R.I.P. Aretha!

Aretha Franklin, who died about a week ago at the age of 76, was laid to rest yesterday. Her funeral was held at the Greater Grace Temple in Detroit, the city in which she had been raised.

Aretha revolutionized popular music back in the late 1960s with the unique sound of her soaring, soulful voice. Here's one of her signature songs, "Respect":

Her funeral service lasted over eight hours. The musical tributes alone took over two hours:

Aretha's first Top Ten record, "I Never Loved a Man (The Way I Love You)," came in 1967. She had been trying for a hit single for seven years, since 1960. Before she switched to secular music, she'd been a gospel singer. Her secular music never lost the gospel sound. The same could be said of another great singer of that time, Ray Charles.

Aretha was the Queen of Soul, a.k.a. "Lady Soul." The term "soul music" came to the fore in the mid-1960s, replacing (temporarily) the term "rhythm and blues." It was in Aretha's music that I, as a 20-year-old middle-class white guy, came to understand what "soul" meant.

In the context of today's rancid politics, Aretha's eight-hour funeral was a political statement. I invite you to think of it as such!