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Aretha Franklin, beyonce, grammys, Tina Turner, Tina Turner Beyonce Grammy Performance
Aretha Franklin, beyonce, grammys, Tina Turner, Tina Turner Beyonce Grammy Performance

Franklin Slams Beyonce Grammy Intro

February 12, 2008 11:52 PM EST | AP

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LOS ANGELES — When Aretha Franklin is unhappy, she does not mince words. On Tuesday, the longtime Queen of Soul slammed Beyonce Knowles' intro to Tina Turner at Sunday's Grammy Awards, in which Knowles called Turner, not Franklin, "the queen."

"I am not sure of whose toes I may have stepped on or whose ego I may have bruised between the Grammy writers and Beyonce," Franklin said in a statement issued by her publicist. "However, I dismissed it as a cheap shot for controversy."

E-mails to Knowles' publicist Yvette Noel-Schure and calls and e-mails to Recording Academy spokeswomen Jaime Sarachit and Barb Deghan were not immediately returned.

In the first few seconds of Knowles' intro to Turner's performance, she name-dropped Franklin and a long list of famed female singers. Then the "Crazy in Love" chanteuse focused on Turner.

"There is one legend who has the essence of all of those things: the glamour, the soul, the passion, the strength, the talent," said Knowles, strutting in hot pants. "Ladies and gentlemen. Stand on your feet and give it up for the queen."

At a party later that night, Knowles called Turner her "ultimate icon."

Still, Franklin ended her brief criticism on a gracious note, thanking the Grammys and the voting academy and saying, "love to Beyonce anyway."

Known for such hits as "Respect" and "Chain of Fools," Franklin tied with the Clark Sisters for best gospel performance trophy for her duet "Never Gonna Break My Faith" with Mary J. Blige.

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- gaydem I'm a Fan of gaydem permalink

NAW!!! What Aretha really wants is a weight-loss program that works. You work it gurl!

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 04:59 PM on 02/14/2008
- wm1066 I'm a Fan of wm1066 permalink
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The quote is "give it up for the queen."
Small q, and she didn't say 'Queen of Soul'.
She just said queen. It was Aretha that read into it a slam against her.
Does anyone think she said that to put down Aretha? Man I don't.
Aretha needs to settle down and be a little more gracious.
And Tina IS "The Acid Queen"!
Love the quivering lip thing she did in "Tommy"

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 03:38 PM on 02/14/2008
- cBc I'm a Fan of cBc permalink

Aretha WAS a monster talent in her prime.
Her instrument is her VOICE, now trying to fight it's way out of that large body of hers.
Her singing that night ( & on other nights that I've heard her sing in recent years)is thin, greatly reduced in range & you can see her struggle with her breathing.She really needs to take better care of herself. This is not a slam, this is just reality.

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 12:57 PM on 02/14/2008
- duggie I'm a Fan of duggie permalink

To all wannabe divas: Don't EVER EVER imitate a performer unless you can TOP her talent, her life, her career. Beyonce is burlesque: Aretha and Tina are LEGENDS with superlative talent and staying power over a lifetime.

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 11:32 AM on 02/14/2008
- KansasKowboy I'm a Fan of KansasKowboy permalink

Aretha is the Queen of Soul alright. No one comes close. Tina is a legend in her own right. But just as you would never mistakenly call someone other than James Brown the Godfather of Soul, you would never call anyone but Aretha The Queen of Soul. These younguns like Beyonce just don't get it.

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 10:43 AM on 02/14/2008
- missjane I'm a Fan of missjane permalink

Aretha is and will always be the Queen of Soul. Elvis is still the "King"--even though he is long dead and was heavier than Aretha!

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 10:25 AM on 02/14/2008
- javaman I'm a Fan of javaman permalink

nothing like a good old fashing bitch slap pissing match amoung divas.

Here's a better headline, "who the fuck cares".

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 09:57 AM on 02/14/2008
- ptarantino I'm a Fan of ptarantino permalink

All these divas need to come back down to earth.

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 08:26 AM on 02/14/2008
- ptarantino I'm a Fan of ptarantino permalink

Aretha has jumped the shark.

All these divas need to come back down to earth.

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 08:22 AM on 02/14/2008
- heretical eggs I'm a Fan of heretical eggs permalink
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Tina Turner was ON FIRE. I have a great deal of respect for both Ms. Turner and Ms. Franklin.

My God, anyone who could do Nessun Dorma the way Ms. Franklin did a few years ago, has my undying respect. Put that with years of ground breaking soul, R&B and pop performances and you have a living legend.

