10 Times Aretha Franklin Delivered Flawless Shade at Other Female Performers

You know what the world misses about Aretha Franklin apart from her glorious voice and super-diva presence? It is her ability to throw shade left, right and center and let every bish in business have a taste of it.

Queen Franklin, whose sarcastic wit and the absolute necessity to always ensure she was the only diva who people cared about when she entered a room, became an infamous trait of her personality, resulting into a vast number of parodies and memes.

Aretha’s shade have tickled us through multiple decades and while her subjects may have travelled in time from Diana Ross to Nicki Minaj, but her fierceness never changed.



Looking back at the late legendary singer’s sassy moments over the years, here are some of her biggest and most memorable shady moments, in which she was seen getting head-on with fellow female performers

1) Great Gowns, Beautiful Gowns

You know it was going to be salty, when Queen Franklin was asked to give her her opinion on today’s popular singers. And it was her opinions on Taylor Swift and Nicki Minaj, that caught the world’s attention and turned into a timeless meme.

 

2) Don’t touch me up top



Referring to the moment when Diana Ross touched Lil Kim’s half-exposed breasts at an award show, Aretha made it clear – her breasts were not to be toyed with. During her interview with Oprah, she humorously warned Diana to keep her hands off.

Watch from 13:26 in the video below:

3) Do you know that, how do you know that?

Talking about the long list of singing competitions on TV, Aretha first took a jibe stating she doesn’t quite see a ‘major singer judging a singer’ and questioned the interviewer’s sources, while commenting on the fee Mizz Mariah Carey was taking for her stint on American Idol.

Hear it for yourself:

 

4) You be stupid, I’m not gonna be stupid

Her interview was Wendy Williams was filled with classic gold shade and diva-licious moments, and one was when she assured Wendy that she wasn’t someone who was going to be stupid or gullible in a relationship.

In the same interview, she put Halle Berry under the bus for her dismissal to play Aretha Franklin in a biopic, stating she couldn’t sing. What followed, was a series of hilarious responses…

Watch the juicy bit here:

 

5) Ain’t Nobody Got Time To Shake Your Hand



When Franklin arrived to perform at the White House for the Obamas, she just happened to pass by fellow diva Patti LaBelle (who was standing on the passage in the audience, clapping for her) missing (or may be ignoring) LaBelle’s hand reaching out for a shake.

Yikes! Awkward.

 

6) Her clash with Luther Vandross

Aretha’s shades weren’t just limited to female performers.

Luther and Aretha collaborated a few times, but the vocalists didn’t quite hit it off that well, initially. Luther looked up to Aretha, but said that he didn’t find her as friendly as he expected her to be. Apparently the ‘Never Too Much’ singer also tried to ‘critique’ Aretha’s vocals in the studio, and she didn’t quite like it – obviously.

“There were a few sharp disagreements. Aretha doesn’t like her vocals critiqued – and understandably.” – he later stated.

And here’s what Aretha said on it:

“… Luther wanted to tell me how to sing when it was me whom he had learned much about how to sing. My point was simple: If he wanted to tell the artists how to sing, why didn’t he sing it himself?”

 

7) “Patti, we know you’re 54!”

Don’t lie about your age when you’re with Aretha Franklin.

Especially if you’re Patti LaBelle…

 

8) Singing Celine Dion’s Part During Their Collaborative Performance



This ‘face off’ took place during Aunt Ree’s live performance, headlining the 1998 VH1 Divas show, along with a long-string of some other major female performers. During their on-stage collaboration on Franklin’s classic, ‘Natural Woman’, Aretha wouldn’t stop singing other singer’s parts and she did the same during Celine’s lines, resulting into some pretty iconic vocal riffs – between the two.

 

9) Nobody else is “Queen” in Aunt Ree’s eyes, but her

Aretha was particularly not happy with Beyonce referring to her musical idol, Tina Turner as a ‘Queen’ while announcing her name at the Grammy awards for their duet performance. Aretha was so pissed that she even released a statement addressing how there must have been something wrong with Beyonce for using that title for someone else

“I am not sure of whose toes I may have stepped on or whose ego I may have bruised between the Grammy writers and Beyoncé, however, I dismissed it as a cheap shot for controversy.”

10) Her face-off with Whitney Houston

According to a book by Narada Michael Walden, Aretha went sassy on the late Whitney Houston, as well – during the 80’s. The duo got together in the studio to record their dance-hit ‘It Isn’t, It Wasn’t, It Ain’t Never Gonna Be’ with Walden, and Ms. Franklin wasn’t pleased with Ms. Houston naturally overpowering her on many parts with her powerful vocals.



She not only stayed extra hours in the studio to top that, but also went into an impromptu scatting and adlib session, which is also featured towards the end of the very sassy song. Whitney, obviously, gives in, to the queen.

 

Aretha’s shades weren’t just entertaining but were also a testament to her fierce attitude, which helped her fight for and retain her place in showbiz for these many years.

A diva’s got to do, what she’s got to do.