Aretha Franklin, a renowned music legend, gave birth to her first son, Clarence Franklin, at the age of 12. She initially claimed the father as Edward Jordan, an American Baptist minister and civil rights activist. The couple had four children, with Clarence being named after her father.
Aretha’s first child was born on January 28, 1955, just before she married film star Glynn Turman in 1977. They had their first child together, Teddy White Jr., in 1961. At 28 years old, Aretha gave birth to her last child, another son named Edward Franklin.
Aretha’s family lived in Detroit with most of her children, but Teddy grew up mostly under his father’s care. Several women, including Aretha’s grandmother Rachel and Mahalia Jackson, took turns helping with the children at the Franklin home. During this time, Aretha’s father, Edward Jordan, allowed her to drop out of school. However, she chose to stay home to take care of the child.
Edward Jordan Sr. is the father of two of Franklin’s sons. He is identified as Edward Franklin, who gave birth to four boys: Clarence Franklin, Edward Franklin, Teddy Richards, and Kecalf Cunningham.
Aretha Franklin rarely discussed her first two pregnancies, but her biography does identify him as Edward Jordan Sr.
📹 The Truth About Aretha Franklin Having A Child With Her Own Father
The Truth About Aretha Franklin Having A Child With Her Own Father Though Reverend CL Franklin was one of the greatest …
Who is the real father of Aretha Franklin’s first child?
Aretha Franklin, a former singer, never disclosed the father of her son Clarence, who was diagnosed with an undisclosed mental illness. She later confirmed that Edward Jordan Sr. fathered her two older children but did not contribute to their welfare. Aretha returned to school after having Clarence, who went on to write several songs, some of which Aretha even sang and recorded herself. Clarence was not involved in the legal dispute between his brothers, but both wills required the singer’s estate to financially support him.
What happened between Aretha Franklin and her first husband?
Aretha Franklin and Ted White separated in 1968, with White taking over her career and Aretha’s brother Cecil Franklin managing her. White was accused of being abusive towards Aretha, with a 1968 Time magazine story stating that he “roughed her up in public at Atlanta’s Regency Hyatt House Hotel”. Mahalia Jackson and David Ritz noted that violent incidents were not uncommon between the couple. Ted White, now 90, is known for his life and career.
Who was Edward Jordan to Aretha?
Edward Jordan is the father of two sons of the late Aretha Franklin. At the age of 12, Aretha gave birth to her first child, Clarence, in 1955. Initially, Franklin asserted that the father was a schoolmate. However, in her wills, she refers to Edward Sr. as his father. As her success grew, Aretha’s grandmother, Rachel, and sister, Erma, assumed responsibility for her children.
What happened to Aretha Franklin’s son Clarence?
Clarence, the eldest son of the late Aretha Franklin, resides in an assisted-living facility catering to individuals with special needs. He may have composed musical pieces, including some that were recorded by his mother. The handwritten wills of Franklin indicate the inclusion of special provisions for Clarence, who is currently 66 years of age. The precise location of the individual in question is currently unknown, and he is not involved in the dispute over the estate.
Does Aretha Franklin have a sister?
Carolyn Franklin, inspired by her sisters’ secular music successes in the early 1960s, began recording in 1963 and began working for RCA Records in 1969. Despite her modest success, Carolyn worked behind the scenes as a songwriter, mainly for sister Aretha’s work. They collaborated on several classic hits, including “Ain’t No Way”, which was the B-side to Aretha’s 1 R and B/Top Five Pop triumph, “Sweet Sweet Baby” Since You’ve Been Gone.
Carolyn’s next hit for Aretha was the 1973 ballad “Angel”, featuring Carolyn and eldest sister Erma Franklin in background voices advising Aretha. Carolyn also contributed to 1970’s “Pullin'” with Jimmy Radcliffe and wrote songs for Franklin’s 1970 album Spirit in the Dark and her failed 1975 platter, You. Franklin retired from the music industry in 1976, but occasionally continued to sing with Aretha. She appeared as one of Aretha’s background singers in the 1980 movie The Blues Brothers and was a backing vocalist on Paul King’s 1987 album Joy.
Who sang at Aretha Franklin’s funeral?
