<strong>&quot;A remarkably complex portrait of Aretha Franklin's music and her tumultuous life.&quot; --<i>Rolling Stone</i><br><br></strong>Aretha Franklin began life as the golden daughter of a progressive and promiscuous Baptist preacher. Raised without her mother, she was a gospel prodigy who gave birth to two sons in her teens and left them--and her native Detroit--for New York, where she struggled to find her true voice. After fame and fortune finally came via &quot;Respect,&quot; and a rapid-fire string of hits, she has evolved ever since, amidst personal tragedy, surprise Grammy performances, and career reinventions.<br><br>Aretha's hold on her crown is tenacious, and in RESPECT David Ritz gives us the decisive and definitive study of one of the greatest American talents of the twentieth century.