Aretha Franklin dies: Remembering The Queen of Soul's most memorable TV performances

Vox

"Aretha Franklin's was the voice of the 20th century," says Jack Hamilton in a tribute to the iconic performer. "No other singer left such a definitive mark on the course of popular music—simply put, there is singing before Aretha Franklin, and there is singing after her." Franklin's voice made its TV debut at age 19 on Jack Paar's Tonight Show. By her third TV appearance, singing "Won't Be Long" on The Steve Allen Show in 1964, "her mastery of both the piano and her performance was captivating," says Naima Cochrane. In 1973, Franklin became one of the rare performers to sing live on Soul Train (most performers used lip-sync tracks), singing "Day Dreaming." Introducing this performance, host Don Cornelius said, “I consider myself very fortunate to have lived on earth during her career, and that I was able to see and hear what she has done. She deserves all the titles she has been given, for she is the Queen.” In 2014, Franklin showed that her voice was still great while performing a cover of Adele's "Rolling in the Deep" on The Late Show with David Letterman. "In this Letterman performance," says Cochrane, "Franklin brought back longtime backing vocalist Cissy Houston (who possibly didn’t care to be there, judging from her expressions during the performance), and proved she hadn’t lost a step or a note, nor had her unique gift for transforming and elevating already iconic songs faded. In her style of transforming the end of a song, she transitions into 'Ain’t No Mountain High Enough,' playing to the audience with her hand on her hip as though to emphasize her continued reign."

ALSO:

• Longtime Grammys producer Ken Ehrlich recalls Franklin saving him in 1998 when she agreed to sing "Nessum Dorma" at the last minute because Luciano Pavarotti was too ill
• Franklin singing "Nessun Dorma" at the Grammys was the greatest awards show performance ever
• Franklin made only one TV acting appearance, on Room 222 in 1971
• Watch Franklin playing herself on a 1991 episode of Murphy Brown
• Watch Franklin's 60 Minutes profile from 1990