Jerry Wexler not only coined the phrase rhythm and blues, the legendary music producer was one of the key architects of the genre. He revolutionized popular music with...
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Queen of Soul Aretha Franklin will headline the 2008 JVC Jazz Festival. Festival organizers say the Grammy winner, whose hits include "Respect," "Chain of Fools" and "I Say...
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Aretha Franklin could lose her home to tax collectors. The singer says an attorney's mistake caused her $700,000 mansion in Detroit to slip into foreclosure over $445 in...
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Memo to Beyonce and her
father: Yes, Tina Turner is one of the greats, but Aretha
Franklin is still the queen -- of soul and more.
A full house of loyal subjects agreed...
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There are plenty of divas. But there can only be one queen.
Aretha Franklin has lashed out at well-intentioned comments made by Beyoncé Knowles during the...
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Aretha Franklin feels lighter than air these days.
The Queen of Soul will be honored Friday as Person of the Year for MusiCares, a Recording Academy charity supporting...
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It's official. The Grammys will go on, witty banter and all.
A week after striking writers said they wouldn't picket the music shindig, the other shoe has dropped....
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Kirk Franklin has forged a
successful career creating cutting-edge gospel music that hits
his audiences where they live. He does so again on "The Fight
of My Life," due in...
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Here are reviews of recently released holiday CDs:
Patti LaBelle, "Miss Patti's Christmas" (Def Soul)
When it comes to Christmas music, Patti LaBelle is almost as...
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Aretha Franklin recounts working with greats like Frank Sinatra, Luther Vandross and Whitney Houston on her latest CD with such nonchalance, you might think she was...
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Christina Aguilera and Aretha Franklin are planning a duet.
According to DJ Premier, who worked on Aguilera's Back To Basics album, the two are working on material...
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Previously unreleased material from
Aretha Franklin has been unearthed for an upcoming collection
from archival specialist Rhino Records.
The double-disc "Rare and...
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Why wait for the actual award show to unveil the award-show montage?
In honor of the Grammy Awards' upcoming 50th anniversary, CBS is planning to air in November a...
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For the Queen of Soul, a scorching day can be a royal pain.
Aretha Franklin called off a gig in her hometown of Detroit Sunday night, citing heat exhaustion from a string...
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The Queen of Soul is cooling her heels. Aretha Franklin announced she has canceled her hometown concert Sunday night at an outdoor amphitheater in suburban Detroit, citing...
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Stevie Wonder, Aretha Franklin and Carlos Santana are among the headliners announced Thursday for a concert to raise money to build a memorial to the Rev. Martin Luther King...
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She was an "amazing talent," a young singer with a wonderful voice who wrote beautiful songs. But she was no beauty, plus flat-chested and overweight to boot.
Remembering...
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Some of the biggest names in rock
music, including Mick Jagger, Eric Clapton, Phil Collins and
the surviving members of Led Zeppelin, will attend a private
memorial in New...
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Music photographer Joel Brodsky,
whose sexy, shirtless images of Doors lead singer Jim Morrison
have taken on iconic status, has died. He was 67.
He succumbed to an...
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Guitarist Steve Cropper loves to tell
how he auditioned Otis Redding, but there is nothing but pain
when he recalls the day the soul-music giant died in a plane
crash 40...
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Everyone from Ray Charles to James
Blunt chimes in on the life and loves of Ahmet Ertegun, the
late revered music executive, in the documentary "Atlantic
Records: The House...
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When she made her debut
several years back at only 15, Brit belter Joss Stone was an
instant wow, a young girl mining soul's past with a voice
beyond her years.
Now 19,...
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A lilting romantic duet written and sung
by blond Australian cricket star Brett Lee has climbed to
number three on the Indian charts, the album's composer said.
Lee wrote...
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More than 8,500 James Brown fans filled an arena bearing his name Saturday in a final, joyful farewell to the singer that seemed as fitting for a civil rights leader as for...
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For someone who's had less than glowing words for the goings-on at American Idol, Justin Timberlake seems to have no problem participating in a copycat competition.
The...
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Dolly Parton doesn't know what the big fuss is about.
Hoping to dispel the tongue-wagging set off by Jessica Simpson's less-than-stellar rendition of "9 to 5" during...
