Aretha Franklinwas also singing the blues off stage.
The Queen of Soul, who rarely discussed her marriage troubles to first husband Ted White, previously shared only a few glimpses of the domestic abuse she suffered during the relationship.
Franklin and White, who was also her manager, married in 1961 when she was just 19 years old; but after seven years of marriage, they separated in 1968.
“It was not the first such incident. … I don’t think she’s happy. Somebody else is making her sing the blues,” Franklin’s friend and fellow gospel singer Mahalia Jackson toldTIME.
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Franklin’s fans presumed the lyrics from her 1967 classic “I Never Loved a Man the Way I Love You,” from the album of the same name, gave insight into her marriage to White.
“I don’t know why I let you do these things to me/ My friends keep telling me that you ain’t no good/ But oh, they don’t know that I’d leave you if I could/ I ain’t never loved a man the way that I love you,” she sang.
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Then in 1978, Franklin — who remained close to herlongtime love Willie Wilkersonuntil her death — wed her second husband,actor Glynn Turman. White stepped down as her manager following their divorce.
Franklindied Thursday morning of advance pancreatic cancer of the neuroendocrine type, her publicist confirmed to PEOPLE. She was 76.
“In one of the darkest moments of our lives, we are not able to find the appropriate words to express the pain in our heart. We have lost the matriarch and rock of our family. The love she had for her children, grandchildren, nieces, nephews, and cousins knew no bounds,” the music icon’s family said in a statement.
source: people.com
