Aretha Franklin officially has no. 1 hits in every decade since the '60s
Aretha Franklin may have departed from this world in 2018, but her music will live forever.
Proof of this lies in the Billboard Hot Gospel Songs chart dated July 4, which declares Franklin's "Never Gonna Break My Faith" featuring the Boys Choir of Harlem has taken the top spot. What this means is that the Grammy Award-winning song has secured Franklin's legacy with no. 1 hits in every decade since the 1960s.
The song was released with a new music video on June 19 (above) with images showing protests from the Civil Rights era to today as masses hit the streets during a global pandemic in support of the Black Lives Matter movement in response to the murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis.
"My Lord, won’t you help them to understand when someone takes the life of an innocent man well they've never really won, cuz all they've really done is set the soul free - where it's supposed to be," she sings.
Franklin will also be remembered with the release of two biopics about her life set to be released later this year. Jennifer Hudson will play the legendary Queen of Soul on the big screen in Respect, set for limited release on Dec. 25 before going wide on Jan. 15, 2021. The film was originally set to debut in August but was pushed due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Cynthia Erivo will play Franklin in the third season of National Geographic's Genius franchise. The eight-part limited series release was also affected by the Hollywood shutdown in response to the pandemic. It's tentatively set to have a fall release.
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- The Age of Aretha: Remembering the life and legacy of the late superstar