Friday’s funeral service for Ariana Grande will feature performances from a star-studded list of artists, including Stevie Wonder, Jennifer Hudson, Faith Hill, Chaka Khan, Shirley Caesar, and Yolanda Adams. Gospel stars Marvin Sapp, the Clark Sisters, and Vanessa Bell Armstrong will also perform, along with The Aretha Franklin Orchestra and the Aretha Franklin Celebration Choir. Grande, who paid tribute to Franklin in an emotional performance, first met Franklin on The Tonight Show in 2014 and was invited to perform at the funeral.
Franklin’s body was laid in state at the Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History, where fans can attend a public viewing. She arrived in a gold-plated casket, dressed in head-to-toe red and wearing Christian Louboutins, a shoe choice made by Franklin’s family to show her diva nature. The Detroit Free Press reports that hundreds of fans appeared to pay their respects at the museum yesterday, many of them waiting on the sidewalk overnight.
Did Aretha Franklin have a baby when she was a child?
Aretha Franklin gave birth to four boys, including Clarence Franklin, Edward Franklin, Teddy Richards, and Kecalf Cunningham. Clarence was named after her preacher father, and Edward was born two years later. Franklin never revealed the father of either of the boys, but a 2014 biography by David Ritz claimed that the father of Clarence was Donald Burke, a boy she knew from school. However, this detail was called into question in 2019 after Franklin’s death when three handwritten wills were discovered in her home.
Franklin’s family believed she had no will, and her sons have argued in court over the authenticity of those documents. The biography does not suggest that the pregnancy resulted from a nonconsensual encounter or statutory rape.
How many husbands did Aretha Franklin have?
Aretha Franklin was an American singer, songwriter, and pianist, known as the “Queen of Soul” and twice named the greatest singer of all time by Rolling Stone magazine. Born on March 25, 1942, in Detroit, Michigan, Franklin was noticed for her gospel singing at New Bethel Baptist Church. At 18, she signed with Columbia Records and later signed with Atlantic Records in 1966. Franklin recorded albums such as I Never Loved a Man the Way I Love You, Lady Soul, Spirit in the Dark, Young, Gifted and Black, Amazing Grace, and Sparkle.
However, she faced problems with Atlantic Records and left in 1979. She signed with Arista Records in 1979 and continued her success with albums Jump to It, Who’s Zoomin’ Who?, Aretha, and A Rose Is Still a Rose.
How many biological siblings did Aretha Franklin have?
Aretha Louise Franklin was an American singer, songwriter, and pianist, known as the “Queen of Soul” and twice named the greatest singer of all time by Rolling Stone magazine. Born in Detroit, Michigan, Franklin was noticed for her gospel singing at New Bethel Baptist Church. At 18, she signed with Columbia Records and later signed with Atlantic Records in 1966. She recorded albums such as I Never Loved a Man the Way I Love You, Lady Soul, Spirit in the Dark, Young, Gifted and Black, Amazing Grace, and Sparkle.
However, she faced problems with Atlantic Records and left in 1979. She signed with Arista Records in 1979 and continued her success with albums like Jump to It, Who’s Zoomin’ Who?, Aretha, and A Rose Is Still a Rose.
Did Aretha Franklin’s sons inherit her money?
The estate’s conservator will distribute all remaining assets among Franklin’s family, including the sons who will share the money from Franklin’s music and copyrights and support his oldest child, Clarence Franklin, who lives under guardianship. Proper documentation from the start could have avoided the drama, and having a professional and trained conservator can help ensure wishes are fulfilled.
Does Aretha Franklin’s son have special needs?
Clarence Franklin, the singer’s eldest son, will not be involved in the courtroom drama due to his special needs and legal guardianship. Both wills require financial support from the estate. In some states, the scratched-out papers might not qualify as wills, but in Michigan, “holographic” or handwritten wills pass muster if they meet certain criteria. Don Wilson, a Los Angeles entertainment lawyer, advised Franklin to prepare a formal will, but she may have been resistant to taking that step.
📹 Truth About Aretha Franklin Having A Child With Her Own Father
Since Aretha Franklin’s passing, shocking recent revelations have come out about her relationship with her father, C.L Franklin.
