#Clive Wexler

[vagabondangel]

Hey BuckTommy fandom, I'm nearing the end of my first ever 9-1-1 viewing, I'm about halfway through Season 5, and I'm kinda surprised more people aren't talking about this little detail I noticed?

In S5, Ep 9 "Past is Prologue", Clive and Toni reunite at Miceli's, a famous Italian restaurant in Hollywood. Although they have a shared past together, they went years without speaking to each other. The first time Hen brings her mom to Miceli's, Clive is ready to rekindle the relationship, but Toni runs away. She's not ready yet. Later, at the end of the episode, after listening to her loved ones, Toni decides that she's ready to rekindle her relationship with Clive, and they ride off into the sunset together after meeting up at Miceli's again.

Similarly, in S7, Ep 5 "You Don't Know Me", Buck and Tommy have their first date at Miceli's. Buck and Tommy also have a shared history, although their shared past is more of a "invisible string tying two people together across time and space" than an actual, real-life love affair. Much like Clive and Toni's first reunion, BuckTommy's first date is an absolute disaster that ends with one of them running off while the other is left standing there at Miceli's, rejected. Buck wasn't ready yet. But at the end of the episode, after speaking to his loved ones, Buck is ready to pursue a genuine relationship with Tommy.

I love me some juicy, juicy parallels.

[mattoidmeerkat]

Found Family Thursday (5x17-6x02)

[ambernotember]

5x18

Toni and Clive talking about getting married

Toni wants it to be special because it’s Clive’s first marriage

“First and last,” Clive says

[evilphrog]

He Who Fights With Monsters meme dump (through book 3)

[primodialchaoswizard]

This came to me in a vision

[it-was-dead-when-i-found-it]

Hey HWFWM fans!! Currently working on a playlist of songs that remind me of the series, please send me any and all songs that sound like Jason! (Also all the other characters, I'm only making it Jason-centric because the playlist title "making playlists is kinda my thing" was too good to pass up)

Once I make it I'm planning on sharing it so don't worry, you'll be able to listen to it too!

[jasongracedefenseattorney]

odds are it has no significance at all but i find it so incredibly interesting that buck and tommy’s first date was at the same restaurant where hen’s mom rejected clive wexler (miceli’s). when talking about her and clive later on she says she was having an affair and was going to leave until she found out she was pregnant because “i could leave my husband but i couldn’t leave the father of my child��� cut to buck on his date doing fine until he sees the guy he’s been coparenting with for years. i know it’s more likely a coincidence and just a nicer restaurant in LA that would let them film but since as far as i can tell these are the only times this place appears i have chosen to find significance in the nothing!

[notealotgoingon]

2023 Bullet Journal Cover & Lists

- movies - books - physical music stickers

(typed list below cut)

