Album of the Day

Aretha Franklin learned to sing in church (her father was Detroit's noted Reverend C. L. Franklin), so it's fitting that AMAZING GRACE is her biggest-selling album. Recorded at Los Angeles' New Temple Missionary Baptist Church on January 13 and 14, 1972, the live album features transcendent performances of such standards as "Precious Memories," "What A Friend We Have In Jesus" and "How I Got Over," and was greeted with rave reviews. The collection would go on to sell more than two million copies in the in U.S. alone and still also holds the record as the best-selling live gospel album of all time. It also earned the singer a Grammy award, her first for Best Soul Gospel Performance. Remastered and expanded in 1999 to include all the recordings from both nights, we'll give AMAZING GRACE: THE COMPLETE RECORDINGS a spin in honor of Black Music Month.

This week the Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame is also honoring Aretha who was the first female to be inducted in 1987. Check out Franklin's official bio page for full speeches, performances, and tributes to the Queen Of Soul.