Carolyn Franklin

Soul singer and songwriter Carolyn Franklin was born May 13, 1944. She and her family would settle in Detroit when she was a toddler, and she would begin performing in her minister father’s house of worship, New Bethel Baptist Church. When her older sisters, Aretha and Erma launched music careers at the beginning of the 1960s, Franklin followed their lead. She helped write Aretha’s top 10 1968 R&B hit “Ain’t No Way”. She had her biggest chart hit as a solo artist in 1969 with “It’s True I’m Gonna Miss You”, which hit number 23 on the R&B chart. In 1973 she co-wrote the ballad “Angel” for her sister Aretha. It topped the R&B chart, and featured vocals from all three of the Franklin women. From 1969-1976 Franklin released five albums, but then she left show business. She made an appearance in the 1980 movie The Blues Brothers as one of the backup singers when her sister, Aretha, performs “Think”. Franklin passed away from breast cancer on April 25, 1988.

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