Top 44 Aretha Quotes

There was a time in American history when almost every white person knew who Aretha Franklin was.

I naturally gravitated first to R&B and pop: Michael Jackson, Whitney Houston, Aretha Franklin, Patti LaBelle.

I started with soul music and icons like Aretha Franklin and Etta James and then moved to R&B and artists such as Erykah Badu and Lauryn Hill. Electronic music came later on, when I was in high school and I was really influenced by artists like Skrillex and Major Lazer.

I know I’m not going to sing like Aretha Franklin or Elvis Presley or any of those people.

If I could sing like a Chaka Khan, an Aretha, a Kim Burrell, if I could do all these amazing runs and belt it out, I would. I’ve attempted that, and it’s not something anyone would want to hear.

The older songs were better songs, because they had lyrics with a story to tell. Aretha and Otis told stories.

Aretha Franklin does not like me.

I’ve always been attracted to music, and women like Aretha Franklin, Beyonce, Nina Simone, Ella Fitzgerald and Tina Turner showed the path, in a way. They’re all tough women but not afraid to be vulnerable. They made me feel someone like me could do that.

The muse of music isn’t just from Greek mythology, but living in people like the Beatles, Chuck Berry, Anita Baker, Aretha Franklin.

I have total respect for the self-contained rock artist. Whether you’re dealing with Jerry Garcia or Lou Reed or Patti Smith or a Whitney or an Aretha, they know what they want with their career.

I was told all my life to sing like Aretha Franklin, or Adele, cover myself with black clothing and show more soul, sing bigger.

Don’t say Aretha is making a comeback, because I’ve never been away!

As a child I always wanted to be a singer. The music my mother played in the house moved me – Aretha Franklin, Chaka Khan, Mahalia Jackson. It was truly spiritual. It made you understand what God was. We are all spirits. We get depressed. But music makes you want to live. I know my music has saved my life.

I’ve been getting into different gospel artists; Aretha Franklin is someone I’ve been listening to a lot of.

Being around people like Aretha Franklin and Gladys Knight, Dionne Warwick and Roberta Flack, all these greats, I was taught to listen and observe.

Aretha Franklin is and will always be a national treasure.

But I’m really into old music – bluesy, soulful singers, like Etta James, Ray Charles, and Aretha Franklin. I wouldn’t have minded being born in the 1960s!

You knew the difference between Barbra Streisand and Aretha Franklin, Stevie Wonder and Ray Charles, straight away. Now everyone sounds like each other, and I don’t think that’s right.

Aretha Franklin holds a significant place in the collective heart of America. She’s a singular example of what we represent at our best.

My dad was a club musician. He was always playing guitar and playing loads of soul records and ’60s rock n’ roll. Whenever he used to cook, he used to play Donny Hathaway, Aretha Franklin, The Kinks, and the Spencer Davis Group – a lot of really earthy things.

You know, I thought seeing Aretha Franklin last year was amazing, and I didn’t think anyone can top that. But if someone can, John Legend would be the man. In my mind, he’s a legend, no pun intended.

I am in love with old school funk and soul music. That’s what I grew up listening to, and I want to bring that style back with my music. I love artists like Stevie Wonder, Donna Summer, Aretha Franklin, Michael Jackson, Earth, Wind, & Fire, Bruno Mars, Justin Timberlake, and more!

When Aretha Franklin came on the radio when I was in college, we would stop the car, throw open the doors, jump out, and dance.

Like when you hear Aretha Franklin sing – it touches your soul. Crunk music, it makes you just wanna lose your mind – just be free and wild out.

Growing up, I was listening to a ton of Motown music, Otis Redding, Aretha, and then there was the Beatles and Led Zeppelin and Janis Joplin. These were all people that I felt as though they truly felt every single lyric they said, and they weren’t afraid of imperfection.

I was fortunate enough to meet Aretha Franklin but I was so overwhelmed that I just burst out crying.

I cannot express how much music got me through lockdown. I re-discovered Roberta Flack, Smokey Robinson, and Aretha Franklin.

My introduction of Whitney was that if there’s going to be one performer for the next generation who combined the beauty and lyric phrasing of a Lena Horne with those Gospel fiery roots of an Aretha Franklin, it would be Whitney Houston.

I want to sing like Aretha Franklin. Before her I wanted the technical ability of Ella Fitzgerald.

I was a pop-music junkie. My parents were into Frank Sinatra and Doris Day. They weren’t too excited when I had Aretha or the Stones pumping.

The voice of God, if you must know, is Aretha Franklin’s.

My dad was into jazz, so there was a lot of Thelonious Monk and Duke Ellington playing in the house, but also a lot of soul, such as Aretha Franklin and Ella Fitzgerald, while my mum liked Prince and Diana Ross.

I’ve always loved music. I grew up with older brothers and sisters who were into music, played The Beatles and the Rolling Stones and Aretha Franklin.

My sound comes from my inspiration, which is people like Aretha and Jay Z and Kanye, as well as everyone from the Whitneys and Mariahs to Destiny’s Child and Usher. They all inspired me growing up.

I’m telling the story, and if I can’t tell the story, I’m not going to sing it. And if I don’t agree with the story, and if I got to sing something that portrays me as something I’m not, then I’m not going to sing it either. I didn’t even want to sing Aretha Franklin’s ‘Chain of Fools.’

I grew up loving Etta James and Aretha Franklin and Al Green and Otis Redding, and I just love old-school R&B. It’s just music that moves you and grooves you, and it was very important, I think, for music.

People say I’m the white Aretha Franklin. I wish I was her.

Aretha Franklin, first and foremost… That’s my top girl there.

If you think about it, Aretha did basically the same things that I do.

I always loved James Brown, Diana Ross, Aretha Franklin, Sam Cooke.

To me, R&B means Aretha Franklin, who is otherworldly.

I grew up with music in the house. I was told I could sing as soon as I started talking. Everybody in my family sang, always lots of records, blues and jazz and soul, R&B, you know, like Mahalia Jackson, Aretha Franklin, Coltrane, that kind of thing.

I guess I could’ve been a prima ballerina. Or a nurse. Aretha Nightingale!

I was just obsessed with soul singers who had these big powerful voices. I used to listen to Aretha, Whitney, Mariah and try and imitate them, note for note and riff for riff.