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As the saying goes, every time an American Idol alum becomes a star, Simon Cowell's ego gets new wings.
"We have our history together, don't we, Jennifer?" the...
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In 2001, when Atlantic Records
closed its Nashville office and put Craig Morgan and a
half-dozen other artists on the street, the former Army Ranger
says he was not afraid...
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Eight-time Grammy Award winner
Natalie Cole is going back to her roots -- to the singer she
was before her multiplatinum "Unforgettable: With Love" album.
That 1991 set...
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Somewhere in her
evolution, Natalie Cole grew a bit confusing.
A pop-savvy brand of strong-female soul ballads and the
ultra-positive "This Will Be" gave her instant cred...
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Producer Gregg Field
says that creating the new Ray Charles album "Ray Sings, Basie
Swings," due October 3 from Concord Records and Starbucks Hear
Music, was "like painting...
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At 76 years old, "America's oldest teenager" made a jovial yet touching appearance during a special Emmys tribute Sunday.
Dick Clark, still recuperating from a 2004...
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Once upon a time, if you named any song in the Top 40, I could hum a few bars. So it was startling to scan Billboard's Top 40 recently and realize the extent of my...
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Phil Walden, the
colorful and oft-controversial founder of the pathfinding
Southern rock label Capricorn Records and manager of Otis
Redding and the Allman Brothers Band,...
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"American Idol" winner Ruben Studdard has a plan to get teenagers off the streets and into the music industry, even if they can't follow his steps into stardom.
Studdard...
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World Wrestling Entertainment --
better-known as the WWE -- is ramping up its music initiatives
with the formation of the WWE Music Group.
The New York-based operation...
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Veteran rockers the Rolling Stones
agreed to be censored at Sunday's U.S. Super Bowl halftime
show, a National Football League spokesman said on Monday.
The Super Bowl...
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They may not have flashed any body parts — except for Mick Jagger's well-toned stomach — but the Rolling Stones made ABC glad it imposed a five-second tape delay...
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Before the Rolling Stones play at
Sunday's Super Bowl halftime show, producers will have six
minutes to roll out and assemble a gigantic stage, erect 27
tons of lights and...
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Looking for the Temptations on Super Bowl Sunday? They'll be in Charlottesville, Va. Smokey Robinson? He's playing down the block from Ford Field the night before. Diana...
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The Queen of Soul was not pleased.
With the Super Bowl coming to her hometown, Aretha Franklin said she was initially disappointed by the NFL's choice of musical...
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The NFL offended the Queen of Soul, but now all is forgiven. Aretha Franklin, who will perform the national anthem at Sunday's Super Bowl here in her hometown, initially...
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Wilson Pickett, the soul pioneer best known for the fiery hits "Mustang Sally" and "In The Midnight Hour," died of a heart attack Thursday in a Reston, Va., hospital,...
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"People may not know what I'm doing," Lou Rawls once said, "but
they know it's me."
Rawls, the Grammy-winning singer whose
smoky growl was instantly recognizable...
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Lou Rawls, the velvet-voiced singer who started as a church choir boy and went on to sell more than 40 million albums has died at age 72. He won three Grammy Awards in a...
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Here is a look at some of the
notable artists who died in the past year.
Swing-era clarinetist/bandleader ARTIE SHAW, 94, died
December 30, 2004, in Thousand Oaks, Calif....
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Motown fans miffed by the NFL's choice of the Rolling Stones for Super Bowl halftime entertainment are getting at least some satisfaction: Stevie Wonder will perform during...
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Motown fans miffed by the NFL's choice of the Rolling Stones for Super Bowl halftime entertainment are getting at least some satisfaction: Stevie Wonder will perform during...
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Kid Rock will make a guest appearance on ex-fiancee Pamela Anderson's comedy series, "Stacked."
Rock, whose real name is Bob Ritchie, will guest star as a delivery man on...
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Disturbed has given Bon Jovi the fist.
While the
latter scored a career-best sales week, it wasn't enough to keep
Disturbed from landing its second straight number one....
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Aaron Neville, part of the Neville Brothers singing group from New Orleans, said he hasn't been back to his beloved city, but images of flood waters show it has turned into...
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Mariah Carey, Destiny's Child, Alicia Keys and Missy Elliott were
the big winners at Wednesday's 2005 Lady of Soul Awards. Too bad none of
them showed to collect their...