Then you have Tina Turner. Tina rose from the ashes of hell. She made a place for herself in the WORLD music sensibility. There is not one place in the world where you could say, "you know, TINA?" and they would not understand to some point.

Tina Turner should have been given her own venue withOUT Beyonce' who she completely upstaged. Tina was magnificent. She looked great. She sounded great. She danced great other than the small fault where Beyonce' nearly knocked her over.

Tina Turner got up on stage an "ROCKED" the Shrine Auditorium and the WORLD at the age of 68. God bless Aretha, but her grammy performance did not come anywhere near Tina Turner. I would go so far as to hand the erstwhile "crown" of whatever "Queen" to Tina.

I'm sure Freddy Mercury would agree with me.

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 07:10 AM on 02/14/2008
- WestLittleRock I'm a Fan of WestLittleRock permalink

Aretha needs be more concerned about wardrobe blunders my god that was awful.

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 05:35 AM on 02/14/2008
- shockmagog I'm a Fan of shockmagog permalink
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About ten years ago, I heard an interview with a well known A & R person who said, "nine out of ten times when I go to record executives and tell them I have a great group I want them to hear, the first sentence out of their mouths' is 'what do they look like?'"

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 02:29 AM on 02/14/2008
- rektruax I'm a Fan of rektruax permalink
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A part of me wants to say "it's always been that way", but in my heart of hearts, I know the problem with looks over substance has gotten way out of hand in the last couple of decades. Each generation has its "Fabian" or Bobby Sherman, but that appears to be all that gets the big push anymore.

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 06:14 AM on 02/14/2008
- nazirmo I'm a Fan of nazirmo permalink

Aretha Franklin really needs some help with that weight issue.And I am her fan. But if she does not get on some diet and reduce some weight I may lose a queen to the lord almighty.

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 11:29 PM on 02/13/2008
- meeneecat I'm a Fan of meeneecat permalink

Why do you have to criticize her weight? While you do acknowledge her talent, it's the part about weight that bothers me. I think it is entirely inappropriate, it's not constructive nor does it add anything to this discussion. I'm offended by a lot of these weight comments on here because it's both sexist and mean-spirited. I hardly ever hear people ragging on overweight men (not that it would make it right, directed at any person it's just disrespectful if you ask me). However, the majority of these comments are directed at women, and it's always women who have their talents and merits overlooked to be replaced by comments about weight, looks, "sexiness" etc. And it really effects the self esteem of many women to hear comments like these. It's why we have high rates of eating disorders in young women, because media and consumers are obsessed with the whole stick-thin thing. To me, the whole thing is just outrageous, to see comments on weight directed at Aretha Franklin on this thread and to see these same people also ignoring the merit of her talent. Do you see what I'm saying here? Another commenter also picked up on another poster's sexist weight related comment, so I know I'm not the only one who is disturbed by this. Aretha is talented and she's always gravitated around a certain weight and seems fine, some people are healthy at higher weights, I have an aunt that's been on the heavier side all her life, she's 85 and looks like shes 65, she doesn't have a single health problem and is still full of life and very active for her age, her mother lived to be 100 and my aunt probably will too. So what if Aretha, and many other women, are not anorexic thin, why does everyone these days expect women to look like sticks, (otherwise normal, healthy women are constantly being ridiculed as "fat", just look at what happened with J. Love Hewitt". Enough already.

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 02:35 AM on 02/14/2008
- Libsrule I'm a Fan of Libsrule permalink

It's simple.

Her weight affects her ability to sing. It affects her health and it affects her future.

So when I see people getting all defensive about being fat I just want to lose it. Being fat is not about a lifestyle choice necessarily but rather about your future.

IF Aretha wants to keep that future along with her crown then she needs to be honest and admit she's going to have to lose that weight.

It affects her ability to sing more than anything because her breathing and her singing at the Grammy's were showing how badly it is affecting her talent.

You just can't go on the past and not expect anyone to notice that you can't do it anymore.

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 02:22 PM on 02/14/2008
- Nic I'm a Fan of Nic permalink

Aretha You are the queen...no wait you are The Queen of Soul. There. Feel better?

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 11:27 PM on 02/13/2008
- DMcD I'm a Fan of DMcD permalink
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Respect ? Please , respect is for people that know the meaning of the word 'humility'. Unless you're born into it by nobility , the 'throne' can only be given to a person by others , not by ones-self. Besides, Tina is without equal in her own right.

.

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 10:08 PM on 02/13/2008
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