Aretha Franklin (Photo by Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images)
#Roommates, Aretha Franklin’s legacy remains thoroughly intact three years after her death with the release of her critically-acclaimed biopic starring Jennifer Hudson—and now she has been given the highest honor for her most famous song. Earlier this week, Rolling Stone magazine released its list of the “100 Greatest Songs Of All-Time” and Aretha Franklin’s “Respect” was ranked at the very top.
@RollingStone recently shared the latest updated version of its greatest songs of all-time and the Queen Of Soul Aretha Franklin would likely be very proud with her ranking. Her iconic 1967 song “Respect” earned the number one spot on the list that includes several of her musical peers. Previously, “Respect” was ranked number five when the list was originally created back in 2004, but according to the magazine’s writers, it has now earned the title of the “Greatest Song Of All-Time.” “Respect” was recently introduced to a new generation of fans following the release of Aretha’s biopic of the same name starring Oscar winner Jennifer Hudson.
Describing why the song is so deserving of the title and what it meant to the Black community upon its release, ‘Rolling Stone’ stated this:
“‘Respect’ catalyzed rock & roll, gospel, and blues to create the model for soul music that artists still look to today (Mariah Carey called Franklin “my mentor.”) Just as important, the song’s unapologetic demands resonated powerfully with the civil rights movement and emergent feminist revolution, fitting for an artist who donated to the Black Panther Party and sang at the funeral of Martin Luther King Jr. In her 1999 memoir, Franklin wrote that the song reflected “the need of the average man and woman in the street, the businessman, the mother, the fireman, the teacher — everyone wanted respect.” We still do.”
Meanwhile, talk around Hollywood is that Jennifer Hudson is one of the front-runners to be nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actress for her role as Aretha Franklin, for which she was hand-picked by the icon shortly before she passed.
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