Who is the only singer to have their voice declared a “natural resource”?
We can all talk about certain singers being essential to the fabric of music in our own worldly opinions, but rarely are these views actually solidified by true authority forces in cementing stars as being icons of their craft. Across the expanses of the pop, rock, and soul canons especially, there are few who make the leap into a status of historical significance, but when they do, it’s always for a valid reason.
Take the likes of The Beatles, Elvis Presley, or Nina Simone, who all in their own ways transformed not just music but the world at large through their transcendental sonic efforts, and as such warrant being societally recognised for this from the powers that be, whether it’s in royal honours or national memorials. But even then, none of them managed to worm their way into the vital lifeblood of their hometowns in the way one special soul queen did.
We could, of course, only be talking about Aretha Franklin, whose voice and overall artistry was deemed so significant to her home of Michigan that it was classified as a natural resource of the state in 1985. Just like the literal rocks and salt of the Earth, Franklin went from singing about being a ‘Natural Woman’ to actually becoming one herself in the eyes of her local government.
Being declared a natural resource was one thing, but it came on top of another seismic honour that the Michigan state had already bestowed on Franklin some years prior. This was because, on February 16th, 1968, Detroit mayor Jerome P Cavanaugh announced that the date would be known forevermore as Aretha Franklin Day, honouring the singer’s unparalleled contributions to the life of soul music and her home city. That’s a level of worship that’s certainly hard to beat.
How did Aretha Franklin become a natural resource to Michigan?
Despite these lavish honours being lapped upon her, Franklin surprisingly wasn’t actually born in Michigan, but instead in Memphis, Tennessee, before she and her family moved to the state two years later. Living in the parish church house where her father was a gospel singer, her life was always impacted by the influence of music near and far, and so her choice to pursue the path was, in many ways, inevitable.
Surrounded by her father’s esteemed friends, including the likes of Smokey Robinson, Nat King Cole, and Dinah Washington, a young Franklin taught herself piano to the point that she was able to make her first professional recording at just 16 years old, before her father deemed that she was ready to fly the nest in pursuit of her dreams in New York City just a year later.
But through it all, Michigan’s influence evidently never strayed far from Franklin’s identity. She came to be considered so integral to the place that she was categorised among its most precious resources. That bears one of the most important testaments to her legacy, as she is—quite literally, in this case—forever and always ingrained into the soil of her hometown.
