Aretha Franklin

Aretha Franklin, the "Queen of Soul," who was to be the headline performer at a celebration of the Ravens stadium opener Saturday, has canceled, citing health problems.The team is scrambling to find a replacement and is in talks with "comparable" performers, said David Modell, son of team owner Art Modell."We're currently scouring the free agent list to come up with a suitable replacement for her royal highness of soul," Modell said.Franklin, along with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, was to perform a free concert on the plaza and parking lots north of the new stadium at Camden Yards beginning at 8 p.m. The BSO is still booked, as is a laser light show.

Despite being kicked off American Idol during Season 3, Jennifer Hudson has become one of the most celebrated performers of her generation. The Chicago native's ascension to pop superstardom has been nothing short of meteoric. Her first acting turn, a memorable performance in Dreamgirls, won her an Academy Award for best supporting actress. Her first album, a sometimes-vibrant but mostly spotty self-titled effort, earned a Grammy. Her first tour, which stops at the Lyric Opera House on April 4, has been packing venues across the country.

Baltimore should get all the R-E-S-P-E-C-T it can handle when Aretha Franklin bursts into town to perform at Artscape July 15.The legendary Ms. Franklin will headline Baltimore's annual salute to the arts, scheduled for July 15-17. She'll be performing with the "Whit" Williams Orchestra in a concert set for 7 p.m., with Ms. Franklin taking the stage around 8:15."It's great to have her here, as they say, the First Lady of Soul," Mayor Kurt Schmoke said, during his weekly press briefing yesterday.

Aretha Franklin plans a downloadable do-over for inauguration performance President Barack Obama took a do-over on his oath of office. Now the Queen of Soul is following his lead. Aretha Franklin has recorded a "preferred version" of "My Country, 'Tis of Thee," which she sang at Obama's Jan. 20 inauguration. Franklin said in a statement yesterday that she wasn't able to give her "very best" in the ceremony's cold weather but wants fans to have the best possible version of her singing the song.

In more than three decades of its existence, Columbia has never had the honor of playing host to royalty.This summer, the community -- and Howard County in general -- will welcome the Queen of Soul.Aretha Franklin is headlining a who's who cast of artists, dancers and musicians at the 10th Columbia Festival of the Arts.Other entertainers and acts slated to perform at the 10-day festival, which begins June 19, include the Junction Avenue Theatre Company from Marabi, South Africa, samba king Jose )

"Queen of Soul."That pretty much says it all, doesn't it? No matter how many pretenders have laid claim to the throne over the last 25 years, everybody with ears knows that soul music has only had one queen ever, and her name is Aretha Franklin.It isn't just a matter of hits, though Lord knows she's had her share and then some. Since 1967, when "I Never Loved a Man (The Way I Loved You)" rocketed into the Top 10, Aretha has put some 36 singles into the pop Top 40, including such epochal works as "(You Make Me Feel Like)

I went to Detroit to find Aretha Franklin. Not literally, of course, though that would have been divine -- I had a vision that during my weekend visit I would see her walking downtown, sporting a fur coat. I never did, but I came close. When I landed in the Motor City in November, I was clutching Franklin's autobiography From These Roots, listening to "Oh Happy Day" and imagining Franklin in the city she strayed from but never left. My plan for a quick $500 getaway was simple: Spend time with my aunt and cousins, and take in Detroit's cultural offerings -- those Franklin roots -- while not going over my budget.

Aretha Franklin stands by her fursAretha Franklin is not ashamed to wear fur. The Queen of Soul has been criticized by animal-rights groups since she showed up at the Clinton inauguration festivities in a Russian sable coat. On May 1, while in concert at Radio City Music Hall, Ms. Franklin showed up in a long, long white mink stole. "Aretha often gets cold on stage," a publicist for Arista records said.Writing is found at 4,200-year-old siteChinese archaeologists working in eastern China have discovered inscriptions on a 4,200-year-old piece of pottery that suggest the Chinese writing system is 1,000 years older than previously believed, the official Xinhua News Agency reported.

"This is Miss Franklin," the legend says. Her tone is formal and businesslike, commanding r-e-s-p-e-c-t from the jump. After a day of shopping, Aretha Franklin is being chauffeured to her Detroit home. She doesn't have much time to chat, she says. The Queen of Soul is on the move. In a few days, the celebrated singer-songwriter will be on the road in her custom tour bus to play a few spot dates along the East Coast, including a two-night, sold-out stint at New York's Radio City Music Hall.

