, this led to Aretha and Ted to go into hiding. Aretha return to the studio to record the b-side of the record “Do Right Woman”. Aretha’s “I Never Loved a Man”
soared up R&B and pop charts. Aretha’s second single “Respect” a Otis Redding original, became a bigger hit. The end of 1967 Aretha became one of the symbols of the civil rights movement due to the “Respect” single, which the feminist took as their theme song. Aretha had many more hits in the 60s like “Think” Dionne Warwick’s “I Say a Little Prayer”, “Ain’t  No Way” and “The House That Jack Built” the list goes on. The end of 1960s the media title her “The Queen of Soul”.


 Aretha went through more tragedies later in her life. In 1979 her father was shot during a attempted robbery at his home, this left him in a coma for five years. Aretha moved back home in 1982 to help take care of her father, he passed in 1984. In 2010 her second eldest son was attacked by three people in northwest Detroit. Aretha was married three times. Her husbands were Ted White, Ken Cummings and Glen Truman. In 2010 Aretha was supposed to go on tour with Condoleeza Rice, she fell and broke two ribs and had to cancel. Aretha is going through pancreatic cancer at this time in her life. The doctors told her to not perform until May 2011, I hope she can perform, I sure would like to see her perform in person. Aretha Franklin is the and always be “The Queen of Soul”. My prayers are with you. You can hear some of Aretha’s songs on Streetwise Radio www.streetwisesd.com/radio.


LM


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aretha_Franklin


http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20101217/ap_en_mu/us_people_aretha_franklin

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