Movies

X (2022) ★★★★★ 1/9

Pearl (2022) ★★★★★ 1/10

Jason X (2001) ★★★ 1/17

X (2022) ★★★★★ 1/26

Pearl (2022) ★★★★★ 2/11

Rosemary's Baby (1968) ★★★★★ 2/11

Harley Quinn: A Very Problematic Valentine's Day Special (2023) ★★★★★ 2/12

Skinamarink (2022) ★★★★ 3/8

Re-Animator (1985) ★★★★ 3/12

Ring (1998) ★★★★★ 3/12

Ju-On: The Grudge (2002) ★★★★ 3/12

I Know What You Did Last Summer (1997) ★★★★ 4/2

Scary Movie (2000) ★★★ 4/3

Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves (2023) ★★★★★ 4/5

Everything Everywhere All at Once (2022) ★★★★★ 4/18

Scary Movie 2 (2001) ★★★ 5/3

Scary Movie 3 (2003) ★★ 5/4

The Green Knight (2021) ★★★★★ 5/20

Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (2022) ★★★★ 5/21

Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania (2023) ★★ 6/6

Evil Dead Rise (2023) ★★★★1/2 6/27

Nimona (2023) ★★★★ 7/2

Barbarian (2022) ★★★★ 7/6

Malignant (2021) ★★★★ 7/7

Barbie (2023) ★★★★★ 7/23

Scream VI (2023) ★★★1/2 8/1

Saw (2004) ★★★★ 8/1

Frozen (2010) ★★ 8/2

Resident Evil: Death Island (2023) ★★★★ 8/21

Studio 666 (2022) ★★★★ 9/4

The Exorcist (1973) ★★★★1/2 9/4

Saw II (2005) ★★★★ 9/9

Saw III (2006) ★★★1/2 9/9

Saw IV (2007) ★★★1/2 9/9

Saw V (2008) ★★★ 9/9

Saw VI (2009) ★★★ 9/9

Saw 3D (2010) ★★ 9/9

Jigsaw (2017) ★★★ 9/10

Miss Americana (2020) ★★★★ 9/10

Spiral: From the Book of Saw (2021) ★★1/2 9/17

Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse (2023) ★★★★1/2 9/24

Saw (2004) ★★★★1/2 9/25

Saw II (2005) ★★★★1/2 9/26

Dracula (1931) ★★★★ 10/1

Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter (1984) ★★★1/2 10/1

Friday the 13th: A New Beginning (1985) ★★★★ 10/1\

House of 1000 Corpses (2003) ★★★★ 10/8

Friday the 13th (1980) ★★★★1/2 10/13

Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour (2023) ★★★★★ 10/19

Saw VI (2009) ★★★1/2 10/28

Saw 3D (2010) ★1/2 10/29

Saw X (2023) ★★★★1/2 11/6

Saw IV (2007) ★★★1/2 11/20

Saw X (2023) ★★★★1/2 11/20

Terrifier (2016) ★★★1/2 12/4

Hellraiser III: Hell on Earth (1992) ★★ 12/4

Saw V (2008) ★★★1/2 12/4

Terrifier 2 (2022) ★★★1/2 12/11

The Green Knight (2021) ★★★★★ 12/18

Sonic Christmas Blast(1996) ★★1/2 12/22

Black Christmas (1974) ★★★★★ 12/23

Black Christmas (2006) ★★★1/2 12/24

Saltburn (2023) ★★★★ 12/29

Taylor Swift: Reputation Stadium Tour (2018) ★★★★★ 12/30

Books

The Ballad of Black Tom by Victor Lavalle 1/2

The Witcher: The Last Wish by Andrzej Sakowski 1/12

We Can Never Leave This Place by Eric Larocca 1/14

Causes and Cures in the Classroom by Margaret Searle 1/29

Vox Machina: Kith & Kin by Marieke Nijkamp 2/1

Black is the Body by Emily Bernard 2/4

A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas 2/18

The Anthropocene Reviewed by John Green 2/19

Black Klansman by Ron Stallworth 2/26

The Dark Tower V: Wolves of the Calla by Stephen King 3/7

Ring by Koji Suzuki 4/14

What Moves the Dead by T. Kingfisher 4/14

In the Time of the Butterflies by Julia Alvarez 5/8

Circe by Madeline Miller 5/19

When the Emperor Was Divine by Julie Otsuka 5/30

Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe 6/1

The Hellbound Heart by Clive Barker 6/25

The Way of Kings by Brandon Sanderson 6/28

The Lesbian Classics Get Me Off by Chuck Tingle 6/28

Icebreaker by Hannah Grace 7/5

Teacher of the Yearby M.A. Wardell 7/7

The Colorado Kid by Stephen King 7/17

This is How You Lose the Time War by Amal El-Mohtar & Max Gladstone 7/31

Camp Damascus by Chuck Tingle 8/4

The Writing Revolution by Judith C. Hochman & Natalie Wexler 8/10

You Can Go Your Own Way by Eric Smith 8/20

Phasma by Delilah S. Dawson 9/12

Small Spaces by Katherine Arden 9/27

Reforged by Seth Haddon 10/8

Fifty Feet Down by Sophie Tanen 10/23

The Exorcist by William Peter Blatty 11/22

Good Omens by Neil Gaiman & Terry Pratchett 12/2