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Ciara, Amerie, Fantasia and Destiny's Child were up for multiple honors at the Lady of Soul Awards, with special honoree Aretha Franklin set to make a much anticipated...
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Raul Midon's debut album, "State of Mind," both defies genre classification and defines the main ingredient of his success.
Midon, a classically trained musician, is...
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All Ciara's ladies will be on the floor for the 10th annual
Soul Train Lady of Soul Awards next month.
The "1, 2
Step" singer leads all nominees this year with five...
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Ciara is pulling double duty as co-host and leading nominee at next month's Soul Train Lady of Soul Awards.
Longtime Soul Train host Don Cornelius announced Tuesday that...
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R&B newcomer Ciara one-two stepped
up to the plate for the 10th annual Soul Train Lady of Soul
Awards on Tuesday, leading the contenders with...
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New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer is expected to announce today an international "payola" settlement with a major record company to limit the industry's ability to...
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Alicia Keys, Usher, Patti LaBelle, Cissy Houston, Ashford & Simpson, Stevie Wonder, Aretha Franklin, and Dionne Warwick were among the thousand-plus mourners in Harlem's...
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The funeral service for eight-time Grammy winner Luther Vandross hit just the right notes Friday: soulful, joyful and powerful, an echo of the late singer's unforgettable...
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Family, friends and hundreds of fans gathered in New York Wednesday
to say goodbye to Grammy-winning R&B star Luther Vandross, who died last
Friday at the age of 54.
...
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Grammy winner Luther Vandross, whose deep, lush voice on such hits as "Here and Now" and "Any Love" sold more than 25 million albums while providing the romantic backdrop...
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U2, the Pretenders, Buddy Guy, Percy
Sledge, and the O'Jays will be inducted into the Rock and Roll
Hall of Fame at its 20th annual induction ceremony, to be held
March 14...
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Chicago rapper Kanye West, who
survived a near-fatal car crash to score one of the biggest
hits of the year with his debut album, led an eclectic field of
commercially...
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Nearly 45 years after Stevie
Wonder's live harmonica workout "Fingertips, Pt. 2" topped the
charts, the soul visionary's musical charm still enthralls.
From preteen...
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Usher, Kanye West and OutKast are
the top nominees for the 32nd annual American Music Awards.
Usher received four nominations, including favorite
pop/rock male and...
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As the release of a new album
approaches, most artists begin to wax philosophical about art,
life and the messages they hope to convey with their music.
In discussing his...
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Reports of the demise of Arista
Records have been premature.
The label -- which has lost many of its superstar acts to
other BMG labels in recent months as part of its...
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She first attracted attention on
the "Love Jones" soundtrack with her mesmerizing cover of
Minnie Riperton 's "Inside My Love." That was in 1997.
Seven years later, R&B...
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Rhino Records, best-known for
its "retro" music catalog, has launched a pair of new-media
initiatives in the past two weeks.
Rhino, the Burbank, Calif.-based subsidiary of...
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Ray Charles is being remembered as a musical innovator who blended genres of music to create a new style. Charles died on Thursday of acute liver disease at age 73.
Ray...
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The newly private Warner Music
Group, having significantly reduced its worldwide staff, is now
turning its cost-cutting efforts toward its artists.
As part of the...
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Martin Scorsese and Howard Shore have both loved music since childhood.
Decades later, they've applied that love through film, though in very different ways —...
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To see and hear the documentary film
"Tom Dowd and the Language of Music" is to experience the
history of American music.
Perhaps more than anyone else, Dowd, who died...
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From 1957 to 1967, greats from the early rock 'n' roll era recorded at the Chess Records Studio on Chicago's South Side. This week, musicians recorded tunes there for the...
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It seems a little thing, but it left a big impression on Reba McEntire . Almost 20 years ago, McEntire was staying at a Holiday Inn in the Northeast when the video for her...
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Famous Music Publishing has picked
up exclusive worldwide rights for most of the classic pop and
R&B songs written by Clyde Otis and Brook Benton.
The Clyde Otis Music...
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Soul music great Aretha Franklin , who
suffers from hypertension, was released from a Detroit hospital
on Wednesday, a day before her 62nd birthday.