This was so common. This happened to my aunties in their childhood. Sad how men especially men viewed as men of God abuse their children and families. Glad my mother kept from my daddy’s side of the family. Also, my step dad was a well known pastor in my childhood church. Church is one of the first things I disowned once I became a mother. Church was an interesting experience for me and it wasn’t even that traumatic just didn’t line up with personal growth.
Any time I hear stories like this it makes my stomach turn and I want to puke🤢it sickens me to my core when I hear how a father took their daughters innocence and have a child at that…My God, Im speechless I can imagine what she went through mentally. My heart hurts terribly for her and the other ladies. Its stories like these why I just cant step in a church anymore.
I did know Aretha personally. I was not close to her, but I also knew some of her family as well as some, who were very close to her. I like to believe she trusted me on one level or another. And so, whatever the true parental facts concerning her sons, I think it hurt her when ppl speculated and whispered behind her back. I felt bad for her. If just some of these things actually occurred, losing her mother at such an early age. Having to be on front street as a young star even in the church world. Having her weight issues most of her life and finally living with an illness that ultimately took her life (and lemme also say that this Queen went out on stage in front of thousands of people although her body was feeble and visibly frail), I loved her so…When horrible things happen to ppl (even celebrities) it’s not cool to pounce, kee-kee, poke fun and point fingers at them, right? Show a little more love to others and perhaps when your time comes, more love and compassion will be there, waiting for you…
It’s likely true: 1) Aretha named all her sons after their fathers. Her first son is named “Clarence”; 2) Aretha’s first child looks like her father; 3) her first child has disability issues that are common with incest; 4) It’s known that C.L. Franklin impregnated a 12-yr-old child in his congregation. Aretha was exactly the same age when she had her son “Clarence”. It’s just terrible. It’s truly amazing that Aretha accomplished all she did in her life.
A DNA test will solve the question of whom her first two sons’ father or fathers are. Do not even need to exhume CL Franklin. Test the two eldest children and compare to the DNA of Aretha and if they are ‘too much her son’s’, meaning a restricted been pool due to incest, everyone will know. Clarence looks TOO much like his ‘grandfather’. Also CL was on the down low too?! This just gets worse and worse with his legacy and he had someone tamper with Barbara Digger’s car? She wanted to get all of those children away from that monster! In addition, Carolyn was gay, why and how did that happen? So many questions.
It is appalling that they would have the nerve to type that she at 12, had a child with her father‼️ it’s sickening to think that a CHILD can do such a thing! If it is true, SHE had nothing to do with it!! She was a child. He was the adult. Don’t get it twisted by trying to misconstrue that she had these babies because she was willing and wanted to. She was RAPED‼️‼️taken advantage of, And should not of had to go through what she had to endure in her young life‼️
This happened to so many of my cousins and finding that out as an adult has irreparably traumatized me. The delusion, the enabling… it’s all sickening. That I was never sexually abused in my family is nothing short of a blessing but it shouldn’t be surprising to have remained without that abuse. It shouldn’t be a common occurrence for every woman I know to have some sort of sexual trauma endured at the hands of men that they were born around and who were entrusted with their care and development. Black women never get to be black girls first. They never get to exist as children or stay in a child’s place fr, and it’s somehow always their fault rather than the clearly depraved and abusive men lingering, pushing the same fast nature onto young girls that they use to justify the abuse. This is why the struggle of black men takes a backseat to the struggles of black women in my mind. They do nothing but perpetuate trauma and outsource their own damn healing responsibilities. I’m over it
It was said that the Reverend C.L Franklin was a national black pastor. Those are the ones who are the richest and corrupt. Aretha adored her father. If, her father is the father of her son, that is a great sin by the father. Mentioned in the Bible. A lot of black pastors, have been known to have ladies of convenience in the Church. And, the pastor’s wives have to know about them? The late Aretha Franklin was indeed the Queen Of Soul, and was the first woman to be inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame. I repeat, the very first woman..Period..Rest in peace my Lady. It’s God’s responsibility to fix, what was wrong in your life. He has the very last word. In any matters. It’s in the Bible.
This has S.A. written all over it. Aretha was a victim of abuse all her life. She knew no different because she was conditioned to this behavior by an abuser! If someone says different, then they are just like them. This is devastating to hear this happened to her. We obviously weren’t there so it’s all speculation at this point. However Aretha was neglected her whole childhood. 😢 what a strong woman she became.
