Aretha Franklin: Last News

Chris Willman Senior Music Writer and Chief Music Critic The 75th anniversary of Atlantic Records is being celebrated by that label and its sister catalog imprint, Rhino Records, with a year-long rollout of 90 vinyl releases and re-releases, covering the gamut from Led Zeppelin to Lizzo and John Coltrane to Coldplay. Most — not all — of the titles are being pressed on clear vinyl and are described in the label’s product descriptions as one-time pressings. Most have previously been released on vinyl, although three modern albums, Gayle’s “A Study in the Human Experience,” Christina Perry’s “Lovestrong” and Kehlani’s “Cloud 19,” are getting their first-time LP iterations as part of the campaign.

Pete Davidson is opening up about his health.

Tituss Burgess will return to Broadway for a stint in Moulin Rouge! The Musical, playing the role of club owner “Harold Zidler” from Tuesday, October 10 through Sunday, December 17.

Jem Aswad Executive Editor, Music Republic Records’ Kids & Family division and the Rock and Roll Playhouse have announced an exclusive partnership with a multi-album record deal. Founded by Brooklyn Bowl owner and live music entrepreneur Peter Shapiro, the Rock and Roll Playhouse is set to release their premiere album, “Friends Rock!,” on Friday, September 22.

Krystal Nielson and Miles Bowles have officially tied the knot!The coupe exchanged vows on Saturday at a private residence in La Jolla, California, with an intimate ceremony witnessed by close friends and family.The Nation star made her relationship with Bowles Instagram official in September 2020, and announced that they were expecting their first child together the next month. Nielson gave birth to the couple's daughter, Andara Rose Bowles, in March 2021.

Jem Aswad Executive Editor, Music Along with the tracklist for Olivia Rodrigo’s hotly anticipated sophomore album, “Guts,” came its total time — 39 minutes — which has rather inexplicably led to hundreds of complaints online that the album is somehow short-changing her fans due to its apparently brief length. “So short!” one fan complained. “They really be calling anything a ‘Album’ nowadays huh,” groused another.

Tina Knowles is shutting down the speculation about her daughter, Beyoncé's, decision to omitLizzo's name from her «Break My Soul (The Queens Remix)» during a recent performance. During her Renaissance tour stop in Boston, Massachusetts, on Tuesday, Beyoncé seemed to swap the lyric «Badu, Lizzo, Kelly Row» in favor of repeating «Badu» four times, a reference to singer Erykah Badu.The original lyrics of the remix notably name-checks a running list of iconic Black women entertainers including Nina Simone, Erykah Badu, Lizzo, Lauryn Hill, Janet Jackson, Missy Elliot and Aretha Franklin.

Beyoncé appears to be making a statement — or two — with her latest performance. During her tour stop in Boston, Massachusetts, on Tuesday, the singer switched things up during her «Break My Soul (The Queens Remix)» song, which notably name-checks a running list of iconic Black women entertainers including Nina Simone, Erykah Badu, Lizzo, Lauryn Hill, Janet Jackson, Missy Elliot and Aretha Franklin, among several others.

Lady Gaga has shared a heartfelt tribute to music icon and friend Tony Bennett, following news of his death.The legendary American singer died on July 21 in his hometown of New York, after a lengthy battle with Alzheimer’s disease. He was aged 96.Since sharing his debut album ‘Because Of You’ in 1952, the vocalist went on to release more than 70 albums, won 20 Grammy awards and collaborated with some of the biggest names in the music industry, including Sir Paul McCartney and Aretha Franklin.His final studio recording was titled ‘Love For Sale’, a collaborative collection with Lady Gaga which was released in 2021. The two had previously joined forces for the 2014 release ‘Cheek To Cheek’.Now, following his death earlier this month, Lady Gaga has spoken out on the loss publicly for the first time, and shared a touching tribute to the musician and “true friend”.Alongside an image of them both embracing, shared yesterday (July 30), the caption read: “I will miss my friend forever.

Aretha Franklin, the Queen of Soul, passed away in 2018, but her estate is still in flux, pitting her sons against each other. This week, a Michigan jury ruled that a handwritten document found in her couch after Franklin’s death is a valid will. It is a victory for Kecalf Franklin and Edward Franklin, whose lawyers had argued that papers dated 2014 should override a 2010 will which was discovered around the same time in a locked cabinet at the Franklin’s home in suburban Detroit.

episode.The topic came up during a conversation about the recent ruling about the will found in Aretha Franklin’s couch cushion, as they spoke about being proactive about your own wishes — especially when you’re a public figure.“Yeah, no, I don’t want to be a hologram, that’s been in my will for 15 years,” Goldberg said.“No one has really asked me if I want to be a hologram yet,” co-host Joy Behar joked in response.“Well no, they don’t ask you, that’s the thing, they just do it,” Goldberg said. “They just do it and then you go, ‘Hey, isn’t that Tupac? You know? Wait a minute, didn’t Tupac die? What is he doing up on …’ Yeah see, I don’t want that.”“It’s a little freaky, creepy,” she added.ARETHA FRANKLIN'S WILL FOUND IN COUCH FOUND VALID: Following a Michigan jury ruling that a document handwritten by the Queen of Soul and found in her couch after her death is a valid will, #TheView co-hosts discuss why some are hesitant to create a will.