Spoiler Alert by Olivia Dade 12/7

Wildfire by Hannah Grace 12/5

Interview With the Vampire by Anne Rice 12/12

Tender is the Flesh by Augustina Bazterrica 12/19

A Prayer for the Crown-Shy by Becky Chambers 12/20

Last Night at the Telegraph Club by Malinda Lo 12/28

Stowaway and Silent Song by Vera Valentine 12/29

Physical Music Media:

(this isn't all of the records/CDs I've gotten or listened to this year, but I figured I'd decipher the stickers I put in the book; these are all of the promo stickers on the outside of the plastic wrapping on the releases)

Beat the Champ - the Mountain Goats

Paradise - Lana del Ray

Red (Taylor's Version) - Taylor Swift

What's it Like? - Sure Sure

Did You Know There's A Tunnel Under Ocean Boulevard? - Lana del Ray

Stick Season - Noah Kahan

The Rest - boygenius

Midnights (Late Night Edition) - Taylor Swift

Raving Ghost - Olivia Jean

The Record - boygenius

Speak Now (Taylor's Version) - Taylor Swift

Dark in Here - the Mountain Goats

Bangerz (10th Anniversary Edition) - Miley Cyrus

God Games - the Kills

1989 (Taylor's Version) - Taylor Swift

[daily911]

CLIVE WEXLER AND TONI WILSON 911: Season 5 Episode 9, Past is Prologue requested by @meduseld

Image ID: First, the gif fades from a young Clive waiting in front of his car into present day Clive. The text reads, “sorry i’m late.” Second, the gif fades from a young Toni walking to meet Clive into present day Toni doing the same. The text reads, “you’re worth the wait.”

[oneawkwardcookie]

All this time we’ve been wanting a wedding so everyone in the 118 can get suited up, and debating whose it might be, but what if it’s Clive and Toni’s!

[kenshane]

Soul Serenade: Stax “Soul Explosion”

It’s a well-known story at this point. In 1968, Stax Records co-founder Jim Stewart decided to put an end to the distribution deal that his company had with Atlantic Records. Warner Bros.- Seven Arts had acquired Atlantic the previous year and Stewart had insisted on a “key man” clause in his deal with Atlantic which was triggered when his key man, Jerry Wexler, left Atlantic. The contract called for a renegotiation or outright termination of the distribution deal if Wexler left. Stewart hoped for renegotiation but he considered the offers he got from Warner-Seven Arts to be insulting and he decided to terminate the contract ... (more)

[mattoidmeerkat]

Found Family Thursday (5x09-5x12)

[callmebrycelee]

9-1-1 REACTION

This reaction is for the season 5, eighteenth episode titled "Starting Over" which originally aired on May 16, 2022. The episode was written and directed by Kristen Reidel. Spoilers ahead!

We've come to the end of yet another season of 9-1-1. This season started off with a bang, got pretty meh towards the middle, but towards the back half we got some pretty solid episodes. Now we have the season finale which comes on the heels of last week's harrowing episode. So, did 9-1-1 season 5 manage to stick the landing? Let's check it out!

The theme of this week's episode is starting over. We see most of our characters at a transitional point in their lives. First up is Hen and Karen. As I've mentioned often before, I love these two characters. I love their relationship. I love their family dynamic. I also love that we've added Hen's mother, Toni (Marsha Warfield) to their family unit. Earlier this season, we saw Toni reconnect with someone from her past, a man named Clive Wexler (Kim Estes), and over dinner she and Clive deliver the news that they plan on getting married. Hen is extremely shocked by this news because she believed her mother would never want to get married again after her marriage to Hen's father. Toni assures her that this time she would be marrying the love of her life.

