Part of that has to do with the fact that at that time she was literally the only female solo artist who was eligible and who was Worthy. I think it's equally amazing that Janis Joplin was the first woman of any race to ever be inducted in their first year of eligibility. Remember Aretha was eligible the year before she made it in and they passed her over.
I think the queen of soul is perfectly fitting for aretha. can't think of anyone in the world who would deserve that title more..but there is no queen of country? Patsy cline, Loretta lynn, Tammy wynette, dolly parton?...no? While rock and roll was the movement, rock music is a different thing and Aretha definitely wasn't rock. But who was that could be called the queen of that genre? I would say Janis Joplin some would say Tina Turner.... How about pop music. Got to be Madonna right? Like her or hate her can't deny her influence. The fact is Aretha was great but not everybody bows down to soul, or r&b or country and one person's idea of Queen is another person's idea of a type of music they can't stand.
The Rock & Rock Hall of Fame is for singers and musicians period!!!!!! The terminology evolved to Rhythm & Blues, Soul, Funk, Rockabilly, et al. The name rock is not for the genre, rock music, it's for the movement of the body when you hear the music.
Also the term Rock & Roll is supposed to represent music from 1958 to today. So anyone that is still whining about Pop, R&B, rap artists being inducted are stupid.
Our great Queen, Ms. Aretha Franklin. Next up and the very first woman to be inducted in the Hall in person was our other Detroit Queen, Ms. Mary Wilson and the Supremes in 1988!
I wish she was there to receive that honor. I know she couldn't (or didn't want to) because of her fear of flying at the time. Still such a well deserved honor.
A bunch of stiffs. Keith adds the levity and the fact that it's Rock and Roll, which should NEVER be a black tie event. Hall of Fame is a fucking joke, besides.
He wasn't on heroin at all here. He was nearly 10 years clean of heroin by this time. The bust in Toronto was 77 or 78 and he quit then and hasn't used any heroin since. This was most likely alcohol and a little cocaine.
I know ... let's honour the queen of soul by asking an old , drunk , inarticulate Rolling Stone to try and say a few words about the great lady , and when that doesn't work , let's get her equally drunk , stuttering brother , to attempt ... ah well , you get the picture.
They should have been ashamed, not only because they did an injustice to the Queen, but also to the audience and themselves. Thank God for CD, he save the day. I had to move on it was so horrible.
