Off the Charts: Aretha Franklin

A woman in full

By Newt Briggs

In the year of our Lord 1987--the year that Michael Jackson turned Bad and George Michael got Faith--Aretha Franklin became the first woman inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. It was only one in a list of lifetime achievements that has included being the first Africa-American woman to ever grace the cover of Time magazine, winning more than a dozen Grammys and singing at the inaugurations of Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton. Franklin was also ranked No. 1 on VH1's "100 Greatest Women in the History of Rock 'n' Roll," ahead of Tina Turner (2), Janis Joplin (3) and Yoko Ono (84).

Yet for all of these accomplishments, life has not been easy on the undisputed Queen of Soul. She got knocked up at 13, has struggled with her weight and spending habits and has released a series of albums that might best be described as "erratic." She's also suffered from a crippling lack of fashion sense, which has allowed her to appear in public in everything from jewel-studded baseball caps to what can only be described as a massive doily-turned-prom dress. Given these factors, it's no wonder the buxom diva is always pining for R-E-S-P-E-C-T.

FREEWAY OF LOVE: Due to a pathological fear of flying, Franklin has not performed on the West Coast for more than two decades. For this groundbreaking tour, she is traveling by luxury bus--a mode of transportation that is also fraught with complications. Since the skittish songstress refuses to drive over mountains, her tour managers had to map out a special route from Detroit to L.A. so the bus will not rise perceptibly above sea level.

CHAIN OF FOOLS: Placed on opposite sides of a scale, Franklin's fear of flying might only be balanced by her love of spending, which has gotten her into trouble with an untold number of creditors. During the past two decades, she's been slapped with at least 30 lawsuits seeking recompense for more than $1 million in unpaid bills. Among them were debts owed to the IRS ($500,000), Saks Fifth Avenue ($262,851), hotels and chauffeurs who reportedly took her and her friends on runs to Burger King. Still, Franklin is estimated to be worth more than $20 million.

A NATURAL WOMAN: Besides flying, Franklin's other arch-nemesis is air-conditioning. In the past, she has insisted that venues turn off their cooling systems entirely--allegedly for the sake of her delicate throat--but during her show in Las Vegas, the air on the stage will be turned off while the air in the audience continues to blow.

WHO'S ZOOMIN' WHO?: Franklin last made the national tabloids in 2002 when she refused to cooperate with police after her $1.6 million, 10,000-square-foot mansion was burnt to the ground. At the time of the fire, Franklin was using the home for storage, but a subsequent investigation revealed that the blaze had been deliberately set. Although she was never an official suspect, she was subpoenaed in February 2003 after it was revealed that she had hired a former fire chief as a bodyguard a week prior to the incident. No charges were filed, but Franklin was hit with a $225 fine for failing to clean up the property in a timely manner.