Jazz was central to Aretha Franklin's musicianship, however far she rambled. Without it we'd be remembering a different artist now, and celebrating a different body of work.
Drummers usually make sure beats don't speed up or slow down. But drummer Allison Miller does more than keep time. Watch a demonstration of her unique style of playing called melodic drumming.
Black Power, black leadership and the black church all converged in the city of Aretha Franklin's youth. Once she had the means, she resolved to bring Detroit's potential with her.
Beyoncé sang it at Coachella. Kim Weston sang it at Wattstax. The song often called the "black national anthem" is still with us — in part because the struggle it describes never went away.
Her music has been sung at marches and political rallies, heard in churches and on chain restaurant jukeboxes. Everything popular music can be is there in the songs of Aretha Franklin.
For much of this century's first two decades, there has been at least one Rihanna song on the pop charts. If she is not seen as taking musical risks, it's only because so many of them have paid off.
Julia Ward Howe wrote a rousing anthem for the Union in the Civil War. Since then, it's been caught in a cultural tug-of-war over who it's an anthem for.