10 facts about aretha franklin

However, there are facets of her life and career that aren't as recognized.

When was aretha franklin born

Here are 10 things you may not know about this musical legend:. In the early s, Franklin had to endure some intense turbulence while flying in a small two-engine plane from Atlanta back home to Detroit. As she described it in , "That plane was dipsy-doodling all over the place. From that point onward, Franklin traveled by bus, not by plane, to get to concerts and other events.

Franklin tried to rid herself of this fear.

Aretha franklin children

She explained in , "I did take a class, Fearless Flyers, but I missed two weeks of it and my fellow students went on to Indiana and passed, and I didn't, so I need to make those two classes and then hopefully I'll pass and I'll be able to fly again. In , swollen feet left Franklin unable to attend Whitney Houston 's funeral. At the service, Dionne Warwick , Houston's cousin, mentioned Franklin before realizing she wasn't present.

Warwick then said of Franklin, "She loves Whitney as if she were born to her. She is her godmother. Houston's mother corrected Warwick within days, but that wasn't enough for Franklin. Five years later, Franklin sent a fax to the Associated Press that accused Warwick of making a "libelous" statement. In a follow-up interview with the Associated Press , Franklin said, "She blatantly lied on me… fully well knowing what she was doing.

Franklin was a self-taught musician who learned to play the piano by ear and couldn't read music.