Aretha Franklin’s 14 best covers of all time
“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.” — Aretha Franklin
There are few artists as able to hold a room as Aretha Franklin. She is most routinely pointed to by those who know as perhaps the greatest singer of the modern pop age. An icon in every sense of the word, while many artists can boast striking visuals to back up their claim of being the greatest, Franklin relied almost entirely on her powerhouse vocals to do the job.
Lady Soul is worthy of all the praise we can give, but there’s something special about the singer. One of the key indicators is how effortlessly Franklin could express the emotions of almost any song, her powerful vocal trumping pretty much any vocalist around. But what set her apart was not her talent but her powerful connection to the expression.
Lady Soul may have been known for her ferocious performance of her own songs, but she was prolific in her cover songs. Taking on tracks to make them her own to the point where most people wouldn’t know the original above her version, Aretha was, without a doubt, one of the best at taking a song and making it her own, no matter the artist.
The supreme list of names below, including Otis Redding, The Beatles, The Rolling Stones and Adele, is a mark of commendation for the singer. It shows not only the many ways Franklin used her “gift” to command any track in her wake, but that almost any artist is happy to have Lady Soul cover their song.
Below, we’re dipping into the collection of her most incredible covers, and it makes for a truly inspirational list. It showcases Aretha’s powerful talent.
Aretha Franklin’s best covers:
‘Rolling in the Deep’ – Adele
Considering that at this point, Aretha was well into her seventies, it seems fitting that the Queen took on one of the newer divas, Adele, and frankly showed her what it’s all about on her own song. Aretha proved that her vocal is always the key to her success.
Ignore the backing music; it sounds a bit like a bad karaoke version of the song, but one thing that can never be understated is Aretha’s unbelievable power. It might well be the greatest compliment Adele will ever receive in her life.
‘Jumping Jack Flash’ – The Rolling Stones
Quite simply, a Rolling Stones cover to surpass the original. The version has Keith Richards and Ronnie Wood on guitar and Franklin herself on piano and voice. It moves the song, which was written about Richards’ gardener, into a brand new sound.
With enough power across the choruses and enough life given to the verses, Aretha shows not only her range but her ability to leave superstars gawping at her. It’s not often that the greatest bands ever get so easily trumped, but Franklin was a truly spectacular performer.
‘Don’t Play That Song’ – Ben E King
The content of this track is deep and painful. It resides around the emotion our protagonist feels as she hears a particular song that reminds her of her lying lover. It’s a touching performance that offers a keen insight into Franklin’s own life.
As heart-wrenching a subject this may be, it is quickly overlooked as Aretha delivers a furious and pounding performance. It captures your attention and keeps you entangled forever.
It may not be the most famous cover on this list, but it should remain in your playlists forever.
‘Bridge Over Troubled Water’ – Simon & Garfunkel
Taken from Aretha’s Greatest Hits album, this delicate and touching folk song is given new life by Franklin’s vocal. It transcends from a simple but effective folk song into a powerful performance. Undoubtedly one of the duo’s finest, Franklin takes the song on to a new level.
Finding the gospel notes in this song allows Aretha to take control of the melody with her vocal gymnastics and really display it as something original and singular.
Something entirely unique and utterly Aretha.
‘Love The One You’re With’ – Stephen Stills
Taken from the more-than-brilliant live album Aretha Live From the Fillmore, Stephen Stills’ attempted elevation of casual sex is morphed into something truly spiritual. It is only Franklin who could take such a sordid piece of material from the gutter into the heavens.
Again, moving the song toward a more Gospel setting allows Aretha to send the song to the heavens with her usual fervour. Stephen Stills’ performance of the track may well keep you hooked until the end, but Aretha’s cover is truly inspirational.
‘Eleanor Rigby’ – The Beatles
Taking on The Beatles may not have been as scary in 1970 as it would be today, but one person sure to be unfazed by something so daunting would be Aretha Franklin. She took it on with natural aplomb and delivered a truly brilliant cover.
The Beatles’ version is an extremely sombre and sullen character display, leaving listeners wiping their eyes. Aretha’s version is fast, pounding and leaves the original in the dust, picking up the listener and throwing them around. Not many times are The Beatles beaten at their own game, but Franklin’s version might just tip the original.
‘You’ll Never Walk Alone’ – Hammerstein
Taken from her Amazing Grace album, this stirring and spiritual is always a beautiful song to hear. Whether at a football match or in your local parish, this song alone has the power to create an atmosphere worthy of tearing up the largest of angry men.