Both Hen and Karen are initially excited about this news but when Toni mentions she would like for the nuptials to take place in the backyard. Karen gets upset and storms off. When Hen confronts her in the kitchen, Karen admits she is still upset about Toni not attending their wedding. Now usually I'm always on Hen's side. I believe she is the most intelligent character on the show. However, I did not particularly like how she told Karen to get over it because she had. I'm sorry Hen, just because you got over your mother not being there for one of the most important moments of your life, doesn't mean that Karen should be over it. Karen does push back by saying the reason she harbors such resentment towards her mother-in-law is because she had to watch Hen be disappointed when she saw her mother's seat empty. 

What I did like is that Toni knows exactly what's going on. She apologizes for not coming to Hen and Karen's wedding. There was no excuse for not being there. Because Karen is the best person in the world, she accepts the apology and tells Toni that she and Clive can have their wedding in the backyard. Karen reminds me so much of Grace Ryder. They are both incredible women, remarkably patient and understanding individuals, and ultimately amazing spouses to their partners. 

Before I reveal how things shake out for Hen and Karen at the end of this episode, let's talk about another power couple on this show - Chimney and Maddie. This couple has been through a LOT since they got together in season 2. Everything from deranged ex-husbands to family secrets being revealed and then the birth of their daughter and ultimately Maddie deciding to leave at the beginning of this season. That doesn't even include the amount of times both their lives have been in mortal danger. However, these two are resilient and I'm glad to see them still standing at the end of this season. They both seem happier and I'm so thrilled that Maddie made the decision to go back to work at the dispatch. Seeing Maddie back on the phone again just felt so right and I love that her coworkers were happy to have her back.

Another thing I like about Chimney and Maddie's dynamic the last half of this season is that the show hasn't rushed to put them back together. These two had very valid reasons as to why they ended their relationship. There were trust issues on both sides and it is going to take time for them to earn each other's trust again. The writers could've easily put them back together again this episode, but this show rarely does easy. They tend to go realistic when it comes to relationships on this show. So, the most realistic thing for Chimney and Maddie right now is that they need to continue focusing on raising Jee-Yun and perhaps over time, those emotions they had for each other will return and align with each other. That definitely gives us something to look for in season six.

Next up is Buck. After the events of last episode, Buck ends up being interrogated by Chief Alonzo who wants to know  if he is providing Taylor with information which she then uses to run stories about the 118. Buck then apologizes to Bobby and assures him he only shared what he knew with Taylor because he believed she would keep the information to herself. I'd also like to point out that Hen and Chimney did play a role in this as well so I don't know why Buck is the only one coming under fire. Anywho, Buck is angry at Taylor for what she did last episode and talks to Eddie about it. I don't think Eddie's ever been on board for Taylor but he keeps his feelings about her to himself and tells Buck he needs to figure out what he's going to do because keeping his feelings bottled in will only make things worst. Eddie was such a good big brother to Buck this episode.

After avoiding each other for several days, Buck and Taylor do manage to find themselves in the same room. Taylor apologizes, or rather she apologizes that her story upset Buck. She doesn't apologize for violating his trust though which is the most frustrating part about Taylor. Look, I respect Taylor's hustle. I love that she goes after what she wants and isn't afraid to back down. My only problem with Taylor is that she doesn't mind stepping on people to get to what she needs and that's a problem, especially if the person she keeps stepping on is her boyfriend. I was very proud of Buck in this season. Even though I've championed this relationship, it's clearly reached a point of no return. Taylor will never change her ways. Buck will never change how he feels about her approach to their relationship when it comes to her job. Therefore, they're sort of at a stalemate. Buck made the very wise decision to end things and you can tell Taylor was not expecting him to pull the plug on their relationship. Now, going forward, I think Buck needs to spend some time by himself. We've seen him go from Abby to Taylor to Ally to Taylor to a brief interlude with Lucy to Taylor. Buck just needs to be with Buck for a bit and hopefully he will continue to learn and grow. 

