Unknown Writer Don is a cool young man. He's who I'd love to have as a sing. His interviews are so captivating. He's a smart guy. Love you Don. Correction: as a son.
Aretha's performance of "Natural Woman" at Carol King's Kennedy Award ceremony was perhaps the greatest vocal performance I've ever witnessed. It sent chills up spine. I got up off the couch and start pumping my fist in the air while I jumped up and down.
Baci302 I totally agree I saw that amazing performance too. 100 years from now people will still know her music.not one singer of this generation I can say that about.I'm so glad I grew up in the sixties.
starship trooper but isn't that the point of it all, why get another one like her when we've had the original Aretha. That's what makes her special one of a kind!
Ramal Nottah you are absolutely right can you imagine being called dumb over a question you ask that’s part of your job. Then well looks like it was his friend a good friend passed away. He very strong and intelligent.
I can tell that Don Lemon was crying and I don't blame him. I'm a little misty eyed myself. Aretha Franklin was a music icon and now she's gone y'all, but her music will be forever eternal. RIP Ms. Aretha and thank you for your gift to the world.
Very true! The Clark Sisters, Commissioned, The Entire Winans Family, Vanessa Bell Armstrong and many more that I’m forgetting!!! I grew up around all of them, because of my mother having been a photographer in the mist of it! I imagine you’ve been asked a million times... Are you related to Aretha?
I feel ya, Don. Her music has been in my life since I was a baby. My mom loved her music and always played it around the house and in the car. I grew up with Aretha. Rest In Heavenly Peace! 💔
We grew up listening to Aretha Franklin dancing and singing u hear her voice u didn't have to ask who is that her voice was one of a kind i will deeply miss her she was no she is family to me rest in peace Angel 😇
These singers of today need a page r 2 from Mrs. Franklin on how to b a real lady i listen to the oldies on my Pandora everyday these song never go out of style and they did it with Respect & class something this young generation don't have a clue about just whatever comes out of there mouth
I had a girlfriend who had a very similar tone of voice to Aretha so every Aretha song reminded me of her and she also loved Aretha's music. Though we went our separate ways in our lives I always loved this woman deeply. Aretha's music was there when this girl said goodbye to me leaving for the military (Call Me) and Aretha's music was there the first time we made love (Natural Woman). When my love was in a nursing home, I brought Percy Sledge and Al Green and Aretha songs to her bedside to make her smile. And when she passed and her family chose me to place her ashes in the ground....It was Angel playing in the background. I held it together for the funeral but I cried for days after (with Angel on repeat), and for days again when Aretha passed. I think I loved Aretha almost as much as my lady.
Loved Aretha Franklin wonderful Music, and watched Carol Kings reaction to Aretha singing You make me feel like a natural woman, was out of this world.... Rip Aretha xxx
Carole King is a national treasure. She and Gerry Goffin wrote so many songs for so many artists, I'm still amazed when I find out, "They wrote that?" From The Drifters to Whitney Houston, the list is seemingly endless...
Thank you Don Lemon for sharing your grief and your love for Aretha Franklin. I was genuinely moved by this segment when it aired last night and again watching it now. To be able to say she was my friend. Wow! Special. Very special. That was the first time I heard Aretha's version of the great Sam Cook song.
LiS Wright Yea I agree with you on that one because I'm sure the public would have been more shocked if we just found out so suddenly.I'm glad that just before Aretha died that she got a taste of how much she was loved,respected,and saluted by her fans and colleague's in the industry.
Her voice took us to places otherwise unreachable. Across boundaries of race, religion, or place of origin. If you ever experienced pain, love, hardship or sacrifice, her voice rang like a bell. Bringing us into her Church of soul. She will be forever remembered and always missed.😢
Don, you should be proud of yourself. Your interviews with ALL of Aretha's peers and friends have been classy, thoughtful and respectful. Nice job brother!
I had never heard Aretha Franklin sing, "You send me."She sounds incredible and then Don breaks down into tears Don had me in tears (-: I'm still in tears now. Aretha will be greatly missed just like Whitney!!!
Celebrate her sweetie im in tears with you it will never be a Momma Queen Aretha...She is singing in heaven..we will all meet again.. Momma Queen take care of my mother she died of throat cancer Sept. 7th 2017 last year 2017 my best friend..keep each other company..