Aretha Franklin to bring soul to the inauguration Aretha Franklin, Yo-Yo Ma, the San Francisco Boys Chorus and the San Francisco Girls Chorus will all be part of the entertainment at Barack Obama's inaugural ceremony. Sen. Dianne Feinstein, who heads the Joint Congressional Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies, announced yesterday the program for the 56th presidential inauguration, which will take place at the west front of the Capitol. The invocation will be offered by The Purpose-Driven Life author Rick Warren, pastor of Saddleback Church in Lake Forest, Calif.

Over the years, fans have adjusted their love for Aretha Franklin. For those who were around during her late-'60s heyday, when her voice was a wondrous force of nature and seemingly every hit record became an anthem, that time is treasured. She wasn't just the Queen of Soul but a beacon of pride in black communities. Feminists celebrated the naked emotionality and iron-willed determination conveyed in every note of her classic music. It has become a cliche to call Aretha Franklin one of pop's greatest singers.

"This is Miss Franklin," the legend says. Her tone is formal and businesslike, commanding r-e-s-p-e-c-t from the jump. After a day of shopping, Aretha Franklin is being chauffeured to her Detroit home. She doesn't have much time to chat, she says. The Queen of Soul is on the move. In a few days, the celebrated singer-songwriter will be on the road in her custom tour bus to play a few spot dates along the East Coast, including a two-night, sold-out stint at New York's Radio City Music Hall.

TELEVISION THE RICHES / / 10 p.m. Tuesday. FX ....................... This decidedly off-beat drama about a family of grifters that tries to steal the American Dream by assuming the identity of a dead family returns for Season 2. The series was troubled last year by an inability to maintain a tone that was both credible and comically dark. But it was always a joy to watch droll Minnie Driver and super-charged Eddie Izzard as the mom and pop hustlers trying to pass as members of the upper-middle class in McMansion Land.

Just announced Al Jarreau -- Rams Head Tavern in Annapolis on Feb. 18-19. 410-244-1131 or ramsheadlive.com. Toby Keith -- 1st Mariner Arena on Feb. 17. 410-547-7328 or ticketmaster.com. All That Remains -- The 9:30 Club in Washington on March 6. 800-955-5566 or tickets.com. Victor Wooten -- Recher Theatre in Towson on March 27. 410-547-7328 or ticketmaster.com. Big in Japan -- The 8x10 on Feb. 14. 410-547-7328 or ticketmaster.com. Still available Dar Williams -- Avalon Theatre in Easton on Feb. 8. 410-547-7328 or ticketmaster.

Just announced Aretha Franklin -- Meyerhoff Symphony Hall on March 20. 410-547-7328 or ticketmaster.com. Chris Rock -- Lyric Opera House on Feb. 9. Also, Wayne Newton is there Feb. 11, and Jill Scott is there Feb. 26. 410-547-7328 or ticketmaster.com. Dolly Parton -- George Mason University's Patriot Center in Fairfax, Va., on March 11. 410-547-7328 or ticketmaster.com. The Silver Beats -- The 9:30 Club in Washington on Jan. 11. 800-955-5566 or tickets.com. The Radiators -- Recher Theatre in Towson on Feb. 27. 410-547-7328 or ticketmaster.

LOS ANGELES -- From what mix of elements does a millennial pop star spring? Consider two imaginary home movies from the adolescence of Kelly Clarkson, blockbuster hit-maker and television Idol. In the first, Clarkson is in her house in Burleson, Texas. There's been a scene at the dinner table. She retreats to her bedroom, crawls onto her bed, puts on headphones and listens to a singer whose voice she describes as "your mother telling you a story." It's Reba McEntire. "Any time there were hard times at my house, for some reason Reba's voice always made me feel peaceful," remembered Clarkson, who recently fulfilled a dream by collaborating with the country music doyenne.

* Marion Williams, the pioneering gospel singer whose soaring, swooping style influenced such popular artists as Aretha Franklin and Little Richard, has died at the age of 66. Ms. Williams died Saturday of vascular disease at Albert Einstein Medical Institute. She had diabetes and was diagnosed with severe kidney problems in 1989. In 1993, Ms. Williams became the first singer to win a "genius" award from the MacArthur Foundation. The same year, she sang for President Clinton as a winner of the Kennedy Center Honors.

In the '60s, Aretha Franklin became known as the Queen of Soul, but these days, she might more accurately be described as an Empress. It isn't just that her gospel-schooled singing style has influenced a whole generation of singers, from Annie Lennox to Mary J. Blige; Franklin has also significantly expanded both her repertoire and her audience.Her current album, "A Rose Is Still a Rose," finds her applying that legendary voice to hip-hop rhythms, as if to prove that she can throw down as well as any of the current generation.