This is true; being from Detroit now living in Charlotte,NC…I do remember stories about this. I lived down the street from their church on Linwood ave on the west side of the Detroit. People don’t remember that her Father and REV. J Cleveland( he is in your article ) knew each other well birds of a feather hang together … Cleveland died of AIDS from sleeping with men and boys. Something that the Baptist Church tried to hide under the rug for years and from my knowledge this goes on at their conventions today in some places. Nice article tell the true shine light on the wicked.
This is exactly why there should be stipulations on abortions. If its rape, incest, or harmful to the mothers health, they should have abortion rights. This is so sad. And yes I too was screaming, where’s the outrage for this child from the adults, even the grandmother. Aretha was determined to stay strong.
I know a 5 year old child that made a claim that their dad had touched their private parts and showed them how to touch it. The mom asked the dad because before her daughter made the claim she said her daughter was complaining of irritation down there and she noticed redness but thought maybe it was bad soap giving her a harsh reaction & he denied it so she took the child to be examined and a state investigation was launched after the child told the same story to the nurses, doctor, and police. An investigation was launched and the mom said the white male investigator told her that he didn’t think the dad did it simply because he was a single dad himself & “sometimes men had to do things that women may be uncomfortable with when it involves girl children” except that the child’s dad wasn’t single & she also said he stated that they may never know because the child was too young to say what happened although she told everyone the same story and never wavered. It turns out the Mom had threatened to kill the child’s Dad multiple times after her daughter told her what he was doing so he showed the messages to the Investigator when he came to speak with him to portray the narrative that the mom had put the child up to saying something so disgusting even though the child had interviews without the mom and told authorities the same story as she did her mom. He ended up filing charges against the mom for the threats she made and she ended up going to jail & trying to fight her for custody of the child now so that she may be in his care full time.
I remember researching this when she passed. It’s still up in the air but I personally think her sons father is a very close family friend, because she was left alone a lot with people who happened to be pedophiles, especially when she was on the road for the southern revivals. But her father was too much of a ho himself to truly care about his daughter’s whereabouts.
Whew, chile! This is more scandalous than anything Shonda Rhymes could put together. It’s amazing that Aretha was able to live 62 years after having her 1st child and managed to never share many of the details shared by so many that speculate. She honored that man until the day she died and it’s still not enough for people to step back & respect that in which she didn’t even mention. But it didn’t matter if she had revealed that CL gave her those babies, the public would say that she was lying and it was because she & CL were protecting someone else. And damn the fact that her children are still alive, I guess. 🤷🏾♂️
It’s not the church or the pastor we should be looking to. It’s a true repentant heart desiring to be cleansed from sin seeking a relationship with Christ. And from there, you ask the Lord which church to attend. Many were (currently are) attending church because of popularity NOT spiritual growth, and therein lies the problem.
This is more common, than uncommon throughout our species at large. Let’s not forget, we aren’t too different from the rest of the animal kingdom. Just because we now walk upright, no longer living in trees, and wearing clothes. we are just as wild, and unpredictable as the other animals we share this planet with.
Unfortunately, Aretha’s story is very common in the black community. And the problem is the community refuses to address it. It’s always the sweep it under the rug mentality. Side Bar, it’s not messy, it’s simply the truth coming out. The truth is never pretty. But this is exactly what Sinead O’Connor was talking about. She got backlash for telling the truth too.
It’s not hard to understand the truth behind he having her father’s baby at the age of 12, he raped her and I hope at least the good Lord held him accountable because no one else seems to care about these things accept those of us it happened to, the title to your article is degrading and disrespectful to Aretha.
I’ve always wondered why he would sleep with a 12 yr old girl being a pastor then suddenly his daughter. I believe there was more to that robbery this is sad all around. Most children will tell especially their grandmothers she blanked out with some sort of fear and shame and he took her on the road so young. To 1st son looks exactly like him resemblance is undeniable.