Politically Incorrect then why come and watch boring videos, why watch a media outlet that you don't like. Why are you wasting you time and energy on something you have absolutely no interest in. You're going to get the same result everyone and know what that's called, insanity.
Politically Incorrect at least you no your place, the question is why is that your place. When you can honestly answer that you're be ok. Search it out.
I would have loved to live in that neighborhood! Imagine when the parents got together and all the kids were around for a play date and putting in talent shows for the moms and dads 😎💕🙌🏽
May God bring you comfort during your time of grieving Don and also to all the family, friends, and different lives that Aretha Franklin touched during her lifeltime. May she rest in peace.
The Queen of Soul was iconic and irreplaceable! Her heavenly talents described our most intimate life matters. She was a real caring, charitable, loving woman, sister. May she rest in peace. We have her gift of talents that enables us to continue to enjoy and celebrate what life is what life brings. Thank you Don Lemon for your Honest Reports, mind and heart. peace, love, good courage...
the queen of soul will never be forgotten we loved all of her recordings and yes thank you all so much for sharing this time and Gladys Knight you look great thank you for sharing this great story with us rest in peace Aretha God needed you on the Heavenly Choir
Aretha is part of the soundtrack of our nation's history. I hope she knew how much her music meant to so many people. Don Lemon's reaction reflects how a lot of us are feeling. Wonderful to see Miss Gladys and Smokey. Their music broke barriers, too. The CD I made to listen to in my car has songs from all three, as well as The Four Tops, The Temptations,The Supremes, J5, Honey Cone, and more. I must look funny - an old white lady singing along with the Queen of Soul, alone in my car, but I can't help it. I love their music and always will.
+AC. I’m with you! Back in the day in the ‘60's, before I could afford a car with an FM radio or a 4-track tape deck, this white boy would roll with KDAY & KGFJ in LA, and The Mighty XERB “Blasting Southern California with a 100,000 watt Blanket Of Soul” from Tijuana. Most of the white-targeted stations concentrated on bubble-gum pop & lame English dance hall crap. The Motown cross-over shift was just peeking over the horizon. But these R&B stations were my salvation, because the only jazz was on FM. The Mighty X and their all-night guy The Wolfman Jack, were a particular, clear-channel treasure. Aretha, and Gladys, and Smokey, and Wilson, and all of them, blasting “on the stratospheric skip” all the way to my Canadian country cousin, Gary. He has a sharp ear and memorized all of this, so he could sound remarkably hip singing the next day from his tractor seat while out mowing the hay. Gary is, in the words of the Annie Green Springs pop wine jingle of that day, “so country, he got suspenders on his suspenders”. Gritty & gitdown. Was that Martha & The Vandellas singing about her country dude?
Look to the rainbow was one of my favorite Aretha Franklin songs. Oh....how heavy my heart just felt again thinking about this tremendous lost. R.I.P. Ms. Franklin. She will live on through her music.
I have listened to and loved Aretha Franklin all of my life. I thank Her for all the music and the love she has given to others. I will always love you deeply and I thank God, that I was blessed to be on this earth at the same time you were. There is an African proverb that states - A person does not die until they are forgotten, you will never be forgotten. Rest in eternal peace, in God's Village. Diana L. Jefferson/ Jamaica,N.Y.
This is the best interview I've heard. Dear friends of Aretha sharing with us. Smokey almost brought me to tears. Yes she is and forever shall be The greatest singer of all time. Our Queen of Soul, the Queen of Soul your music will live on. My prayers are with her family and friends.
@Sir Alfred Lawrence I used to think so but he has changed because he holds people accountable and stands up to people on his show trying to defend the president. He's not afraid to call him a racist. Paris Dennard is definitely an uncle Tom!
