Aretha Louise Franklin (born March, 1942) is an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. Although known for her soul recordings and referred to as The Queen of Soul, Franklin is also adept at jazz, blues, R&B, and gospel music. Rolling Stone magazine ranked her atop its list of The Greatest Singers of All Time as well as the ninth greatest artist of all time. She was the only featured singer at the 2009 presidential inauguration of Barack Obama. On May 23, 2010, Franklin received an Honorary Doctorate in Music from Yale University.
 
She released her first single for Columbia in September 1960, aged 18. Franklin began recording her first songs for Atlantic in early 1967. By the end of the year, Franklin not only became a superstar but she stood as one of the symbols of the civil rights movement partially due to her rendition of "Respect", which had a feminist-powered theme after Franklin recorded it. Franklin's other hits during the late sixties included "Think", her rendition of Dionne Warwick's "I Say a Little Prayer", "Ain't No Way" and "The House That Jack Built" among others.

"I Say a Little Prayer" is a song written by songwriters Burt Bacharach and Hal David for Dionne Warwick which was a Top Ten hit in 1967. The song also returned to the Pop & R&B Top Ten in the fall of 1968 via a recording by Aretha Franklin taken from her 1968 Aretha Now album; Franklin and her backup singers the Sweet Inspirations were singing the song for fun while rehearsing the songs intended for the album and the viability of Franklin actually recording "I Say a Little Prayer" became apparent. Franklin's version of "I Say a Little Prayer" has an especial significance in her UK career, as with its September 1968 #4 peak it became Franklin's biggest UK hit; subsequently Franklin has surpassed that track's UK peak only with her #1 collaboration with George Michael: "I Knew You Were Waiting (For Me)".