Over Franklin’s career she won seventeen Grammys, had twenty Number 1 R&B hits, and the largest number of Top 40 singles of any female performer. She also spread her music outside the studio through performing at a number of special events. This included Bill Clinton’s pre-inaugural celebration (1993), the Kennedy Center Honors (2015), and President Barack Obama’s inauguration (2018).

Aretha Franklin holds up her trophy in one hand, and her shoes in the other, as she poses at the 1983 Annual American Music Awards.

(DMI/The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock)

Perhaps most impressive is Franklin’s music resiliency. When her career hit a lull in the 1980s she switched record labels from Atlantic to Arista and began working with executive Clive Davis. Davis reminded her music was ‘timeless,’ and reassured her she could create new hits in her 40s and beyond. The new collaboration launched her back into stardom with her 1982 single, “Jump to It,” and the 1985 album, “Who’s Zoomin’ Who?.” Part of the album included her final Number 1 R&B single, “Freeway of Love,” which introduced her to the MTV generation. Shortly after she began a successful formula of collaborating with younger artists like Elton John and Whitney Houston.

Throughout Franklin’s remarkable moments she took to the stage, and numerous red carpet events, in equally radiant garments. From sequined sweet-heart gowns to lavish floor-length fur coats, her presence at an event was never overlooked. In celebration of the recent film release Respect starring Jennifer Hudson as Franklin, scroll through to see some of her most stylish moments leading up to, and through, the ’90’s.

Singer Aretha Franklin holding her award in one hand and her shoes in another at the 1983 American Music Awards.

(DMI/The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock)

Lionel Richie (R) and Aretha Franklin (L) at the 1983 American Music Awards.

(DMI/The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock)

Aretha Franklin performing at Radio City Music Hall in New York, 1989.

(DMI/The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock)

Aretha Franklin performing at Radio City Music Hall in New York, 1989.

(DMI/The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock)

Aretha Franklin performing at Radio City Music Hall in New York, 1989.

(DMI/The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock)

Aretha Franklin performing at Radio City Music Hall in New York, 1989.

(DMI/The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock)

Singer Aretha Franklin and record executive Clive Davis at a party in New York, 1989.

(DMI/The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock)

Portrait of Aretha Franklin, 1989.

(DMI/The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock)

Singer Aretha Franklin and record executive Clive Davis at a party in New York, 1989.

(DMI/The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock)

Aretha Franklin holding her Legend Award at 32nd Annual Grammy Awards, 1990.

(DMI/The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock)

Aretha Franklin holding her Legend Award at 32nd Annual Grammy Awards, 1990.

(DMI/The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock)

Aretha Franklin with her Legend Award at the 32nd Annual Grammy Awards, 1990.

(DMI/The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock)

Aretha Franklin at the Night of 100 Stars, 1990.

(DMI/The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock)

Aretha Franklin with record executive Clive Davis at the Night of 100 Stars, 1990.

(DMI/The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock)

Aretha Franklin wearing a red lace dress while at an event with record executive Clive Davis, 1990.

(DMI/The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock)

Aretha Franklin wearing a red lace dress, 1990.

(DMI/The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock)

Aretha Franklin with a signed Harley-Davidson motorcycle at the New York Cafe opening, 1990.

(DMI/The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock)

Aretha Franklin at the Harley-Davidson New York Cafe opening, 1990.

(DMI/The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock)

Aretha Franklin walking with three dogs at a red carpet event, 1990.

(DMI/The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock)

Aretha Franklin holding a dog, 1990.

(DMI/The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock)

Willie Wilkerson (left) and Aretha Franklin (center left) with record executive Clive Davis (center right), 1992.

(DMI/The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock)

Aretha Franklin wearing a cheetah print jacket, 1992.

(DMI/The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock)

Aretha Franklin at the Essence Awards, April, 1993.

(DMI/The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock)

Aretha Franklin (L) and Lena Horne (R) at the Essence Awards, 1993.

(DMI/The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock)

Aretha Franklin at the Essence Awards, April, 1993.

(DMI/The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock)

Aretha Franklin (L) and Rod Stewart (L) rehearsing for a 1993 AIDS benefit concert.