Our final major story arc of the episode involves our fearless leader - Bobby. Much like his counterpart Owen Strand, Bobby Nash has been through a lot this season. Back during the season five premiere, he and Athena and Michael had to deal with Harry's kidnapping. Then Maddie took off and Chimney went after her. Eddie quit the 118. Then he hired Jonah who turned out to be a complete psychopath who nearly took out two of his paramedics - Hen and Chimney. Bobby shoulders the burden of all these aforementioned things, even though most if not all of them were beyond his control. Because he blames himself for what happened to Hen and Chimney, we see Bobby spiraling at the beginning of this episode. He places himself in immediate danger when he decides to do the rescue during the first emergency of the episode. Now, unlike Owen, Bobby tends to stand back and call the shots and only gets involved whenever it's absolutely necessary. Seeing him jump headfirst into danger was the first sign that something wasn't right. 

May also picks up on something not being right with her stepdad. So does Eddie. We then see Bobby bring hope a huge bottle of liquor and I swear my heart dropped when I saw this. Bobby has struggled with sobriety since the beginning of the series and it broke my heart when he and the rest of the 118 (except for Chimney) got dosed in season two and he lost his sobriety. Bobby has done a great job of maintaining his sobriety over the last few seasons but everyone has their breaking point. Nearly losing Hen and Chimney was his breaking point. Thankfully, before he takes a sip, Eddie shows up at his doorstep. Eddie is there to check on Bobby and he reminds Bobby that what happened with Jonah was not his fault. What happened with Eddie was not his fault either. Bobby needed to hear this and it couldn't have come at a better time. I was really proud of Eddie in this moment. Therapy is obviously agreeing with him and while he is not where he needs to be, he is taking strides to get there. I was glad he was able to pass on some much needed wisdom to his boss and parental figure. Thankfully, after Eddie leaves, we see Bobby pour the entire bottle down the drain. I have never been more relieved at something I've seen on television. I was honestly panicking over watching Bobby look at that liquor bottle. I still think Bobby probably needs to talk to someone about this and he also needs to talk to Athena as well. Overall, I'm happy he chose not to drink. 

At the end of the episode, we see the 118 show up to what Hen and Karen believes is Toni and Clive's wedding. Toni pulls them aside and tells them that she and Clive have decided to delay their nuptials. Instead, Toni has been working feverishly behind the scenes to set up a wedding for Hen and Karen. What a touching gesture on Toni's part. We then get to see Hen and Karen renew their vows. I loved this so much. Hen and Karen looked amazing. Athena looked stunning. The men all looked so handsome. I love the tie-less look everyone was serving. As the wedding goes on, we see glimpses of each of their lives. Maddie and Chimney have lunch together with Jee-Yun in tow. Taylor returns her key to Buck. At least things look amicable between the two of them. Bobby surprises Athena with a cruise so these two are going to be able to have their honeymoon. I hope they role play! Hehehe. The final scene of the episode the 118 getting ready to respond to a call. This scene reminds me a lot of the scene in Lone Star where the 126 is saved. The last person we see is Eddie sliding down the fire pole. Eddie is back y'all and the 118 looks so good - even if Lucy is still there. 

What an incredible conclusion to a pretty awesome season. Yes, there were some clunker episodes in season five. However, we got some pretty epic episodes, including the last episode with Jonah, Hen, and Chimney as well as the three-part opener with the blackout and the escaped zoo animals. In many ways we've come full circle. This season felt odd at times with Eddie working dispatch and Chimney and Maddie in Boston. But now the gang's all back together and I am very much looking forward to what happens next. Oh, and good news. 9-1-1 has been renewed for a sixth season so we will continue to see the 118. Until next time ...

