The Queen of Soul

By Carli Muñoz

The news of Aretha Franklin's passing has been surreal for me. It wouldn't even be fair to think of Aretha Franklin as another top artist or another successful singer—it'd certainly be an understatement. What I can honestly say is that she has been instead a concept, a force, and even a world to me.

I'm not even sure that I have come to grips with her passing. Her legacy is so firmly embedded in my music experience that most of Aretha is still alive, giving, and always will. Of course, I'm here only speaking for myself, although I don't doubt that this may be the case for so many people touched by her singing, spirit, and charisma. Even the word 'singing' seems to fall short when it comes to Aretha. To 'listen' to Aretha Franklin was closer to experiencing something altogether different— more like a full-body and spirit experience. Perhaps if there were such things as 'musical receptors' located throughout the body (like the opiate receptors), her music certainly would have vibrated every one of them and then some, accounting for the exhilarating sensation of listening to her.

I would have loved to have been in Carole King's shoes just for one moment when Aretha sang King's "A natural woman" live at Kennedy Center in 2015! During that concert, the facial expressions are a testimony to the power of song and performer at its highest—it is a moment in time majestically captured for generations to come—a perpetual living testament that giants did walked the earth and that among them there was a queen... Aretha, the Queen of Soul.