There’s no question that Aretha Franklin is our Aries Angel. The Queen of Soul– who performed at the first ESSENCE Festival in 1995– began her career on in the church. She later bellowed into the music industry in the late ‘60s with the song “I Never Loved A Man (The Way I Love You).” Franklin’s legendary vocals continued to take over pop charts, thanks to hits like “Respect” and “I Say A Little Prayer.” As we honor her, we look back at not only her accomplishments but also the trend setting beauty looks the singer, pianist, and activist served up over the years.
The ‘60s were all about classic, black-and-white portraiture. Her beauty, for example, was captured in 1962 in a portrait where she donned a wrapped silk press. Then, for the Soul Together show in ‘68, she turned heads with a Supremes-esque blow out. Meanwhile, her look at 13th Grammy Awards was also unforgettable. Think: a perfectly-coiffed afro paired with white liner and charcoal eyeshadow. Her backlit red-headed look in the ‘70s (picture her 1973 Duke Ellington tribute) was her intro to more pigmented colors, like green shadows at her 35th birthday. This was all of course before going for pastels and windswept hair in the ‘80s (cue her portrait session with Harry Langdon.)
Her bowl cut and Twiggy-like lashes era was one for the books, too. This was also an early predecessor to her powdery, full coverage makeup looks in the ‘90s. At the Night Of 100 Stars, Franklin’s Old Hollywood clumped lashes complemented her faded red lipstick and blush. Then, her sheer metallic lips and dark glittery eyeshadow at the Friars Club Clive Davis tribute sat beneath dark, thin brows. As she entered the early aughts, her makeup became more refined. At a 2005 portrait session, her brows were sharper and blush more sculpted than ever. She paired this with a tousled red hair piece. As for her 70th birthday look? She knew she couldn’t go wrong with pigmented pink lips and purple eyeliner. She took this up a notch for her 74th as her look included circular blush with black shadow.
Below, take a moment to honor the Queen of Soul with 75 of her most iconic beauty moments of all time.
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