Aretha Franklin is Awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom

Aretha Franklin is known the world over simply by her first name.

A global icon, she is the recipient of some of the highest honors accorded any single music artist, including the much-coveted Presidential Medal Of Freedom, a Kennedy Center Honor, American National Medal of the Arts Award and an unprecedented 18 Grammy Awards (including Best Female R&B Vocal Performance for eight consecutive years). Through musically brilliant albums - "Aretha Arrives," "Lady Soul," "Spirit In The Dark," "Young, Gifted & Black" and groundbreaking sets like "Live At Fillmore West" and the double platinum "Amazing Grace" (the first gospel album to achieve such status) - and constant hit singles (including "Until You Come Back To Me," "Something He Can Feel" and her own "Daydreaming," which has become the most covered song in her own catalog of stellar compositions), Aretha constantly broke industry sales records at the same time continuing to build the ever-faithful fan base she enjoys to this date.