Arista recording artist Aretha Franklin, the incomparable Queen Of Soul and 17-time Grammy winner, adds another jewel to her crown with the release of a must have collection of show- stopping duets from her new album, JEWELS IN THE CROWN: ALL-STAR DUETS WITH THE QUEEN. Franklin, a Grammy Living Legend, Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award recipient, and the first woman inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, will release this stellar collection on November 13, 2007. Franklin duets with a combination of music icons and some of the hottest voices in music today including Whitney Houston (“It Isn’t, It Wasn’t, It Ain’t Never Gonna Be”), John Legend (“What Y’All Came To Do”), Luther Vandross (“Doctor’s Orders”), Annie Lennox (“Sisters Are Doing It For Themselves”), Keith Richards (“Jumping Jack Flash”), Elton John (“Through The Storm”), Frank Sinatra (“What Now My Love”), George Michael (“I Knew You Were Waiting”), Michael McDonald (“Ever Changing Times”), George Benson (“Love All The Hurt Away”), and good friend Mary J. Blige (“Don’t Waste My Time”). Aretha and Mary J. also join on a second tune, “Never Gonna Break My Faith” (with the Harlem Boys Choir). Rounding out the collection are two thrilling performances, both tributes to Aretha on her classics, “A Natural Woman (You Make Me Feel Like)” with Bonnie Raitt and Gloria Estefan; and “Chain Of Fools” with Mariah Carey. “Put You Up On Game” with Fantasia, is the lead single from JEWELS IN THE CROWN: ALL-STAR DUETS WITH THE QUEEN, impacting radio on October 1st. The album concludes on a historic note with Franklin’s performance of “Nessum Dorma,” the heroic aria from Act III of Puccini’s final opera Turandot, with an all-star orchestra. Aretha originally agreed to step in at the last minute and perform the aria in place of ailing tenor Luciano Pavarotti at the Grammy awards world wide telecast in February 1998. With just eight minutes of preparation backstage, she sang it with the 72-piece orchestra in Pavarotti’s key (three steps lower than her own) and stole the show. Franklin, a true music legend, was signed in 1980 by Clive Davis, Arista founder and Chairman & CEO, BMG Label Group.
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