Aretha Louise Franklin earned the prominent accolade “Queen of the soul” and was widely renowned for her priceless, exquisite voice and skills. She also has been ranked 9th in Rolling Stone’s top 100 all-time best Artists in The World on two occasions. Aretha Franklin started singing gospel songs and hymns in church as a kid at New Bethel Baptist Church in Detroit, Michigan, where her father, Clarence L. Franklin, was a preacher and used to minister the church congregations. We will get into more specifics of her life and also cover details about her children, and precisely find an answer to How old was Aretha Franklin when she had her first child?
Aretha Louise Franklin was born on 25th March of 1942 during the second world war, she was born and brought up in Memphis, Tennessee, in the United States. Aretha was a fabulous singer, pianist, and songwriter from the states. A malignant pancreatic neuroendocrine tumor, which is quite rare and different from the most frequent form of pancreatic cancer, was the cause of death. Aretha Franklin was believed to be severely sick for a week before her death at her residence in Riverfront Towers, Detroit, on August 13 of the year 2018. She was receiving inpatient care and was surrounded by relatives and friends, and died on August 16th, 2018. Today let us more about her life, her children in particular, and find the answer to the question – How old was Aretha Franklin when she had her first child?
Aretha Franklin
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Early life
Barbara and Clarence LaVaughn Franklin welcomed Aretha Louise Franklin to the world on March 25 of the heated second world war, 1942. She was born at 406 Lucy Avenue in Memphis, Tennessee, in her family’s house. Aretha Franklin’s parents Clarence and Barbara worked as church minister and pro piano player cum vocalist, respectively. The family moved to Buffalo, New York City, when Aretha Franklin was just two years old. C. L. Franklin had permanently transferred the family back to Detroit by the time little Aretha turned five. Clarence Franklin then took up the position of a church minister in the New Bethel Baptist Church. Clarence and Barbara together and four kids, and they also had kids from previous marriages.
Aretha with Edward and her son
Things didn’t work between Aretha’s parents due to trust issues and infidelities, and this led to Barbara moving back to NYC, Buffalo, with her kids, which includes Aretha Franklin and her half-sibling Vaughn after separation in the year 1948. Aretha Franklin’s mom suffered a heart attack and died on March 7th of 1952, when Aretha was ten years old. Multiple people assisted with the kids at the Franklin residence, particularly Aretha’s grandmother, Rachel, and Mahalia Jackson.
Aretha began to play the piano by ear around this period. She also went to public school in Detroit, attending Northern High School for her freshman year before leaving out for her second year.
How old was Aretha Franklin when she had her first child?
Aretha Franklin was born in Detroit, but she later moved to New York City in the 1960s while she was in her teens. The popular singer/songwriter once mentioned a phobia of flying as the reason for not touring internationally due to an incident in 1984, after which she exclusively performed in North America. Aretha stayed in NYC all through the ’60s up until the mid-1970s. Later on, she moved to Los Angeles, California, where she finally had the luxury of calling a place home in Encino. Aretha Franklin stayed in Encino, California, until the year 1982. She subsequently relocated to Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, which is a suburban area of Detroit, for the sole reason of being closer to her ill father and siblings.
Aretha’s first child Clarence (center) at her funeral
The singer had 4 children. Aretha Franklin was 12 years old when she gave birth to her first child on 28th January 1955 named Clarence, after her deceased father C.L. Franklin. She did not reveal the biological father of the kid later until it was known through one of will in 2019, where she mentioned the name Edward Jordon as the father of Clarence. Franklin and Jordan had a second baby on August 31, 1957, called Edward Derone Franklin, named after his father.
Ted White Jr. is the third child of Aretha Franklin, whom she had with then-husband Theodore White. Ted White Jr. was born in the year 1964. White went by the stage name Teddy Richards, and he also was a part of his mother’s band for quite some time as a backup guitarist. Kecalf Cunningham, her youngest son, was born in April of 1970, whom she had with her road manager, Ken Cunningham. Franklin was adamant about not talking about her early pregnancy with reporters. Both of her children adopted her surname.
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