[evilphrog]

I turned the cards into reaction images for meme purposes. Go forth and wreak havoc on non-fandom spaces!

[caswlw]

i’m obsessed w clive wexler imagine being in need of 911’s help and he’s just like lol i know ur mom

[justforbooks]

Aretha Franklin, Queen of Soul, Dead at 76

It was a small moment that would reverberate for decades. On January 24th, 1967, Aretha Franklin was struggling to record “I Never Loved a Man (The Way I Love You),” her first project for Atlantic after several years recording more conventional material for Columbia. As Franklin would recall, something with the studio musicians wasn’t clicking until someone said, “Aretha, why don’t you sit down and play?” Taking a seat at the piano, Franklin quickly cut the smoldering track that would become her first No. 1 R&B hit. “It just happened,” she said. “We arrived, and we arrived very quickly.”

And it never stopped. For more than five decades, Franklin was a singular presence in pop music, a symbol of strength, women’s liberation and the civil rights movement. Franklin, one of the greatest singers of all time, died Thursday, according to the Associated Press.

Dubbed the Queen of Soul in 1967, Franklin loomed over culture in several monumental ways. The daughter of a preacher man, she was born with one of pop’s most commanding and singular voices, one that could move from a sly, seductive purr to a commanding gospel roar. From early hits like “I Never Loved a Man” and “Think” up through later touchstones like “Sisters Are Doin’ it for Themselves” with Eurythmics, there was no mistaking Franklin’s colossal pipes. As one of her leading producers, Jerry Wexler, said of her simmering gospel-pop classic, “Spirit in the Dark,” “It was one of those perfect R&B blends of the sacred and the secular … It’s Aretha conducting church right in the middle of a smoky nightclub. It’s everything to everyone.”

But Franklin was more than just a titanic vocalist who could effortlessly move through pop, jazz, R&B, gospel and disco. Known to her fans simply as “Aretha,” Franklin was an inordinately complex pop star — “Our Lady of Mysterious Sorrows,” wrote Wexler in his memoir. Although she exuded a regal, imposing presence, Franklin’s life often seemed shakier than her voice. She coped with a broken family, at least one bad marriage, a drinking problem and health and musical direction issues that made her infinitely relatable and beloved. “In her voice, you can hear the redemption and the pain, the yearning and the surrender, all at the same time,” Bonnie Raitt told Rolling Stone in 2003.

Her journey — from singing in her father’s church and tackling tasteful pop at the dawn of her career before becoming the voice of the civil rights movement — also embodied the African American experience of the 1960s. Her brawny, funked-up makeover of Otis Redding’s “Respect,” based on what Wexler called her own “stop-and-stutter syncopation” idea, was more than just a Number One pop hit in 1967. “She had no idea it would become a rallying cry for African Americans and women and anyone else who felt marginalized because of what they looked like, who they loved,” Barack Obama said in 2014. “They wanted some respect.” At 16, she went on tour with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and later sang at his funeral.

Born in Memphis on March 25th, 1942, Franklin was groomed for gospel glory from her childhood: her father was the renowned and popular Reverend C.L. (Clarence LaVaughn) Franklin, “The Man with the Million-Dollar Voice,” and she recorded her first album of gospel when she was 14 years old. Her mother, Barbara Siggers Franklin, was also a gospel singer. When young Aretha was two, she and her family moved to Detroit. It was there where Aretha was quickly steeped in church services (her father was the star preacher at the New Bethel Baptist Church) and music. Thanks to her father’s success, household visitors included Ella Fitzgerald and Duke Ellington.

