One Day University Lecture Series: Celebrating Soul Music

One Day University Lecture Series: Celebrating Soul Music

Celebrate the sounds of soul in this look at the most important moments and artists throughout its history.

To be a popular artist often means bending yourself into whatever form the public demands of you. Those contortions are often more elaborate for people of color, and even more difficult for women, especially black women. However, Aretha Franklin was unrivaled in her ability to bend that reality rather than bend to it. Most artists thrive for a season, then fade into legend; very few artists have influenced as broad a span of culture as she did.

Before Aretha ascended to the height of American musicianship—and remained there—other artists had claimed their places on that pinnacle. Learn about the music, the artists and the moments that led up to that one afternoon in 1966 in Muscle Shoals Alabama, when her direction — and the direction of popular music — was forever changed.

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