Genius

Aretha travels to Muscle Shoals in 1967 to record her first album, while Little Re braves her first solo in C.L. Franklin's church in 1953.

Struggling to find her sound, Aretha meets Jerry Wexler in 1964. Little Re goes on her first gospel tour in 1954, led by her father, C.L. Franklin.

Aretha juggles her music career and her commitment to the civil rights movement in 1967 and 1968, led by Martin Luther King Jr.

Aretha is featured on the cover of Time Magazine in 1968. Barbara and young C.L. Franklin struggle to establish themselves in Memphis in 1941.

Aretha Franklin records her protest album "Young, Gifted and Black,," in 1970. Meanwhile, Little Re loses her mother in 1952.

Aretha records her bestselling gospel album “Amazing Grace” in 1972, while Little Re discovers that she’s pregnant with her second child in 1956.

Aretha struggles to stay relevant as she enters the age of disco. She meets Arista founder Clive Davis and parts ways with Jerry Wexler.

Despite significant emotional losses, including a second divorce and death of her father in 1984, Aretha pushes herself artistically and triumphs.