Q 01/05

By what title is Aretha Franklin universally known?

A) the Queen of Soul

B) the Empress of the Blues

C) the First Lady of Song

D) the High Priestess of Soul

Answer · why

A) the Queen of Soul

The other three belong to Bessie Smith, Ella Fitzgerald and Nina Simone respectively.

Q 02/05

In which city was Aretha Franklin born in 1942?

A) Detroit

B) Memphis

C) Buffalo

D) Chicago

Answer · why

B) Memphis

She was delivered at home on Lucy Avenue; the family moved to Buffalo when she was two and settled in Detroit when she was five.

Q 03/05

C. L. Franklin was pastor of which Detroit congregation, where young Aretha first sang solos?

A) Greater Grace Temple

B) Second Baptist Church

C) New Bethel Baptist Church

D) Hartford Memorial Baptist

Answer · why

C) New Bethel Baptist Church

His emotional sermons earned him the nickname of the man with the 'million-dollar voice'.

Q 04/05

Which gospel star, long involved with her father, was a role model to the young Aretha?

A) Mahalia Jackson

B) Albertina Walker

C) Shirley Caesar

D) Clara Ward

Answer · why

D) Clara Ward

Mahalia Jackson was also a regular presence, helping to look after the children after their mother died in 1952.

Q 05/05

How old was Aretha when her first gospel album, later reissued as Songs of Faith, was recorded?

A) 14

B) 16

C) 18

D) 20

Answer · why

A) 14

Jerry Wexler said the voice on it 'was not that of a child but rather of an ecstatic hierophant'.