The queen of soul died last week, but her reach and legacy in American music live on. Aretha Louise Franklin passed away from pancreatic cancer on Aug. 16 at the age of 76. During her career, she released 42 studio albums, won 18 Grammy awards and sold more than 75 million records.

Her sound and versatility were unmatched by any artist, in the minds of many people. In a 2016 profile of the singer in The New Yorker, David Remnick wrote, “What distinguishes her is not merely the breadth of her catalogue or the cataract force of her vocal instrument; it’s her musical intelligence, her way of singing behind the beat, of spraying a wash of notes over a single word or syllable, of constructing, moment by moment, the emotional power of a three-minute song.”

Besides listening to recordings of Franklin, one can hear her influence in the music of others including Alicia Keys, Adele, Luther Vandross, Tina Turner and Mariah Carey — just a handful of those who sampled her music and looked to her as inspiration.

UDaily spoke with David Suisman, an associate professor in the University of Delaware’s Department of History, who studies different forms of cultural and economic power. He focused on these themes within the music industry in his first book, Selling Sounds: The Commercial Revolution in American Music.

UDaily asked Suisman to reflect on Franklin’s musical style, the impact of her songs and her place in American history, musical or otherwise.

Q: What is Aretha Franklin’s legacy in American history?

Suisman: Aretha Franklin was one of the most important entertainment/popular music singers and musicians in American history. She was so successful in so many different veins. She was such a versatile artist and as a personal figure, she embodied so much of the grace and dignity of artistic triumphs that her music reflected as well. So thinking about her legacy, she is somebody who influenced a lot of other artists of her own generation and younger artists. Nobody can become a great popular music singer — especially a popular music diva with great vocal chops — without comparison to Aretha Franklin. She really set the standards for singing in American popular music.

Q: So how would you define or describe her style of music?

Suisman: You can’t talk about Aretha’s style without thinking about gospel music and her roots in the church. Her father was an extremely well known and very popular Baptist minister who had a radio broadcast heard over large parts of the country. Her mother was a gospel singer and pianist. So, she grew up in this context in which she really learned the emotive and artistic idioms of gospel singing and brought that to popular music in a way that very few others had done.

Q: Can you talk about her rise and influence in the 1960s when she released some of her first albums?

Suisman: Despite this very strong influence of gospel, she made a break from it in her professional career early on. Her very first professional recordings were gospel, but she set out to become a professional singer when she signed with Columbia Records. She was signed there by the producer John Hammond, and his vision for her was to excel in jazz standards. There’s some blues sounds in there and R&B, but they’re relatively controlled and more restrained than her later recordings would become. In 1966 when she signed with Atlantic records, she really opened up as a popular music singer across R&B, soul and pop.

Q: Can you talk about the significance of her song “Respect” and others from that time, particularly as they became emblematic of big moments in history like the civil rights and feminist movements?

Suisman: “Respect” is a song that really clicked with a lot of audiences. It clicked with the civil rights movement, it clicked with black power advocates to some extent, it clicked with the feminist movement and it clicked to a large extent with members of the counterculture — in part because it was such a great song and in part because of the message of the song. I think it’s also notable because it reflects her musical imagination and genius because she completely reimagined this song, first sung by Otis Redding. You can listen to them side by side and recognize that they’re the same song, but also recognize the huge leap she made in the arrangement and in the vocal delivery. To say that it became her song is really an understatement. The New York Times story on her death began with an extensive discussion of that song. It embodies her artistry and her pop sensibilities extremely well, perhaps better than any other period of her career.

Q: Why do you think it really resonated with these groups at that time and why did they find it empowering?

Suisman: There’s something happening powerfully when people not only heard those songs, but also sang along with them. They really become tools of empowerment as well as commands. I think the message of “Respect” and the message of another song, “Think,” really bring people into them in the process of listening and singing along.

Q: Alongside “Respect” what other songs do you believe had a similar impact?

