Aretha Franklin – an extraordinary singer, with a voice of authenticity, pain, power and magic. Photograph: Express Newspapers/Getty Images
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everal days ago, my mother called me with some bad news. “I think Aretha’s time is coming,” she said. Of course, I knew who she meant. There was only one Aretha. A grenade had been dropped. A soft breath came, followed by a silence, then my response. “I’d heard. My God. Not her too.”