Aretha Franklin Mandela Day Concert July 18, 2009 050

[deanerdog1]

Speechless, and in Awe! National Treasure!

[radical11]

I should think that with Whitney and Mariah losing their voices at such young ages, we would learn to appreciate the power of this living legends voice. Even after years of smoking at 67, she STILL has more range than most of theses younger singers.

[determination9995757]

Bless you Aretha, for singing to us and for us, through out the World, for decades. Thank you for singing to us and for us up until this time. Bless you Aretha for singing so hard for so long, that now you almost have no singing voice left. Thank you for you gift of song when you were in your prime. A million times,  Thank You. I will always love you for your gift of perfect song throughout the years. I love you Aretha.

[suchaniceguy]

She never flew....stems from her laziness,actually stated in an interview" can't be bothered". The myth scared is old cake and all you chain of fools defending her fat honour, stop pretending you know her well... Her lardy ass don't give a damn. You ain't an expert on " ree" by the way, nobody is. Not one sensible insurance comp. Would be that crazy to let her fly , a cargo plane would be to small

[edgleb]

wow your really a MAD person

[suchaniceguy]

Comments like" she is still the queen " comes from an emotional one, not when in europe we only hear old songs like respect..as she is to lazy to travel..i say " give it a rest darlin,drop by on a Mac drive, while we put chain of fools on

[radical11]

@suchaniceguy will you please stop crying like a spoiled baby on this video. She doesn't fly anymore. Get over it!

[suchaniceguy]

Yea queen of churches chicken and diary queen

[radical11]

@suchaniceguy - YO MOMMA SUCKA!!!!

[suchaniceguy]

She has hardly got any breath, and here in Europe we are not happy with her for ignoring us.... Thanks mrs Franklin, we supported you and bought your records, don't bother now anymore when you seemed to have lost it( your voice)

[radical11]

Sorry you feel that way, but we still love her here in the us and can recognize that she has aged, but will not throw her away. She's still the queen!

[mrmusiquecritique]

You all can lie to yourselves if you want, but Aretha's voice is shallow, thin, without power and barely has even one octave range. She can not hold a note anymore, sings three words and she's out of breath. Just sad!!!

[TheQueenAretha]

@mrmusiquecritique No one has to lie about Aretha atl all, she still has alot of power, she still has her voice, it has aged but she is still amazing. Her voice is not thin she, she isn't out of breath here nor is she struggling to hold and support her notes. Like i said before Aretha still has it and she is the greatest.

[MrHunchyou]

go go go Queen of Soul

[MrHunchyou]

People doubt her, but she has more voice at 67 then whitney or mariah. they both have shown to have lost a lot at 40's. And patti how one note scream it.

[vaboyy06]

Amen!!!!

[andydiana]

wish Miss Franklin would come to the UK to perform

[tstrawter]

One word: ICON!

[ppym86]

I love Aretha Franklin's rendition of this song. Gotta give it up for Ahrens and Flaherty for writing "Make Them Hear You" (from the musical RAGTIME).

[isingjazz83]

yes...long live the queen

[angiebee1109]

Tore that place up!! lol... Long LIve The QUEEN!!!

[Legend09127]

How's that for soul? Yes she's still got it, and certainly left a lump in my throat with that rendition. Queen Aretha always bounces back. She's one hell of a woman, and still the best.

[Darkel1992]

i'm 16 and aretha to me is style, grace and beauty. i heard that first note and holy god i was touched.

[jerry0362]

Mother is coming back, they way we all know her. Long live the Queen

[Minjjordan]

I have watched this performance many times, and it still gives me chills. go queen!

[tirayi]

Queen turns 'em out yet again. Getting stronger and stronger.

When's she gonna start using a auto prompt and sittin on a stool? NEVER!!

She's dancing! WHY? Because she has ALLWAYS let the Lord guide her and move through her. She's never forgot to let God do his thing, she knows she is but the vessel, and thats why she can still achieve what we can only wonder at.

GLORY!!!!!!!!!!!!

BTW the quality of this clip is off the hook. You weren't messin with that camera!!! Thank you.

[paddeyOmalley]

her voice is gettin in better shape these days! Regal phrasings!

[yaskam]

"Aretha Franklin could be described as a larger-than-life figure and the Queen of Soul was certainly the biggest star of the night at a gala to mark Nelson Mandela's 91st birthday. Her performance stole the show at Radio City Music Hall in New York on Saturday night. Miss Franklin received a standing ovation before she even uttered a note.

Rapturous applause followed once the 67-year-old diva began to sing." The DailyMail

[yaskam]

"Huger than ever: Aretha, giant of soul music, steals the show at Mandela's tribute concert". The DailyMail

[ZebFAN00]

She lost her earings at one point.

[yaskam]

She is so IMPERIAL.

[12wizard11]

She is a treasure.

[faznout]

It looks like Aretha is also starting to try and carry out notes a lot longer to. It's almost like she's going back to her style of singing from when she was with Columbia Records back in the day. In the last 5 to 8 years it's been very rare to hear Aretha carry out a note of any kind for more than 3 seconds. But for any Aretha fans out there we all know how when she was with Columbia, she had a more harminizing sound carrying out notes longer and sweeter like she did in this performance.

[miketlow]

You know you have a point there..I did not think about that mainly because she has been putting a lot of feeling into what's she sings these days that I did not notice her holding her notes longer like on columbia records..This is why I have never counted her out like so many people have,she never ceases to amaze me!!

[jonahmoses]

This is an awesome lady...wow she hitting those high notes that she is known for !!!

[arethafan2006]

Stunning Performance

[faznout]

Is it me or is Aretha from the Mid to Late 90's starting to come back...I REALLY HOPE SO!! Aretha's still got it in her. I'm sure she could do the Holy Ghost dance a lot faster like she use to, but I guess she doesn't want to fall, especially with that kind of dress. But with the right MOVEABLE dress and maybe 50 pounds lighter she could really get down on stage. Maybe even do some back flips.

[miketlow]

LOL...Back flips??..The dress,definitely not a movable dress but she moved any way..I love the part when she puts her hand on her hip and shake her head!!...It is obvious she still loves to move people..The Queen will have church where ever!!Long live the Queen!!

[almightyfire1]

Ok now the visual is wayyyy better than the audio alone. A beautiful performance by her. She can handle smooth songs like this very well but, she cant do the hard gospel riffs she used to do,.

I give this an A-.

[radical11]

I cannot stop watching this with the volume as high as possible. I love it!!!

[ZebFAN00]

Absolutely stunning!  Aretha Franklin, the always reigning Queen of Soul!

[EmpressMahalia]

WONDERFUL! Thank you for posting!