(DMI/The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock)

Aretha Franklin during rehearsal for a 1993 AIDS benefit concert.

(DMI/The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock)

Aretha Franklin performing at a 1993 AIDS benefit concert.

(DMI/The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock)

Aretha Franklin at a 1993 AIDS benefit concert.

(DMI/The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock)

Aretha Franklin (center left) with Rod Stewart (L) at a 1993 AIS benefit concert.

(DMI/The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock)

Aretha Franklin at an event, 1995.

(DMI/The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock)

Artists Whitney Houston, Toni Braxton, and Aretha Franklin at an unidentified event, 1995.

(DMI/The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock)

Aretha Franklin with Guns N’ Roses member, Slash, at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame opening, 1995.

(DMI/The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock)

Aretha Franklin holding a camcorder at Rock and Roll Hall of Fame opening, 1995.

(DMI/The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock)

Singers Aretha Franklin and Al Green performing at the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, 1995.

(DMI/The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock)

Aretha Franklin at the opening of Trump tower, 1997.

(DMI/The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock)

Aretha Franklin at the opening of Trump tower, 1997.

(DMI/The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock)

Aretha Franklin at the opening of Trump tower, 1997.

(DMI/The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock)

Aretha Franklin at the opening of Trump tower, 1997.

(DMI/The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock)

Aretha Franklin at the 39th Annual Grammy Awards in 1997.

(DMI/The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock)

Aretha Franklin at the 39th Annual Grammy Awards in 1997.

(DMI/The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock)

Aretha Franklin at the Musicares tribute dinner in New York, 1998.

(DMI/The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock)

Singer Aretha Franklin performing at VH1 Divas Live, 1998.

(DMI/The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock)

(L-R) Mariah Carey and Aretha Franklin VH1 Divas Live concert at the Beacon Theater, 1998.

(DMI/The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock)

The post The ‘Queen of Soul’ in ’90’s Fashion appeared first on LIFE.

The world, it seems, will always be calling for Prince and for any new pictures of him.

In music’s never-ending search for authenticity and genius, few can match Prince’s talents as a musician or songwriter. As LIFE observed in 1992, his music “sprang from that fundamental basement playroom where all rock is gestated. He drew into a single voice the various sounds of James Brown, Jimi Hendrix and Funkadelic, which he pressed into the thunder of Purple Rain. Prince remembered two basic facts about rock: It’s dance music, and its signature emotion is longing, romantic yearning.”

LIFE combed through its archives of hundreds of candid Prince photos to give a closer look at the beloved Purple One. LIFE photographer Gjon Mili once wrote that the best portrait is when the subject is “free and easy…in the line of the body.” By that logic, it was impossible for Prince to take a bad picture.

This gallery was produced in partnership with Spotify as part of their year-long “Black History Is Happening Now” platform. Click here for curated playlists, videos, podcasts and more that celebrate Black achievements and culture beyond Black History Month.

Prince on tour for Purple Rain, 1985.

The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Prince plays guitar on his Purple Rain tour in Inglewood, California, February. 17, 1985

The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Prince, circa 1985

The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Prince playing guitar during his Purple Rain tour. Long Beach, California, March 10, 1985.

The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Prince during a Purple Rain tour performance in Los Angeles, March 1985

The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Prince, in a beaded cape, attends the 57th Annual Academy Awards in Los Angeles on March 25, 1985. He won an Oscar that year for Purple Rain

The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Prince out in Hollywood, California, January 12, 1986.

The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Prince during a pre-tour concert at the Wiltern Theatre, Los Angeles, May 30, 1986

The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Musician Prince and an unidentified girlfriend are attending “M Butterfly” on Broadway, September 23, 1988.

The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Prince on his Lovesexy tour in 1988.

The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Prince signs records on his Lovesexy tour, 1988.

The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Prince on stage under a banner that reads “No War,” circa 1988

The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

The post I See Your Picture Wherever I Go: Prince in the LIFE Archive appeared first on LIFE.

When LIFE photographer W. Eugene Smith photographed Frank Sinatra, Marian Anderson, Igor Stravinsky, Benny Goodman and others at the RCA and Columbia studios in 1951, he didn’t just shoot them making music. He also captured quiet moments of self-evaluation that are in themselves a key part of the creative process. Knowing that the public would be listening to and judging these recordings for years to come, “they listen with feelings of despair, approval or plain exhaustion to the playbacks of their own music,” LIFE explained.

