so unfortunate she didn t have a range. that s just crazy. diana ross tweeted i m sitting in prayer for the wonderful golden spirit aretha franklin. line elrich el, her voice and presence and style. no one did it better. truly the queen of soul. i will miss you. hillary clinton has tweeted as well, mourning by the way, she sang at bill clinton s inauguration as well as jimmy kartder s, mourning the loss of aretha franklin who shared spirit and talent with the world. she deserve not only our respect but our lasting gratitude for o opening our eyes and ears and hearts. rest in eternal peace my friend. with us now msnbc media analyst and npr tv critic to talk about her abilities. i mean her ability first of all
soul, an icon of american music. no other female singer was as celebrated or honored as aretha franklin. 18 grammys, 21 number one bill board singles. 45 songs in the top 40. our nation honors ms. aretha franklin. in 2005 received a presidential medal of freedom. a deeply emotional moment for the singer who had been honored previously from president clinton and the kennedy center. franklin with a diva and made no bones about it but a trail blazer for women and african-american artist who achieved success against the back drop of the civil rights movement her list of firsts goes on forever, like being the first
woman to be inducted in the rock and roll hall of fame and used her voice to crash through barriers. rolling stone once ranked aretha franklin the number one greatest singer of all time and had an almost maternal attitude towards her own songs. they are like my children. i love them all. but there are some i liked a little more than others. respect, the freeway, jump to it, natural woman. millions of americans know her music by heart, all we need to hear is the first few notes and we know the rest. all because she showed the way and set the standard. chain of fools aretha lieu ease franklin, letter father a well known