Celine Dion will participate in the tribute concert at Aretha Franklin on Sunday night at CBS. The Quebec diva is part of an impressive line-up of artists who will repeat the great successes of the one who was nicknamed the queen of soul.
Recorded January 13 at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles, this show, entitled Aretha! A Grammy Celebration For The Queen of Soul, brings together more than a dozen singers of different generations, including Patti LaBelle, Alicia Keys, Janelle Monae, John Legend, HER and Alessia Cara.
“Lucky and honored”
Viewers will see Celine Dion take A Change is Gonna Come, a piece originally performed by Sam Cooke. According to the Associated Press, the Queen of Las Vegas received an ovation before even pushing a single note.
In an interview at Grammy.com at the end of the concert, Celine Dion said she was “extremely, extremely lucky and honored” to have been invited to participate in the celebrations. “I think that over the years, we all took a small share of her,” she said. She showed us all how to do things and no one else can repeat that. “
Memories of Aretha
Recall that Celine Dion has already shared the stage with Aretha Franklin. It was in 1998 on the occasion of the Divas Live concert of the VH1 network. The two divas were surrounded by Mariah Carey, Shania Twain, Gloria Estefan and Carole King to sing (You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman, but that’s just what they were looking at, largely because they multiplied the breathtaking vocal flights. They had also given an improvised gospel fight on Testimony at the end of the show.
“I’ll never forget this moment,” said Celine Dion at Grammy.com.
Aretha Franklin died in Detroit on August 16th. She was 76 years old and was battling pancreatic cancer diagnosed in 2010.