What follow is is a rare and intimate look at these artists in their times of creation.

Liz Ronk edited this gallery for LIFE.com. Follow her on Twitter @lizabethronk.

Frank Sinatra and musicians in a studio during a recording session at CBS.

W. Eugene Smith The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Patrice Munsel, tea thermos handy, curled up and beat time to herself performing an aria from Fledermaus.

W. Eugene Smith The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Gregor Piatigorsky unhappily listened to a movement being played back.

W. Eugene Smith The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Rudolf Serkin, his hair bristling, listened with deep absorption to his Beethoven Emperor Concerto.

W. Eugene Smith The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Marian Anderson listened doubtfully to her Brahms Alto Rhapsody. But the orchestra applauded her performance.

W. Eugene Smith The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Eyes closed and their faces mask-like in deep reverie, Helen Traubel (left) and Herta Glaz (right) sat in recording booth with sound engineers listening to their duet from Tristan.

W. Eugene Smith The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

The face of genius is here preoccupied with the correct time—a necessity for a man of Igor Stravinsky’s precise schedules.

W. Eugene Smith The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Comedian Jimmy Durante and opera star Helen Traubel join in A Real Piano Player. Jimmy was serious during his duet with her.

W. Eugene Smith The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Composer Marc Blitzstein and conductor/composer Leonard Bernstein (right) studied the score of a Blitzstein work during a recording session.

W. Eugene Smith The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Conductor Leopold Stokowsky smoked a cigarette and listened during a recording session.

W. Eugene Smith The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Pearl Bailey in a CBS recording session.

W. Eugene Smith The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Conductor Artur Rodzinski seems dejected as he heard playback of Franck’s D-Minor Symphony, which he had just led. But when it ended he said, “Fine! I like it.”

W. Eugene Smith The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Jazz musician Mary Lou Williams, music in front of her, listened to playback of a recording she has just made.

W. Eugene Smith The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Clarinetist Benny Goodman smoked a cigarette while listening in a CBS recording session.

W. Eugene Smith The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Dorothy Kirsten, glamour girl of the Met, recorded Puccini arias after first removing all her rings and bracelets, which might jingle and spoil the recording.

W. Eugene Smith The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

An outtake from a 1951 LIFE photo essay on recording artists.

W. Eugene Smith The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Frank Sinatra and musicians in the studio during a recording session at CBS.

W. Eugene Smith The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Shirtsleeved Isaac Stern played a Tchaikovsky concerto with Alexander Hilsberg.

W. Eugene Smith The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Opera singer Eleanor Streber drank water during a CBS recording session.

W. Eugene Smith The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

The post Genius at Work: W. Eugene Smith with Sinatra, Stravinsky, and Other Masters appeared first on LIFE.

Joan Baez is an icon of folk music activism. 

From her performance at the landmark civil rights march from Selma to Montgomery in 1965 to her advocacy for migrant farm workers and gay rights to her denunciation of torture and the death penalty, Baez has championed human rights both on- and offstage. Like two of her major influences, Pete Seeger and Marian Anderson, Baez demonstrated how fame can be used as a platform for activism.

These portraits of Baez by LIFE photographer Ralph Crane were taken in 1962, when she was a mere 20 years old, near her home in Carmel, Calif. “Standing on the shore,” the description in LIFE read, “she evokes the same wistful intensity that goes into her rare but luminous recordings of sweet laments.” Some of them were sweet laments, to be sure, but half a century later it’s clear that her music has been so much more.

Liz Ronk, who edited this gallery, is the Photo Editor for LIFE.com. Follow her on Twitter at @LizabethRonk.

Joan Baez 1962

Ralph Crane The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Joan Baez 1962

Ralph Crane The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Joan Baez 1962

Ralph Crane The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Joan Baez 1962

Ralph Crane The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Joan Baez 1962

Ralph Crane The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Joan Baez 1962

Ralph Crane The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Joan Baez 1962

Ralph Crane The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

The post See Photos of a Young Joan Baez as She Began a Life of Music and Activism appeared first on LIFE.

