Aretha Franklin’s Granddaughter Shows The World That Talent Runs In The Family

Aretha once said of herself, “Being a singer is a natural gift. It means I’m using to the highest degree possible the gift that God gave me to use. I’m happy with that.” Undeniably, Aretha took her gift to the heights, winning several Grammys and hitting the charts with unforgettable songs.

People noticed that Aretha had talent from a young age, because she displayed it both when singing in church and playing the piano. The church was her dad’s workplace, as he was a preacher in the Baptist tradition. And the voice clearly ran in the family, since her mom sang gospel, too.

Sadly, though, Aretha’s parents didn’t have a happy marriage, and it ended while she was very young. Worse still, her mom then passed away when Aretha was only ten years old. She moved with her dad to Detroit, Michigan. There, Clarence La Vaughan — better known as “C. L.” — became a figure known around the country for his preaching.

In the meantime, Aretha’s recording career was getting underway — when she was still in her early teens. She went on C. L.’s revival tour as well, making friends with some of the big names in gospel along the way. So it’s little wonder that she soon attracted major-label attention, eventually opting to go with Columbia Records, who put out her self-titled debut album during 1961.

The record was a modest success, and a follow-up single saw Aretha hit the pop charts for the first time. But fame and fortune largely eluded her, so five years later she changed record labels to Atlantic. This switch saw her new label’s co-owner, famed producer Jerry Wexler, take Aretha to his favorite studio in Alabama — and the results would change her life.

Working with the fabled Muscle Shoals backing band, Aretha made “I Never Loved a Man (The Way I Love You).” But her husband, Ted White, then got into a fight with one of the musicians, and the singer had to quit the session. The song she’d left behind still became a huge success, though, and when she picked things back up, more hits started to flow from her.

Her 1967 album, also called I Never Loved a Man (The Way I Love You), featured a song that became Aretha’s calling card. It was a cover of Otis Redding’s “Respect,” and it went to number one like a bullet, scoring the singer a couple of Grammys as well. She didn’t look back, with tracks including “I Say A Little Prayer” and “(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman” also crashing into the top ten.

By the end of the 1960s, Aretha had gained the nickname “Queen of Soul.” But her impact went deeper than music, as she was an icon of Black power, too. She sang at Dr. Martin Luther King’s funeral and performed at the Democratic National Convention. Success didn’t, though, extend into her private life, with her marriage to White not seeing out the decade.

In the 1970s Aretha turned once more to gospel, and Amazing Grace would end up selling more copies than any other record in the genre ever had done. But her stomping ground remained very much R&B, a field in which for eight years straight up until 1974 she won the Grammy for Best Female Vocal Performance.

Of course, it’s very rare for an artist to stay at such heights for so long, and eventually the Queen of Soul’s star waned a little. But only for a while. In the 1980s she roared back to the top, with Who’s Zoomin’ Who? proving that she could still create pop hits. Amazingly, the 1985 set proved the best-selling of her career so far. Duets with the Eurythmics and George Michael underlined her relevance, and induction into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame proved her stature.

It’s fair to say that Aretha earned her crown, and the end of her life in 2018 was a very sad event for many. Not least for her three grandchildren, Jordan, Victorie, and Grace, who’ve all taken inspiration from their superstar grandma — not just in music but in Aretha’s activism, too.

The three spoke at the star’s funeral in the same year, with Victorie stating, “I just wanted to say that it is really inspiring to see how many hearts and how many people my grandma has touched, and it’s heartwarming to see all of the love and support that you guys give us.”

Victorie continued, “I just want to say thank you and that we appreciate you so much, from the bottom of our hearts.” And as if to show the world how close she’d been to the Queen of Soul, Victorie then uploaded a video that’d never been publicized before, showing her performing with her grandma.

The video quickly found a huge audience and went viral, especially among people who were mourning Aretha’s passing. It showed the world that the two of them had a shared love for music and performing. Victorie also explained that she’d been wrecked when the relationship that they’d shared had gone forever.

The youngster wrote in the video’s caption: “I have many memories of me coming into her home, and she would be playing the piano and singing. Words can’t describe the pain I’m feeling, but God is telling me that she is at peace. Today we lost an icon [and] a legend, but today I lost my grandma. I love you, and I’m gonna make you proud.”

Grandson Jordan also explained how strongly he was feeling the loss. Through the tears, he said, “Dear Grandma, I love you. I know in my heart that you’re happy now, and that’s all that I care about. Thank you for loving me. Thank you for believing in me as much as you did.”

The message from Grace, the third grandkid, was similar. She explained, “I just smile because, even though she’s not here, I have memories, and that’s all I need.” The youngster then described Aretha’s continuing effect on her. And this would become very clear when she later showed the world just how strong her grandma’s influence had been.

Grace’s dad, Kecalf Cunningham, is the youngest of Aretha’s sons. And something of his mom’s musical talent came his way, as he’s a rapper. Not the gangster type, though! Kecalf prefers Christian hip-hop, which he famously demonstrated when he was in a show with his mother in 2008 at New York’s Radio City Music Hall.

The Queen of Soul had four sons in all, the first arriving when she was at the very young age of 12. That’s some start in life for someone renowned for her religion, isn’t it? Well, her dad had a bit of a reputation as a bad boy, with all sorts of rumors about goings-on at his church. Anyway, it turned out that a school friend of Aretha was the father.

