The Queen of Soul Learned to Sing in a Detroit Church

Aretha Franklin is remembered as the Queen of Soul, one of the greatest voices in American music. And while she was born in Memphis, the voice itself was raised in Detroit.

Her family moved to Detroit when she was a young child, after her father, the Reverend C.L. Franklin, became pastor of New Bethel Baptist Church. He was no ordinary preacher — a nationally famous, charismatic speaker whose sermons were released on records, sometimes called “the man with the million-dollar voice.” His church was a large and lively hub of Detroit’s Black community, and music legends like Nat King Cole passed through the Franklin home.

Young Aretha taught herself piano by ear and grew up singing gospel in her father’s church. She was so gifted that she made her first recordings there as a teenager. The gospel she absorbed in those pews — the power, the feeling, the call-and-response — became the foundation of everything she did later.

She went on to conquer the wider world of music with songs like “Respect,” which became an anthem far bigger than the record itself. She won 18 Grammy Awards and was the first woman inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. But through all the fame, Detroit remained her home.

When she died in 2018, the city embraced her one last time. Fans lined up for hours at a Detroit museum and at New Bethel itself to say goodbye to the hometown girl who became a queen.