When you add Aretha Franklin’s vocal to that equation, you get something intense, beautiful and a song designed to fill your heart and soul. It’s the kind of cover that can confirm a lot of things for you. It can put a tick next to the idea of actually giving mOnday a go, it can make a beleagured man feel hopeful and confirm for you that Franklin might just be the most emotive singer of all time.
‘I Say A Little Prayer for You’ – Dionne Warwick
A chance for Aretha to shine on somebody else’s original song was yet again clasped with both hands by Franklin as she covered Dionne Warwick’s ‘I Say A Little Prayer’.
As ever, the focal point of this song (and pretty much any Aretha song) was her unfathomable vocal performance. Composed by Bacharach and David, the choral backing provided by The Sweet Inspirations, Franklin’s voice soars beyond all measure and adds a potently gorgeous gospel sheen to create something entirely singular.
It’s a bouncing and vibrant piece of golden age pop that never gets boring.
‘The Weight’ – The Band
What Franklin achieved with ‘The Weight’ was not reinvention so much as revelation. By shifting the song’s centre of gravity, she exposed its gospel core, turning Robertson’s parable of burden and grace into something that felt closer to a sermon than a folk-rock narrative. The melody remained intact, but the meaning seemed to deepen, as though the song had finally reached the spiritual destination it had been circling all along.
That ability to draw out the soul of a song is what separates a great cover from a definitive one. Franklin did not treat ‘The Weight’ as a tribute or a novelty, but as material worthy of full emotional investment. In doing so, she affirmed Robertson’s songwriting at the highest possible level, proving that the track could live comfortably alongside the great spirituals and soul standards that formed the backbone of her own catalogue.
‘My Guy’ – Mary Wells
Definitely the most pared-back of these covers, Franklin takes on the Mary Wells song with a certain manner of restraint. This was during her pre-Atlantic Records era and so offers little of her usual power.
Instead, what we see is the Queen of Soul doing her best pop impression, and it’s better than most you’ll ever see. A toe-tapping joy, Aretha moves the song into a new sphere while still keeping her own style.
‘Let It Be’ – The Beatles
As with ‘Bridge Over Troubled Water,’ Aretha moves a song that is otherwise rooted in a sultry pop beginning into something that is uplifting and euphoric. The Beatles’ ‘Let It Be’ will go down in the band’s iconography as one of their lasting memories, but given over to the supreme vocalist, and Franklin excels.
Franklin builds on the core spirituality and the zen nature of the song and expands it to fill the room and your ears. It’s mesmerising and puts McCartney’s track into touch as she delivers a vocal performance even the Fab Four couldn’t match.
‘Respect’ – Otis Redding
Let’s start with one of those “I thought that was her song” choices. Aretha Franklin will always be attached to this song and its legacy. Originally an Otis Redding number, the track was flipped on its head when Franklin stood up to take on this song, and so much more with it. Aretha went at this cover like anything else in her life: full throttle and completely committed.
Her powerful vocal and the unwavering pursuit of rhythm left this song not only on top of the charts, but it also gained her the first of her 18 Grammys, and with Aretha’s ferocity, it became an impassioned anthem for the feminist and civil rights movements.
It would go on to not only define Franklin but a generation.
‘A Change Is Gonna Come’ – Sam Cooke
More poignantly than her cover ‘Respect’, which caught the attention of the Civil Rights movement in America, this Sam Cooke cover was a direct push of anger toward the establishment. It was Aretha’s way of making a statement and still keeping true to her intent.
Doing the classic Aretha move of simplifying and upstaging the original Aretha makes the song feel more powerful, more poetic and somehow more beautiful. It’s one thing being able to interpret another’s song int your own language, but making it feel original to you is a blessed skill.
‘Nessun Dorma’ – Giacamo Puccini
When ‘Grammy Living Legend’ honoree Luciano Pavarotti contacted the show producers to release the damning news that he was too ill to sing his ‘Nessun Dorma’, the awards ceremony looked to be in chaotic meltdown. Pavarotti was billed as the headline act, the showstopper.
However, producer Ken Ehrlich remembered seeing Franklin perform the song at a MusiCares dinner the night before in tribute to Pavarotti and, in a bold move, asked Lady Soul to step in for her dear friend at the very last minute and deliver a bombastic show.
Of course, Franklin agreed and produced one of the greatest performances in Award Show history.
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