Aretha is the first true singer I revered, wore out needles & then cassettes singing to her records, I know each note each breath, she is the foundation of my identity as a singer an artist a woman and yes, a Detroiter, cuz she was everywhere, a genuine part of the landscape I grew up in. I sang her songs at open mic nights in Chicago when I lived there to study & sing blues and it's hilarious how wrong it was for me to sing her stuff onstage, but I loved her madly, I had to try. I lived blues (by 20 both my parents were dead & I was ravaged by childhood trauma & abuse) but I was always a rock n roll singer by nature. But the guts, to get up in clubs on the south side & sing Dr Feelgood, aiyiyi! that's how much courage she gave me - there was just no cowering with Aretha - she was pure strength, and singing her songs tapped me into my own power - her voice & vision & gusto truly saved me. A lot of folks don't know she wrote, arranged & produced a lot of her stuff, she's an INCREDIBLE songwriter & piano player, and her adherence to her vision is THE GOLD STANDARD. Men & media called her a bitch & rude & a diva in the worst way, but fuck that sexist, racist bs: she always was and always will be a musical genius, A SUPREME ARTIST, fully realized, a legitimate BOSS, a powerful civil rights activist, the OG badass genius woman I needed to lead me. She was my role model for how to be yourself completely, at a time when I desperately needed her. If you know me, you have to know that a lot of my fierceness comes directly from Aretha Franklin. There is no language to fully express her impact on my life. I will be singing for her tonight and always always always