I have been singing professionally for over 10 years
enjoying lead, quick understudy, chorus line and background vocal positions. I
wouldn’t have had the confidence or synergy of being on stage if I weren’t
encouraged by or had examples to model, such as two vocal recording/
performing icons of all time. Aretha Franklin And Whitney Houston has impacted
me as a performer throughout my career in singing. Their stage presence and
approach to music is like a bull dozer charging into a building. When they both
come on the stage anything or anyone in their way will be demolished or
astonished. This is the impact and attention of the world these two ladies have
upheld since they’ve stepped on the scene in the music industry. I have a
mandate to emulate these women in my own distinct way.
Aretha Franklin is considered the “Queen of Soul and the first
woman inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. She is a singer of great
passion and control whose finest recordings define the term soul music in all
its deep, expressive glory”, exclaims American Music Masters. The Co-founder of
Atlantic records, Ahmet Ertegun noted, “I don’t think there’s anybody I have
known who possesses an instrument like hers and who has such a thorough
background in gospel, the blues and the essential black music idiom”. He also
stated that, “she is blessed with an extraordinary combination of remarkable
urban sophistication and deep blues feeling…the result is maybe the greatest singer of our time.”
Whitney Houston was noticed at the age of 16 by Gerry
Griffin, who acknowledged, “I hadn’t seen an artist like her since Aretha. She had a command of the voice. She was comfortable, at 16 years old at being on the
stage. She had a presence at that age, something that she has developed since
the first time I saw her. I was just knocked out by this young, beautiful- she
was actually a model at that time- and the command of her voice and the song
and the lyric. It was just amazing.”
She has been praised and awarded with love from today’s
vocal icons like Mariah Carey and American Idol contestant Jennifer Hudson. She
is considered the greatest singer!
I am totally driven by these two women. I am considered a
crossover singer and Aretha was also, she “was never averse to the idea of
crossover music, being a connoisseur of pop and show tunes, but she needed
to interpret them in her own soulful way.” Jerry Wexler, Aretha Franklin’s
producer for a longtime, observed that she “was continuing what Ray Charles had
begun- the secularization of gospel, turning church rhythms, church patterns
and especially church feelings into personalized love songs.” Aretha and
Whitney both were Grammy award winners in their time. They've upheld many spotlights in the Music
Industry. Though Whitney is deceased and Aretha is much older now, they both
have paved the way for many singers to become just as great as they
were.
Who do you believe has the voice of a lifetime?
