The Atlantic

An Asteroid Named Aretha

The Queen of Soul’s legacy can be found even among the cosmos.
Source: Reuters

In 2001, Aretha Franklin took the stage at Radio City Music Hall in New York City. She wore a bleach-white jumpsuit and feather boa, her hair teased up in her trademark style, glossy as obsidian. A guitar twanged over the cheers of a packed house. “What is that, Teddy?” Franklin , addressing her son, the evening’s guitarist. “Play that riff again. We all know that, don’t we?” They did, and as the Queen of Soul broke

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