Aretha Franklin Music Quotations

I've always felt that rock & roll was very, very wholesome.

Politics are not my arena. Music is.

...the people at large absolutely gave James Brown respect. He was an original like a Rembrandt or a Picasso

R&B is not a fad; it's the truth.

Being a singer is a natural gift. It means I'm using to the highest degree possible the gift that god gave me to use. I'm happy with that.

I always felt rock and roll was very, very wholesome music.

I didn't think there was enough, by any means. And it was my feeling: 'How dare you come to Detroit, a city of legends -- musical legends plural -- and not ask one or two of them to participate.

We were a little upset initially. Detroit is a city of music legends, and we thought it would be remiss to come all the way here and not use at least one artist from Detroit. But I'm appreciative of the fact that they did ask me to do the halftime show several times before, and the anthem this time.

Columbia was a wonderful label for me. Wonderful. The records I made there garnered me an audience. I won a number of polls during the years that I was at Columbia. The Downbeat Jazz Poll. Leonard Feather, who was a huge critic back in the day, different polls that he had. The Playboy poll, a number of polls. So the music was great.