Aretha is my favourite artist growing up I understand what her father did was wrong for me I love singing both my parents passed away my mum died of cancer at the age of 80 so my mum didn’t had a good life so I would like to say Aretha reminds me of my mum in a way and I would like to do a life story about my life story as well growing up with my parents Aretha I will miss you but you are my inspiration growing up thank you R.I.P Queen of soul
It is rumored that he is her two oldest sons’ father. The movie implied that it was one of the many guests that attended lavish get-togethers. But, the rumors persist. They say that the two babies’ dad’s names are sealed among other court documents. Perhaps the contents will be released at some point.
I noted in the movie that when it came to the man entering the room etc someone’s else’s music was being played … I think this was a hint that she at least had sexual activity with a particular person. She adored this person and never wanted to smear his name. Even after this man died; she spoke of him with great admiration and love. This man was not her Daddy . Did he father her son; I don’t think so.
LADIES!!! Unfortunately this is how the world is for us. This was clearly a hard situation for Aretha to avoid being it was her own father. Please be careful around you never put stuff like this pass the males in your family. Every single one of them have some type of weirdo tendencies. Keep an eye out, and enjoy your life🫶🏽❤️ STAY STRONG LADIES👑🙏🏽 there is sooo much we endure😮💨
yesssssss I asked my grandmother about this and it is very much true! Her father did in fact do that to her and they covered it up for years… at her funeral, Shirley Ceasar had the strangest hesitation in her voice when she said she left her without a scandal… i mean, why say that? lol… feel me…. incest was so so common in those days… and abortions had not come along .. they had a real country and sick as way about things and how they lived their lives…. and they allll have this faithfulness I have yet to understand. And the rule is that you never never tell.
Deep in my soul I feel like he truly did impregnate Aretha. She just only knew how to cope with the reality thru drinking, smoking, and singing. My grandparent went thru the same trauma and coped the same way minus singing. It took them years to finally be open of sexual abuse by their parent. The fact that Aretha was hiding this fact, just gives it away that her father was the father of her child.
Never hold a preacher up so high that you can’t see the light human being are flaw if it’s truth her father is the father of her child how low can you go Aretha should of told the story no matter how painful she wrote a hold book and still not clear who father of her first child is the truth will set you free it’s been said all family have secrets she always spoke so highly of her father if this rumor is true she took that to the grave rip ms Franklin
That’s the same man that got a teenager teenager or young church girl pregnant causing his wife to leave the family eventually. That man had many layers. They said when his hours was robbed they found things that shouldn’t be in a Pastors house. He was something else. Living a double lifeAt that she was also crazy about Sam Cooke who was older than her.
This seems to be a common thing with men of that time. I’m so happy and relieved to see that the men today aren’t doing sick and disgusting acts of molestation against their daughters anymore. I can see why so many mothers were envious towards their daughters and had estranged relationships with them.
Yes, because back then, didn’t nobody talk about it, it is what it is that’s why his wife left him, she just walked away being hurt and didn’t want to talk about my child’s pregnant by her father, and he had her killed, before she did talk, people down south right now sleep with everybody and the preachers do too right now I went down there about 20 years ago and couldn’t believe the things I saw with my own eyes, everybody down south with sleeping with everybody, you have to park your car in the front of a person’s house they didn’t have garages, so you can actually see the preacher at all these different women houses all the time of night, so you know what was going on back in the 50s and the 60s?? Oh my goodness
I watched a reading on RKelly which involved Cleveland who lso had a cHurch in Chicago and in this reading it talked about just how James Cleveland died and why he was ran out of Chicago I was disgusted knowing ppl really thought he was a man of God. Watch Alexyss K Tylor reading on RKelly and James Cleveland. I was literally sick to my stomach .
