As the world continues to deal with the shock of Aretha Franklin’s passing from cancer at age 76, we’re taking a minute to focus on her children, whom she loved dearly. Unbeknownst to many, the Queen of Soul has four sons and as the world mourns the loss of a music icon, Ted, Kecalf, Clarence, and Edward are mourning their beloved mother. Below are a few facts we’ve learned about them.
Clarence Franklin
https://youtu.be/pogv5IDVH_8
When Clarence Franklin was born in 1955, there was quite a bit of controversy surrounding his birth, due to Aretha’s age at that time. She became pregnant with Clarence when she was 12 years old and he was born on January 28, 1955. Aretha named him after her father, Clarence Franklin a.k.a. CL Franklin, which also led to rumors that her dad was the father of Clarence, but the actual father is a guy she went to school with back in the day, named Donald Burk.
Even though the Queen had her baby when she was literally just a child herself, she did her best to raise him and he’s seemingly grateful to her for that.
Edward Jordan
Two years after the birth of her first baby, Aretha gave birth to her second son, Edward Franklin, when she was 14 years old, on January 22, 1957. His father’s name is Edward Jordan, but much like the father of Aretha’s first born, not many details have been discovered about Jordan as well.
Edward Jr. performed with his mother many times throughout his career. He’s never pursued a solo music career of his own, but Aretha had Edward record a song with her for her Christmas album years ago and it was a beautiful moment for them both. See footage of that in the above below:
In 2015, Edward sang a tribute song in honor of his grandfather,Rev. C.L. Franklin, by performing Aretha’s favorite song, “His Eye Is On The Sparrow.” According to reports, Edward’s tribute was so beautiful that Aretha had him sang background vocals for it when she recorded it for her album, “A Woman Falling In Love.”