"She's being...
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It's the day before her first major-label release, and Keri Noble says she's feeling no pressure.
Even though she's the leadoff artist on EMI's revived Manhattan label,...
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The NFL canceled plans for a third opening-game kickoff concert following Janet Jackson 's risque halftime show at the Super Bowl.
The league held free downtown concerts...
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When people speak of music
visionaries, artists usually get most of the credit. But in
terms of those who work behind the scenes, few visionaries
stand out more than Rolling...
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Beyonc's
got soul--and the nominations to prove it.
The golden
girl of the 2004
Grammys reeled in four Soul Train Music Award nominations
Thursday, including those for...
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His sonorous verse introducing
sweet soul music was the precursor to rap. But legendary radio
air personality Magnificent Montague will forever be tied to
the slogan that...
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A few hours before a recent performance at Constitution Hall, Robert Randolph, like much of the rest of this city, is pondering the nation's future.
"And we're talking...
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This time last year, Ashanti,
Nelly and Eminem ruled the Billboard year-end R&B/hip-hop
charts. This year, it comes as no surprise that one artist
dominates the...
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Watching newcomer Fefe Dobson jumping around onstage to the rhythm of thrashing guitars, she looks like the typical pop-rocker girl, with a tough attitude and sneering...
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Complete list of nominees in 105 categories announced Thursday for the 46th annual Grammy Awards, to be presented Feb. 8 in Los Angeles:
1. Record of the Year: "Crazy in...
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Soul super-star Aretha Franklin has been given a $225 fine by town officials for failing to clean up the debris since a fire in October of 2002 gutted her house, located in...
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When you're watching the NFL Thursday night game on September 4, look for a performance by Aretha Franklin during the kick-off special, immediately prior to the...
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Aretha Franklin has teamed with hip-hop vocal star Mary J. Blige on a couple of songs for her latest release So Damn Happy, due to hit stores September 16. The album, her...
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The Queen Of Soul Aretha Franklin will add another jewel to her crown this fall. Black Entertainment Television (BET) salutes Aretha Franklin at the channel's ninth annual...
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Having a famous parent can be a double-edged sword for a young performer, especially in the world of rock and roll. On Sunday (July 27), the Bravo network will look at the...
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Songs by John Lennon, Paul Simon, Aretha Franklin, and Patti LaBelle appear on Songs For Life, a new AIDS benefit CD released on Tuesday (June 24) by Capitol...
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Aretha Franklin kicks off her the Queen Is On!!!... 2003 Tour on Tuesday (June 17) in Boston at FleetBoston Pavilion. Next week, on June 23, Arista Records will release the...
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The investigation into last October's fire that ravaged Aretha Franklin's $1.6 million Michigan home has taken a new turn. After police and fire officials failed to agree on...
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The queen of soul Aretha Franklin is inviting the people of Detroit to join her on Monday (May 19), from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. at the Little Rock Baptist Church and...
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Aretha Franklin is holding a public candlelight vigil and prayer service for her good friend and collaborator Luther Vandross on Monday (May 12) at Detroit's Little Rock...
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Aretha Franklin has a week left to remove the debris from the fire that destroyed one of her Michigan homes last October. She also must decide by the end of the month if...
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The Queen Of Soul, Aretha Franklin, has announced that she will go on her very last national performance tour this spring and summer. Though the tour schedule has not been...
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Al Green and Aretha Franklin will co-headline the annual "Shower Of Stars" benefit for the St. Jude Children's Research Hospital on April 26th in Memphis,...
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Aretha Franklin and Rod Stewart have been added to the list of presenters for the upcoming Grammy Awards on Sunday, February 23.
In addition to presenting an award, Stewart...
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Aretha Franklin had a "very cooperative, very courteous, very informative" question-and-answer session with prosecutors in Oakland County, Michigan, on Friday (February 14)....
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Aretha Franklin has changed attorneys and is bracing for her son to be charged in the ongoing arson investigation surrounding a fire that destroyed one of her homes last...
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Aretha Franklin has notified prosecutors in suburban Detroit that she will obey a subpoena to meet with them regarding a fire at one of her homes last October.
Prosecutors...
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Authorities in suburban Detroit served Aretha Franklin with an investigative subpoena on Thursday (January 30) regarding an October 25 arson fire that destroyed one of her...