Awesome and Outstanding interview. Thank You CNN. one love Aretha. us true blues brothers will keep it safe for you babe. Love and Aloha. May you Rest now in Eternal Peace. Mar 25, 1942 - Aug 16, 2018. :'(
I just happened to see this interview and was really caught off guard with the touching response to the loss of a great icon in Aretha Franklin. God Bless her in her journey to Glory. Also, Thanks Don for your Being you💙
Daisy Elmir Amen, Ms. Elmir, she will live forever... What a fantastic legacy to leave the World... America’s Best Of Soul... R.I.P. Thank you, again... 🙏🏻
Don acts like he is in all the families. LOL He just connects and that's a good quality. Nice segment. I enjoy hearing about Ms. Aretha's good friends. God bless them and her family. This made me almost cry. Detroit is really rich in music. Not that I never made that observation before, but it was like something in the water. Wow. That old school wisdom, plus knowing when you know Jesus for real, you'll see Heaven gives peace and you can hear that peace in talking with Ms. Gladys and Mr. Smokey. Gladys Knight is just a sweet lady! Smokey is cool & respectful. They both follow Jesus. Christ makes the difference, I don't care what people say. ~~Accept Christ as Savior~~
In 1967 I was 14 she and her sister's the Sweet Inspiration's are all I listened to Respect hit no. 1 on bandstand I love her so much there was no Soul train back then. I've been crying everyday I will miss . Thank you Don't thank you so much
The 1960s especially was a time that highlighted so many great musical artists from the Detroit "Motown" area. Remember playing all their songs on the jukeboxes and Aretha's songs were always the first to be selected. RIP sweet lady and thank you so much for such happy memories in my younger years.
Greatest Female Vocalist ever! Even Whitney Houston(considered best singer ever) Acknowledged her Talent and Influence on her and other all time greats like Mariah Carey etc.
MEIERSEGGSTRAßE RESEARCH INSTITUTE That was so nice of Whitney saying that since Whitney is the greatest singer in the world and still right today no body can top Whitney but Aretha is the Queen of Soul may she rest in peace&love.
Live your life Whitney Houston is "considered" the greatest singer. That doesn't make it fact though, fan of hers that I am. Why compare? Whitney was a pop icon. Perhaps the greatest pop singer. Aretha's signature was soul, of which she was queen.
Aretha was a favorite singer of my mother who has been deceased for 11 years she loved Aretha so much she give my baby sister who's 54 now, Aretha as her middle name. Aretha Franklin's music played on our home all the time as i grew up and even still today.
Aretha Franklin's songs are the soundtrack of my life........I can't remember anytime when there wasn't an Aretha song that was being played at home. It has been an honor to enjoy her sharing of her gift with us. God has called His angel of song home..........RIP my Queen.
Don, I feel for you, I woke up crying for Aretha and cried all day thinking of her and all she gave me. The love is real for her from her lifetime fans. It's a huge loss.
Don was going through it. R.I.P. to one of the greatest to ever do it. Too many legends gone 😢 Has to be a sobering experience for the generations that came up in the prime if these legends careers.
Wow ! Don thank u for blessing us one more time with great memories of the Queen of Soul.This was a beautiful tribute to her and I'm glad u were blessed to know this remarkable Woman.
Thank you for sharing your story with us about a Legend and Queen! I grew up listening to her music, she had an amazing talent and we will always remember her through her songs. It's refreshing to see that a man like you isn't afraid to show your emotions about something and someone you care so deeply about. She will no longer be in pain, may she rest in peace.
Aretha had many of my favorites, but at the top of the list, Who Zooming Who, Say A Little Prayer, Until You Come Back To Me, Think, Respect, and Don't Play That Song
jump jump to it written by Luther Vandross till you come back to me ain't no way natural woman get it right chain chain chain a rose amazing Grace bridge over troubled water think pink Cadillac still crying devastated
I love all of Aretha Franklin songs but my fave song is I Knew You Were Waiting (For Me) with George Michael I can listen to that song on repeat all day long RIP to this great legendary singer there will never be another like her!
The Queen Of soul Rest In Peace, make beautiful music in heaven with all the great artists we’ve lost. Thank you for inspiring artists like myself to strive to write songs with heart and soul, and much love!
I was ok until you started to sob, now I can't stop the tears running down my face. The soundtrack to my first love as a teenager. The world is running out of great musical diamonds. I am so sorry, so upset, so heavy in my heart. May she R I P. Bonnie ( Dr. Nightlinger) Ellis
Many Beautiful people from Smokey Robinson’s generation have transitioned. It’s up to my generation to keep their legacy alive. It’s imperative that we keep the ancestors happy and satisfied. One love, family!