If having a kid at 12 wasn’t bad enough, Aretha followed up with another two years later. She didn’t let being a teen mom get in the way of pursuing fame, though. The boys were raised by her grandma and a sister. The second boy, Edward, was named for his dad, and he too enjoyed some success as a singer, including on tracks featuring his mom.

Aretha’s next child was again named for his dad, this time her manager Ted White. And just like the other boys, he showed plenty of musical talent. He made a string of records and had a fair bit of fame, appearing not just alongside his mom but also opening for the likes of INXS and Seal.

So it’s no surprise, perhaps, that the grandchildren also haven’t fallen far from the Franklin tree. And not just in the world of music, either. Grace uses her social media presence to promote the causes she’s committed to, such as preventing police brutality and poverty, as well as addressing indigenous issues in Canada. And being at high school didn’t prevent her from joining a protest.

But it’s as a singer that Grace’s talent is really flourishing. She’s a member of the Detroit Youth Choir, having signed up in 2019 after seeing them perform during a tribute to her grandma. Anthony White, the choir’s artistic director, told the Detroit Free Press that Grace was a “rising star” and a “great singer and great kid.”

And Grace doesn’t just sing in the choir. She’s also looking towards a future in music. When a biopic about Aretha was released in 2021, Grace appeared at the premiere and sang her grandma’s 1968 hit “Ain’t No Way.” And clearly she’s got some star power on her side, as superstar singer-cum-actor Jennifer Hudson — the film’s Aretha — gave Grace an introduction.

Even this, though, was eclipsed when Grace was introduced to a much larger audience. Despite her tender age of 15, the singer still put her talent on the line in an audition for TV show American Idol in March 2022. And she left viewers in no doubt as to whose grandkid she is with her first number.

Grace wowed the audience with her version of “Ain’t No Way,” though it was a little different from the original. She followed it with a cover of “Killing Me Softly,” performing the track in the style of Lauryn Hill. The panel of judges — Luke Bryan, Katy Perry, and Lionel Richie — were then stunned to find out she’s the granddaughter of the Queen of Soul.

“Stop right there,” Richie declared. “That is your grandma?” Fans of R&B will need no introduction to Richie. He was of course hugely successful first with the Commodores and then in a solo career that produced some enormous hits. Richie told Grace all about his friendship with her grandma and confided that he still had some voicemails that Aretha had left him.

But however the judges felt about Aretha, it wasn’t the Queen of Soul whom they were judging. So Bryan came down pretty hard on Grace’s languid take on “Killing Me Softly.” He considered it “just a little sleepy and subdued.” And “I Kissed a Girl” superstar Perry concurred that it’d been “soft.”

Perry liked Grace’s performance in the round, though. She suggested that the youngster had “sparkle” and “stardust” about her, and so she gave her the nod. But the two men on the panel weren’t having a bar of it. They said no to the Detroit youngster, and that would end her time on the show.

The boys weren’t cruel about it, though, as Perry pressed Richie to “give her a shot.” Richie replied, “Grace Franklin, I love you, and I think the best thing for you in life is to take a shot at going backwards. Go back and get a running start and come at this again.”

Perry then went hard into bat for Grace, observing that sometimes you need to take a punt with raw talent. She pointed out, “Give her a chance. I am sure Aretha wasn’t Aretha when she walked in the room, but somebody said, ‘Yes, I want to work with you. I want to develop you. You got something.’”

The struggle proved to be in vain, though, because Richie remained firm in his rejection. Mind you, he did agree that the gold was there, and that it just needed some mining. He told Grace, “Go back and put the shyness behind you and the voice in front of you. You are going to be something amazing.”

The show also featured a clip that’d been recorded earlier, in which Grace shared her feelings about Aretha and their relationship. “I don’t think I could fully grasp the fact that she was famous worldwide. Because to me she was always grandma,” Grace admitted. “I was really close to my grandma. I got to see her all the time. I got to travel with her a lot.”

And the youngster had some strong feelings on the idea that she should be a mini-Aretha, given her laidback performance on the show. She explained, “I feel like people expect me to sing exactly like her, but I am my own artist, and I have my own voice.” Of course, Grace isn’t the only person with famous relatives to appear on American Idol.

Perhaps the most famous dad to have his child appear on the show is Jim Carrey. The comedian’s daughter Jane received a full set of “yes” votes when she sang Bonnie Raitt’s “Something to Talk About” in her audition. She then reached the Hollywood week, but that proved a hurdle that she couldn’t get over.

Another with music in the family is Lara Johnston. Her dad’s a member of the Doobie Brothers. In season 10, she too received three “yes” votes when she performed a rendition of “All I Do,” the Stevie Wonder hit. Sadly, though, Lara also found that the Hollywood week was a mountain too tough to climb.

It isn’t only musicians, either. The world of sport’s also spawned some talented scions. Baseball superstar Ozzie Smith’s son Nikko took on American Idol in season 4. He too performed “All I Do” to great acclaim and made the final nine. Shannon Magrane, whose dad Joe was a St. Louis Cardinals star, went far as well.

Football’s also provided a contestant, with the daughter of one-time NFL player Phillippi Sparks showing her chops during season six. You may well have even heard of Jordin Sparks! She’d go on to win the season, and she’s enjoyed a stellar career as a singer. Not only did Jordin experience chart-topping success, but she also gained recognition from the Grammys with a nomination.

Whether Grace will match Jordin’s success remains to be seen — but if she does, it probably won’t be through American Idol. Her plan’s to give it a miss and put out some tracks independently. Still, the exposure was seemingly very worthwhile for the youngster, with industry heavyweights reaching out to Grace since the show was aired.