Franklin was one of five children, but the family didn’t stay together long; when she was six, her parents broke up and her mother moved to Buffalo. A child prodigy, Franklin began singing and playing piano as part of her father’s congregation and recorded her first album of gospel when she was 14. Her idol Sam Cooke was on the verge of crossing over to the musical mainstream and Franklin hoped to do the same. In 1960, she signed to Columbia Records, with which she recorded a string of polite, generally unthrilling records, singing standards, jazz and blues. “We knew that Columbia was a worldwide label, and I think the feeling probably was that the promotion would be better than, say, a Motown,” she said later. Over the next six years or so, she had a couple of Top Ten R&B singles like “Won’t Be Long,” but didn’t make yet stand out in an increasingly crowded pop field.

Starting with “I Never Loved a Man (The Way I Love You),” everything changed. Signing with Atlantic and working with Wexler, who initially paired her with the legendary Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section, Franklin found her musical and social voice in volcanic tracks like “Think,” “Chain of Fools,” and her version of “(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman,” written by Carole King, Gerry Goffin and Wexler. In the spring of 1967, her cover of Otis Redding’s “Respect” became an anthem for that charged moment in the history of civil rights and the women’s movement. Franklin brought those two worlds together in ways no one had done before. “‘Respect’ had the biggest impact, truly global in its influence, with overtones for the civil-rights movement and gender equality,” Wexler said. “It was an appeal for dignity combined with a blatant lubricity. There are songs that are a call to action. There are love songs. There are sex songs. But it’s hard to think of another song where all those elements are combined.”

Franklin was also one of pop’s greatest interpreters. Whether singing gospel standards or material by contemporary songwriters, she made everything she tackled her own. Her recordings weren’t simply “covers,” but makeovers. “When you heard her do something, I don’t care whose song it was, like Paul Simon’s ‘Bridge Over Troubled Water,’” says drummer Bernard Purdie, who worked with her the late 1960s and early Seventies. “Nobody knew Paul Simon wrote it. When Aretha sang it, that’s the way it was sung by everybody after. Same with ‘Respect.’ When she sang it, nobody knew Otis Redding.”

Between 1967 and 1974, she hit the R&B Top Ten 33 times. Her 1968 Grammy Award for Best Female R&B Vocal Performance (for “Respect”) was the first of eight consecutive times she would take that honor (she came back and won it again in 1982, 1986 and 1988). Franklin was a constant presence on the radio throughout the late Sixties and early Seventies. She sang her own songs, rock and R&B covers, and material written for her (like “Let It Be,” her version of which came out shortly before the Beatles), and turned it all into solid gold. In an era when radio was still heavily segregated, she crossed over to white audiences effortlessly. The subject of the songs she recorded was almost always tormented romantic love; their subtext was often about political liberation.

Franklin’s 1971 shows at San Francisco’s Fillmore West, immortalized on the live album Aretha Live at Fillmore West, were a visceral example of her crossover ability, but they weren’t a given success: “I wasn’t sure how the hippies reacted to me,” she later said. But in a sign of how she could easily cross musical fences, she blew away the counterculture crowd. When she learned her hero Ray Charles was in the crowd, Franklin pulled him out for the encore and the two wound up trading piano and vocal parts on an epic version of “Spirit in the Dark.” “She turned the thing into church,” Charles said later. “Excuse my French, but I have to say that this b---- is burning down the barn — I mean, she’s on fire.”

Franklin’s personal life was turbulent — the cover story that Time magazine ran on her in 1968 famously noted that her husband and manager Ted White had “roughed her up in public,” and they divorced the next year. But Franklin’s voice never let her down. Her 1972 live gospel album Amazing Grace returned her to her roots and went double platinum, and her ability to sing glorious pop resulted in her 1973 smash “Until You Come Back to Me.” In 1974, Rolling Stone asked her what made her happy. “My children,” she said. “And having little get-togethers and making up a whole lot of food. And gold records. And love.”

Over the course of the late 1970s, Franklin gradually fell off the charts, as her attempts to keep up with the times came off as tepid schlock. As she told Rolling Stone in 2012, “When I first started, my dad said to me, ‘No matter how good you are, and no matter how successful you are, one day, the applause is going to die down. And one day the applause is going to stop. One day the hallelujahs and the amens are going to stop. And one day the fans might not be there.’ I saw some of that come to pass, and it was absolutely true. At one point, my records were not being played, and of course that immediately crossed my mind.”

