Aretha Franklin Is the Queen of Music, Period!

I’ve loved Aretha Franklin ever since 4 year-old me pretended to belt out duets with her. While her songs played on the radio, I would kneel on a bench in front of my parents’ bedroom dresser mirror to see my performance. To this day, her voice still touches my heart and soul like no other.

When she passed away, I was shocked to learn that there are generations of people who believe her repertoire consists only of “Natural Woman” and “Respect.” A woman in her 20s that I knew at the time commented that those songs proved Aretha had a “limited range.” I was stunned!

I’m compelled to write about Aretha today because a panel contributor on Roland Martin Unfiltered actually disputed him yesterday when he said that Aretha was the greatest singer of all time.

Well, I’m not having it!

I could gush about her amazing live performances, like when she brought President Obama to tears while singing “Natural Woman” for Carol King’s Kennedy Center Honors. Or I could bring up her amazing last-minute replacement of an ill Luciano Pavarotti at the 1998 Grammy’s when she sang “Nessun Dorma.”

Instead, I’m going to list my top 18 favorite Aretha songs!

First, I’m going to list what I believe are her top 3 albums: Amazing Grace, I Never Loved a Man the Way I Love You and Young, Gifted and Black. You should check them out. You’ll notice many of the songs below are on these.

The song that I ranked number 1 is my favorite, but the others that follow are just in alphabetical order. I have many more favorites, but I decided to cap the list at 18.

1. “Do Right Woman, Do Right Man”
2. “Ain’t No Way”
3. “Angel”
4. “Chain of Fools”
5. “Climbing Higher Mountains”
6. “Day Dreaming”
7. “Dr. Feelgood”
8. “Freeway of Love”
9. “How I Got Over”
10. “Precious Lord, Take My Hand/You’ve Got a Friend”
11. “Respect”
12. “Rock Steady”
13. “See Saw”
14. “Something He Can Feel”
15. “Spirit in the Dark”
16. “Think”
17. “Until You Come Back to Me (That’s What I’m Gonna Do)”
18. “You Send Me”

Click on the titles or type them with her name in the YouTube search bar and listen to these musical gems! Rolling Stone magazine’s 179 experts got it right back: Aretha Franklin is the greatest singer of all time!