Aretha Franklin‘s sofa after her death in 2018 is a valid will.The ruling is a critical turn in a dispute between the late singer’s four sons that has turned three of them against each other.The new documents that were signed by the singer in 2014 were discovered in 2019 by Franklin’s niece, the same person who discovered the singer’s 2010 will in a locked cabinet.The singer did not leave behind a formal, typed will when she passed five years ago at age 76.A post shared by Aretha Franklin (@arethafranklin)It is a win for Franklin’s second oldest and youngest children – Edward and Kecalf– whose lawyers argued that the 2014 documents were valid and superseded a 2010 version of the will that Franklin had left before she died of pancreatic cancer in 2018.As the Associated Press reports, lawyers for Kecalf and Edward Franklin said the fact that the 2014 papers were found in a notebook in couch cushions did not make them less significant.The 2014 will stated that Kecalf Franklin and grandchildren would get his mother’s main home in Bloomfield Hills, which was valued at $1.1 million when she died, but is worth much more today.The older will said Kecalf, 53, and Edward Franklin, 64, “must take business classes and get a certificate or a degree” to benefit from the estate. That provision is not in the 2014 version.“I’m very, very happy.

A jury in Michigan has concluded that a 2014 handwritten document found under a cushion on a sofa can be considered the last will and testament of Aretha Franklin. It means that the late musician’s estate is now likely to be managed and distributed according to the wishes set out in that document.After Franklin died in 2018, two documents were found in her home that could constitute a will, one from 2010 and one from 2014.

Thania Garcia A Michigan jury has ruled that a set of handwritten notes found under Aretha Franklin’s sofa stand as a valid will, according to a report by the Associated Press. Jurors deliberated for almost an hour on Tuesday before determining that the handwritten documents discovered under a sofa cushion by Franklin’s niece were legally binding documents of record they had been signed by the “Respect” singer in 2014. Lawyers for the singer’s sons Kecalf Franklin and Edward Franklin won the case that argued the 2014 documents were valid and superseded a 2010 version of the will that Franklin had left in a safe before she died of pancreatic cancer in 2018. The 2010 pages were discovered in a locked cabinet — and by the same niece who discovered the 2014 version — in Franklin’s Detroit home.

The 2014 will found in the couch of Aretha Franklin‘s home — following her death in 2018 — has been deemed valid by a jury.

A court in Michigan heard testimonies from Aretha Franklin’s children yesterday in a dispute over the late musician’s will. Franklin’s sons disagree over whether documents from 2010 or 2014 best represent their mother’s wishes in terms of how her estate should be managed.Following Franklin’s death in 2018 two documents were found at her home, both of which could be considered her last will and testament.The one written in 2014 is obviously the more recent.

Sir Elton John told the thousands of adoring fans in Sweden that he “better make it a good show” as kicked off the final date of his mammoth farewell tour.The 76 year old musical megastar has been travelling around the globe performing his Farewell Yellow Brick Road show since 2018, and his second night at the Tele2 Arena in Stockholm on Saturday (8 July) finally brought the 330-date run to a close. In classic spectacular fashion, The Rocket Man singer donned a black suit jacket with colourful beading on the lapel as he took to the stage to open with his hit Bennie And The Jets, which first appeared on the Goodbye Yellow Brick Road album in 1973.

Owen Gleiberman Chief Film Critic Unabashed pop groups with fervid teenage followings tend to get trivialized, at least in the media. They’re dismissed as being slick and calculated and superficial. But there’s a story in “Wham!,” the new Netflix documentary about the quintessential pop duo of the 1980s, that testifies to what a chancy and audacious artist George Michael was even back in his teen-idol days. The year is 1983. Michael and Andrew Ridgeley, coming off their first album, “Fantastic” (which had a few hits, though none of them were great), have established Wham! as an effective lightweight pop machine, with its two young stars prancing around the stage in sexy sportswear. The time has come to record “Careless Whisper,” a song they’ve had in their back pocket for several years (we hear the super-early demo version of it that they recorded in 1981 in Ridgeley’s living room on a TEAC 4-track Portastudio). Michael has become enough of a powerhouse to hook up with Jerry Wexler, the legendary producer of Aretha Franklin and Ray Charles. He heads down to Muscle Shoals Sound Studio to record the track, with Wexler producing. What more could a 20-year-old budding pop star want?

Madonna took off into the stratosphere with “Lucky Star” and other hits from her self-titled debut album — released 40 years ago on July 27, 1983 — the then-24-year-old hopeful had received some clairvoyant reinforcement regarding her future as the Queen of Pop.“She had actually gone to a psychic, and she told me, ‘Just watch what’s gonna happen,’” Paul Pesco — who played guitar on both “Lucky Star” and “Burning Up”  — told The Post.“She told me this in rehearsals one day, and it was like the equivalent of Bette Davis saying, ‘Fasten your seatbelts …’ I mean, she kind of knew it.”That would give prophetic meaning to “I Know It” — one of five songs that a young Madonna Louise Ciccone of Michigan wrote by herself for an eight-track classic that would get generations of future dance-pop divas into the groove. Possessing neither the gospel grandeur of an Aretha Franklin or the folky feels of a Joni Mitchell, Madonna — who was set to commemorate the 40th anniversary of her debut with her “Celebration” tour launching on July 15 until the Material Girl, 64, was sidelined by a serious bacterial infection two weeks ago — made her own path, as the mother of a pop reinvention.After the so-called death of disco as the ’70s twirled to an end, Madonna reclaimed the dance floor in a whole new way.“We really felt that if we were to combine disco and R&B and new wave, we would have something really cool,” said Michael Rosenblatt, Madonna’s original A&R man at Sire Records.

The final wishes of singing star Aretha Franklin will be adjudicated starting next Monday in a trial that will determine which of two handwritten wills will be honored.

Associated Press.“This can be settled any time, on the steps, halfway through trial,” he said. “And hopefully it will be.