Episode Details

Aretha Franklin did not just sing other people's songs — she seized them. When she recorded Otis Redding's "Respect," she transformed it from a man's plea into a woman's demand and created the anthem of both the civil rights and feminist movements. The preacher's daughter from Detroit had a voice of such overwhelming power that every song she touched became permanently, irrevocably hers.

This episode traces Franklin from her childhood in her father's church through the Columbia Records years that nearly buried her talent, the Atlantic Records sessions that changed American music, and the personal struggles she hid behind the greatest voice in popular music history.

• Growing up in Reverend C.L. Franklin's church and the gospel roots of her vocal power
• The failed Columbia years and the move to Atlantic Records that unleashed her genius
• "Respect," "Natural Woman," and the string of hits that redefined soul music
• The personal tragedies, the reclusive later years, and the voice that never diminished