Respect

Aretha Franklin recorded the track on February 14, 1967, at Atlantic Recording Studios in New York City. Jerry Wexler produced the session, with Tom Dowd engineering and Arif Mardin handling the arrangement; the Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section backed Franklin, who also played piano. Released as part of her Atlantic breakthrough, the track transformed Otis Redding’s song into a decisive statement of self-assertion. It became Franklin’s first Billboard Hot 100 No. 1 and quickly registered as a civil rights-era and feminist anthem. The track became Franklin’s signature song and one of the most recognizable records in American popular music. Its call-and-response hook and emphatic spelling became a lasting cultural reference point, and the recording continues to stand as a defining soul performance.