Rev. C.L. Franklin was shot in 1979 after a shootout with burglars in his home. (After one burglar shot Franklin, rupturing his femoral artery, Franklin went into a five-year coma and died in 1984; he never got to see his daughter’s comeback.) Franklin had a jubilant cameo in the Blues Brothers movie in 1980, yet her musical career remained in limbo.

In 1980, Franklin left Atlantic for Arista, where she began working with Clive Davis, and two years later, the collaboration paid off: 1982’s “Jump to It,” produced by Luther Vandross, brought Franklin back to R&B radio. But it was the 1985 album Who’s Zoomin’ Who? that made her a full-on crossover star again: she collaborated with pop artists like Eurythmics and Carlos Santana on the LP, and “Freeway of Love,” her final Number One R&B single, introduced her to the MTV generation. “Many thanks to myself for being disciplined and growing as a producer,” she wrote in the liner notes to 1986’s Aretha.

Never one to shy away from being contemporary or having pop hits, Franklin continued with the successful formula of recording with younger artists she’d influenced, cutting singles with George Michael, Elton John and Whitney Houston. In 1998, her acolyte Lauryn Hill wrote and produced the hit “A Rose Is Still a Rose” for her.

But Franklin was also up for challenges. She stepped in to sing “Nessun Dorma” at the 1998 Grammys when Luciano Pavarotti was unable to perform, a trick few other non-opera singers would even have dared.  As Franklin told Rolling Stone in 2012, “You have to give people what they want and what they’re paying for. After that, you can pretty much do whatever you’d like to do. But once you’ve given them what they’re paying for, then you can put some things in that you would like to sing, and they’re very well accepted when they’re performed dutifully.”

In her later years, Franklin was frequently sidetracked by health problems, and her recordings were slow to appear and spotty; A Woman Falling Out of Love, which she’d started recording in 2006, was finally released on her own label in 2011. In 2010, Franklin faced rumors that she was battling pancreatic cancer after canceling her scheduled performances; Franklin denied the cancer diagnosis, instead revealing she had surgery to remove a tumor. Franklin also canceled her scheduled 2018 performances after her doctor recommended that the singer rest for at least two months. Franklin last performed in November 2017 at Elton John’s annual AIDS Foundation gala.

Still, the power of her voice never left her. In 2014, her version of Adele’s “Rolling in the Deep,” a song that would have been unimaginable without her, became the Queen’s 100th R&B chart hit. (The song was part of her last new album, Aretha Franklin Sings the Great Diva Classics.) “She’s an original,” Franklin told Rolling Stone in 2012. “Love her lyrics — reminiscent of the Carole King lyrics of the Sixties. Just better! ‘We coulda had it all’! Sure you’re right, Adele!” In 2009, she sang at Barack Obama’s Presidential inauguration, a triumphant moment for the Civil Rights movement her music had influenced so deeply. “When it comes to expressing yourself through song, there is no one who can touch her,” Mary J. Blige told Rolling Stone in 2008. “She is the reason why women want to sing.”

Over the course of her six-decade career, Franklin garnered 44 Grammy nominations, winning 18, and became the first woman inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1987. In 1994, at the age of 52, Franklin became the recipient of a Kennedy Center Honor.

Looking back in 2016 at her version of “Respect,” Franklin elucidated both her own recording and its cultural impact. “I loved it, and I wanted to cover it just because I loved it so much,” she said. “And the statement was something that was very important, and where it was important to me, it was important to others. It’s important for people. Not just me or the Civil Rights movement or women — it’s important to people. I was asked what recording of mine I’d put in a time capsule, and it was ‘Respect.’ Because people want respect — even small children, even babies. As people, we deserve respect from one another.”

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