Alvin Pleasant Carter was marked by a ring of fire—though not the one his niece June would later write a song about. His mother Mollie, eight months pregnant with him, stood next to a tree that got struck by lightning and touched her belly as electricity coursed through the ground. A.P. was born with a tremor that would later touch his singing voice with an unmistakably special quality.

The Carter family became a family when A.P. married Sara Dougherty, whom he fell in love with after hearing the sound of her voice as she played the autoharp. Sara’s cousin Maybelle later married A.P.’s brother Ezra, or “Eck,” and among them they had a brood of six, three children per couple.

A.P. was a masterful songwriter, carrying a yellow pad of paper wherever he went in case inspiration struck, which it often did. But his songs were a blend of original tunes and the melodies and lyrics he picked up in the Virginia mountains as he traveled from house to house selling fruit trees. Much of the country music canon originated from the Carters” transformation of traditional folk songs into popular recorded music, replete with simple yet poignant harmonies.

Sara was known for her deep lead voice, and Maybelle for the original style of guitar picking so influential it now bears the family’s name. When Maybelle’s young daughter Anita sang a song before producers one day about a “purdy liddle kitty cat” they were so impressed that they asked if there were more like her at home. And there were: her sisters Helen and June, the latter of whom would later marry Johnny Cash.

The photos Eric Schaal took of the family in 1941 were bumped by bigger news the week they were meant to run in LIFE: the bombing of Pearl Harbor. But the family’s legacy has endured, with generations of musicians citing them as a major influence. And not just country musicians, either. Jerry Garcia perhaps captured it best when he said, “Whenever I write a song, there’s a little piece of the Carter Family in there.”

Liz Ronk edited this gallery for LIFE.com. Follow her on Twitter at @LizabethRonk.

Considered the father of country music, A. P. Carter, singing and playing guitar as he sits at home.

Eric Schaal The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

The Carter sisters (L-R) Anita, June and Helen.

Eric Schaal The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

June Carter performing a hand stand in the living room of her family’s home.

Eric Schaal The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

June Carter performing a cart wheel in the living room of her family’s home.

Eric Schaal The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

June Carter performing a back bend in the living room of her family’s home.

Eric Schaal The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Portrait of the legendary Carter family (R-L) A. P. Carter, his sister-in-law Maybelle (playing guitar), her sister Sara (A.P.’s wife) playing autoharp and; Maybelle’s young daughters Helen, June and; Anita; singing together home.

Eric Schaal The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Carter Family, 1941

Eric Schaal The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

A. P. Carter singing w. wife Sara while she plays autoharp and sings with her sister Maybelle.

Eric Schaal The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Carter Family, 1941

Eric Schaal The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Hands of Sara Carter, playing the autoharp.

Eric Schaal The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Carter family (L-R) A.P., Ezra, Maybelle, Anita, June, Helen, Sara, Flo Millard (A.P. and Sara’s granddaughter), Gladys Carter Millard, Margaret Addington (Maybelle’s mother), and Joe.

Eric Schaal The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

The post Behind the Music of Country’s Founding Family appeared first on LIFE.

Turner died Wednesday, May 24, 2023 at age 83  at her home near Zurich, Switzerland. Here LIFE.com presents a handful of rare photos taken in 1970 by Gjon Mili. The exact date of the shoot? Unknown. The location? Probably Las Vegas. The show’s set list? Unknown. The identity of the guy gazing back at Mili’s camera in the last picture in this gallery? A mystery.

But one thing these pictures do manage to impart is confirmation that, when Tina Turner took the stage—no matter where that stage was, and no matter how large or how small the crowd might be—there was no simply no restraining her talent and soulfulness. 

Liz Ronk edited this gallery for LIFE.com.

Tina Turner, 1970.

Gjon Mili The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Tina Turner and band, 1970.

Gjon Mili The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Tina Turner, 1970.

Gjon Mili The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Tina Turner, 1970.

Gjon Mili The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Tina Turner, 1970.

Gjon Mili The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Tina Turner, 1970.

Gjon Mili The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Tina Turner, 1970.

Gjon Mili The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

The post Tina Turner: Unpublished Photos of the Queen of Rock ‘n’ Roll appeared first on LIFE.