Suisman: I would say twined with “Respect” is the song “Think” which has similar pop characteristics. It just really demands — I don’t know how to say it without using the word respect — but it demands respect. It’s a song about not backing down; it’s a song about self-respect. “I Never Loved A Man (The Way I Love You)” is another one of her signature songs which she did not write, but which has associated with it some of her best vocalization. Then there are songs like “Amazing Grace” and her other gospel records that are so powerful. And then there are other songs, which I think speak to her open mindedness and even the fun that she had as a vocalist. A little-known cover of hers from the ‘80s was a version of the Rolling Stones’ “Jumpin’ Jack Flash” she did with Keith Richards. It’s not artistically one of her greatest moments, but I think it’s a song that really reflects the sense of fun that she could bring to her career in popular music. She took herself seriously, but not too seriously.

Q: You mentioned Aretha Franklin’s music has inspired others. Can you highlight a few and reflect on that influence for current artists?

Suisman: You know it’s a great question, but it’s also one that’s hard to answer because I think it’s hard to estimate the extent of her influence. For anybody who has serious vocal chops, anybody who wants to seriously get inside a song and soar in it to find its limits and see where it can go, Aretha’s the go-to standard. She’s the person that you listen to and think it’s amazing that a person can sing like that.

Q: Are there songs by other artists that you feel really spoke to a movement or a period of time in history?

Suisman: Yeah, I think a song like James Brown’s “I’m Black and I’m Proud” was a tremendously important song, but it in some ways does not age as well. That’s not to say “I’m Black and I’m Proud” is not relevant today, but you don’t hear it in the same ways. Also take for example anti-war songs from the time period — “Fortunate Son” by Creedence Clearwater Revival or “Ohio” by Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young or “We Gotta Get Out of This Place” by the Animals, which was embraced as an anti-war song. They tend to evoke the ‘60s and a particular set of political relationships. There’s something about Aretha’s signature songs that make them relevant to lots of different contexts.

Q: What is one of your favorite Aretha Franklin songs and why?

Suisman: “The House that Jack Built” is again one of those songs that demands respect. It really asserts dignity of the singer and it’s just a great very, very tight pop song. It's got this great arrangement. It’s not a song that I care about for the lyrics, I just think the way that it’s crafted is so striking. It’s a well known song of hers, but not as well known as “Respect” or something like that, so you don’t hear it quite as often. But I’d like to point out the testament to songs like “Think” and “Respect” that even though they are very familiar they still have a great impact. Many, many, many pop songs that are widely heard lose their impact after repeated listening. What can I say, I think they still pack a tremendous punch and the message has not been diminished through the years.

Q: Do you think there are any artists today that may be on their way to a similar trajectory?

Suisman: I can’t think of anybody who embodies the artistry and versatility that Aretha did and did in such a pioneering way. There are some great singers today — some in part because of her influence — but I don’t think that any of them combine that artistry and versatility in the way that she did. Sorry.

Q: It’s interesting you say that. I think sometimes there’s a belief that there will be no ‘greats’ from this generation. What are your thoughts on that idea?

Suisman: Every generation has its musicians that are really important to it. And they may be important in different ways. I’m really a firm believer that people grow up with different kinds of music and every generation makes important meaning out of the music that’s available to them. Sometimes they draw on older music, but there are still contemporary musicians that remain important for people’s formation and people’s outlook. I mean one of the big differences if you grew up in America anytime since the 1960s is the ‘60s has cast a very long shadow over American popular music. So if you grow up listening to whoever you’re listening to today, you’re also probably listening to a fair amount of Aretha Franklin and The Beatles. People who grew up in the 1960s were not listening very much to music of the 1920s for example. They did not have the same kind of historically deep listening habits that we take for granted today. They didn’t have oldie stations, that they listened to either voluntarily or involuntarily.

Q: Anything else you’d like to add?

Suisman: Yeah, a couple of other things. One is that she’s also a great piano player and I think that gets lost in the accolades. There was a great concert in Amsterdam during her 1968 European tour and there’s an interview beforehand where she’s a little nervous, but she comes out and she absolutely kills it. There are some moments in there where you really appreciate her piano playing as well. She also was notable, I think, for her ability to move in and out of the gospel world. Lastly, I don’t think there’s enough appreciation for her development too. This is sort of a separate point, but the musicality of her family — growing up with not only musical parents, but also siblings — had an impact. Her sister Carolyn was one of her backup singers. Her sister Erma became a singer in her own right. So that musical environment was so powerful and I think it also exposed her to a lot of different kinds of music.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.