I’ve met so many men through friends/ family sick enough to sleep with children. My stepdad was sick also he never touched me but use to watch me and speak explicitly about things. He use to always want hugs or me to braid his hair anything to get close I guess, looking back things just come to the light! I had friends grow up running from older relatives or just being trapped and preyed upon 😢
My coworker was band member for a church that traveled around years ago and we we’re talking about the music industry and how shady they are and he’s like you wanna know what genre party’s the hardest I’m like rock and rollers right??? He’s NO the gospel industry party’s Hard! I was like wow are you serious? He’s like I have no reason to lie 😳
It is sad this happened but listening to her story Aretha Franklin stated she went back to the room with Sam Cooke she was 12 yrs old he was 23 ….. now I do my homework Aretha was born in March she had a baby in January meaning she got pregnant in April ….. so if she was with Sam Cooke was it before or after she had her baby… and her dad introduced her to all these people and was mad when he found her in his room …. Just make me wonder wtf was going on this child was force into bs very young
I was adopted everything about me changed my social security number and name I just found out that my biological mother had relations with uncle or cousin trying to find my biological father side my father is in the family now I know just don’t understand the story of Aretha Franklin my biological mother was 16 but in this case she gave me up but least Rita Franklin kept her kids even know how the kids came in this world I wish my mother had kept me it’s crazy finding out your real name Collins😢😢😢
This is so sick! I’m wondering if the Rev was really her bio father? I’m saying this because her sons don’t appear to have any biological effects you would often see with inbreds (sorry, that’s the best way to describe it🤦🏽♀). Either way, its just disgusting and poor Aretha went through so much. May she RIP 🕊
This is why so many in Gen X and above are quiet about R Kelly. They’ve been covering up for predators for so long and/or pretending they don’t see what’s going on, it’s normal to them to be quiet about Robert. The “I can separate the music from the man”. The very music he wrote while thinking about underaged girls tho. SMH
The way he was looking at here in that clip with her playing the piano and the way he looking at her in the pictures made me cringe it was giving Ike and Tina vibes its amazing she grew up to be a legend my mom loved her still til this day when i hear her songs the words just flow out my mouth on que
Touching children is horrible, but so is lying about something so horrible. She has named the father’s of her children. You were not there, she never said this. Her father was too busy running after young girls. I’m not sure why Aretha’s mother left them in the Father’s care, but I do blame her for doing so. Aretha withstood the talk about her Father, a missing mother, being a child mother, weight problems, abusive men, and STILL rocked this world with amazing talent, having a career that enabled to keep her sons fed, and alive. We never heard of her abandoning her father, amid rumors. He was a prominent man, that lived life like so, so, many Religious men TODAY! Her sons lived through this crap, and were not as strong as their Mom, but they were never totally abandoned. If this is not true, your gossip could have taken her life, but she stood before an audience, and rocked this world. The minutes spent talking about a horrible crime, that you did not witness, can be better spent as a volunteer with kids truly having problems.
CL Franklin was THEEE most famous preacher! He was wildly successful and groundbreaking! The 1st to have his sermons recorded. I dont believe he impregnated Aretha! Aretha said the boy she dated at 13, took her roller skating ect. She’s NOT going to name her child after him after how they broke up.. So it’s only natural to name him after her dad- whom she loved! As far as how he died, keep in mind that the FBI harassed and stalked Aretha for decades! Her dad was considered a threat because of his history with and assistance to Dr. Martin Luther King. So we KNOW how thr fbi gets down when you’re viewed a threat. Also, the person who’s biography was referenced BETRAYED Aretha! He worked on her OFFICIAL autobiography but was angry because SHE wanted to control HER narrative as a black woman of note. The nerve of her….! (Sarcasm)…As a yt man, he wanted to exploit and diminish her legacy! So he wrote his own book on the Queen. It’s important that WE protect our icons and their legacy. Media loved to reduce our greats
It’s amazing I was in the grocery store a few days ago when somebody told me that the child you had was by your father I didn’t believe it but then after listen to this it could be possible that you had a child by your own father so does that make you any better that Aretha Franklin or CL Franklin oh by the way did you name your child after your dad is damn name
This is sad for a young girl so young at the age of 12 having a baby. Shit I am 46 and I could not think of having a child at my age. This type of stuff has been going on for years in families. I know a girl who was 12 and her father got her pregnant. The boy looks just like the father. The mother is still with the father and she can eat his ass up. Every time I go to a eating at the family friends home and see the daddy/ father and the grandson/ his son. I get sick. Aretha went though some shit, I wish she had wrote this stuff down and got off her chest before she passed. I don’t this on anyone at all.