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Aretha Franklin isn't happy with Detroit prosecutors threatening to hit her with a subpoena. Officials say they might be forced to make the legendary R&B singer give them...
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Aretha Franklin is being ordered to clean up or tear down the mansion she owns in suburban Detroit that was burned by arson three months ago. Officials in Bloomfield...
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Aretha Franklin has taken exception to claims that she's not cooperating with the police investigation into arson at one of her homes outside Detroit. After Oakland County...
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Arson has been determined as the cause of the fire that destroyed one of Aretha Franklin's homes in suburban Detroit last fall. Investigators in Oakland County, Michigan,...
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Legendary record producer Tom Dowd--who worked with such artists as Eric Clapton, Ray Charles, the Allman Brothers, and Aretha Franklin, among others--died Sunday (October...
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Aretha Franklin, the Temptations, and the Supremes are some of Detroit's music legends having streets named in their honor at a new residential development in the "Motor...
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"Queen of Soul" Aretha Franklin lit a fire in Detroit on Sunday night (January 6), but not with her voice or music. Franklin had the honor of carrying the Olympic torch on...
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Lawyers for Aretha Franklin filed a federal lawsuit in Michigan on Wednesday (November 28) against supermarket tabloid The Star for a story alleging that the singer's...
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Marc Anthony, Kid Rock, Celia Cruz, and the Backstreet Boys' A.J. McLean, Howie Dorough, and Kevin Richardson have been added to the list of performers on board to celebrate...
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Aretha Franklin, Patti Labelle, Chaka Khan, Yolanda Adams, Shirley Caesar, Maze Featuring Frankie Beverly, Kevon Edmonds, and other stars will be featured performers on the...
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Aretha Franklin is firing back at supermarket tabloid The Star for printing a story about her alleged drinking problems last week. Franklin is suing the publication for $50...
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The 11th annual Rhythm & Blues Foundation Pioneer Awards will take place tonight (September 6) at the Manhattan Center in New York City, and Smokey Robinson will return for...
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Legendary singer Aretha Franklin--the first woman inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame--took a back seat on the marquee Sunday (Nov. 28) night in Detroit to sing in...
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With the cancellation of the New Year's Eve bash Celebration 2000, plans for several performers are now up in the air. Among the acts scheduled for the New York City gig...
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If Aretha Franklin is to be taken at her word, she's not one to back down from a fight. Franklin recently told a story about a fight she almost had in Washington, D.C. "A...
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If Aretha Franklin gets her way, she'll soon be moving from the stereo to the stove.
Franklin, who currently has her autobiography Aretha: From These Roots in bookstores,...
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Add Aretha Franklin to an ever-growing list of big-name artists who will be commanding big bucks for turn-of-the-century performances on Dec. 31.
The Queen of Soul is set...
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Arista plans to release "Nessum Dorma," the aria Aretha Franklin performed at the Grammy Awards, as the B-side to a new Aretha single called "Here We Go Again," due out...
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Frank Sinatra, the Beatles, Louis Armstrong, Aretha Franklin and Bob Dylan are among the 20 artists and entertainers who most influenced life in the 20th century, according...
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And the winners are...Aretha Franklin, Wynton Marsalis and Selena!
At least, those are three logical contenders for newly-created Grammy categories announced yesterday by...
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Aretha Franklin engaged Mariah Carey in "a little girl talk" backstage at VH1’s "Divas Live" concert Tuesday night in New York.
Whether Yankee shortstop Derek...
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Aretha Franklin really saved the day at the Grammy Awards, agreeing to sing Luciano Pavarotti's aria "Nessun dorma" from Puccini's Turandot after he canceled 45 minutes...
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Bob Dylan, Fleetwood Mac, Erykah Badu, the Blues Brothers, Paula Cole, Shawn Colvin, Wyclef Jean, Aretha Franklin, R. Kelly, Sarah McLachlan and Will Smith have been added...
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Capitalizing on the hype surrounding this Summer's second annual Lilith Fair tour, this June the Razor & Tie record label will join forces with Rolling Stone magazine to...
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Late-night host David Letterman has compiled 14 live recordings of musical performances from his Late Show With David Letterman for a new album to be released on Reprise...
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