Aretha Franklin

She is known the world over by her first name and as the undisputed, reigning "Queen of Soul," Aretha Franklin is peerless. She has received countless international and national awards and accolades and achieved global recognition on an unprecedented scale. She is a 2005 recipient of a Presidential Medal Of Freedom honor (the U.S.A.'s highest honor), winner of 18 Grammy® Awards (and counting), a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award, a Grammy Living Legend Award and was named 2008 MusiCares® Person of the Year. In 2008, Franklin was named the #1 Female Vocalist of All Time by Rolling Stone magazine. Her ever-distinctive soulful, to-the-bone vocal style has graced the music charts for over four decades and while her 'live' performances have touched the hearts of literally millions since she began her musical journey as a gospel-singing child prodigy, it is her rich legacy of recordings that are a testament to the power, majesty and genius of this one-of-a-kind artist of the first order.