Proverbs 20:16 – These six things doth the LORD hate: yea, seven are an abomination unto him: Proverbs 20:17 – A proud look, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood, Proverbs 20:18 – An heart that deviseth wicked imaginations, feet that be swift in running to mischief, Proverbs 20:19 – A false witness that speaketh lies, and he that soweth discord among brethren. One thing I will say. When you’re anointed and have an undeniable gift given by God, like the Franklin family, people will love you and people will hate you and do or say some of the most terrible things bc of that and that alone. It makes you a target. Her father being supportive and raising her makes him a key figure in her life like most fathers to their children. Her naming her son after her father likely means just that more or less and nothing more. Also since the real perpetrator was probably not someone they kept around, so why would she name her child after that person? Another reason to name him after the best man she knew. (Its more likely to be the husband of woman that had eyes for the minister and vice versa. Just saying.) It’s unfortunate the trauma so many ppl have had to endure in their lives as repercussions of the actions of other people, even loved ones. I digress. If there’s no evidence or damning confessions to refer to, it’s very likely a rumor that was started by someone with a jealous heart, and or a wicked tongue and saw an opportunity to take the Franklin family down a peg or two and took it.
To the commenters. She and my grandma is/was about the same age…they are a part of the silent generation! What do you expect! Yes the “sweep it under the rug” mess IS predominantly in the black community! A lot of them didn’t just speak out on their situations back then, us younger folks had to do some digging!
I don’t blame Aretha for that and we shouldn’t be judged for that child a secret that she had to keep her daddy was a hoe and Aretha was traumatized but God blessed her with his voice and she was great I don’t blame her she was a child and that’s why God kept her blessed her all these years and you should not judge her either
He looks soo much like her father, more than all of the siblings and grandchildren. I believe if you could have sex and impregnate a teenager aretha’s age he could do the same to his daughter. Her dad was not what he presented to the world, I believe he was more like Ciley’s father from the Color Purple. This may explain why her sister Carolyn didnt like men and preferred women.
I watched the movie, which portrayed Aretha Franklin by Jennifer Hudson! The movie doesn’t dwelve into the S/A. As the director said, we didn’t need to always have violence or rel-ive pain! The pregnancies were there and then gone! Always thought the father was for both sons! Love you, Queen, rest easy❤
I think this was a terrific clip of an over view of Ms. Franklin’s life. I think you could enhance this clip by including her performance of Nessun Dorma, as she stood in for Luciano Pavrotti. “I do not own the rights to any of this music.” Adding for those who also loved Ms. Aretha Franklin the Queen of Soul. youtu.be/k33sINjn9o0?si=tAEcUHPOTMxlA2kC
CL Franklin was sleeping with Clara Warden and too many people on the road during the gospel circuit, with Aretha van with him as a child, she was free to do whatever she wanted to do and she was very fast, that’s all I will say about that, no one has ever did a DNA test, she know who are his father was, she know what she did, she didn’t know where she does it, and that’s her business and not ours, let her rest. RiP
Aretha was not insecure….yes, jealous as women and men can get….she was self assured and self centered. As she lived, the world changed, and she allowed it to move without her because she knew who she was. She fit into both worlds. The greatest book of all time would have been Aretha’s tell all. Nobody knows the real story and never will. The story still is NOT out. Aretha Franklin is from a beautiful genetation not long after slavery. Unless you live those eras before contemporary technology, one could not ever understand her story. You can’t explain what is unbelievable, sensational, spectacular. Bionce could never hold a candle to Aretha. Tina is the 2nd to Aretha, Franklin is a true Queen because of where, the level, she took music and Bionce is not in the lineup. Tina was a limited vocalist because she did not play an instrument. You sing what you play. The intrument outside of the voice is nature sharing extra language. If you speak it fluantly, you are called, Ella Fiztgerald, Arethha Franklin, Sarah Vaughan, Anita O’day, Diane Reevse, Rosemary Cloone, Dioone Warrick, Leontyne Price, Jessyce Norman….etc. Billie Holliday…..etal……….
People on the outside looking in should not throw stones unless you were there.Growing up in this Christian Church circle there are a lot of predators who are in the house day and night unfortunately a girl child is not safe.Aretha father didn’t touch her she was the prize who could sing her ass off,the golden goose,any type of music and this was recognized from the day she was born.While he adored her he trusted too many people with her safety.Been there and this is known and happens a lot in our circle more then you know.Rip ReRee🌹🌹🌹