Erma Franklin

( aka Erma Franklin-Garrett )
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  • Born Erma Vernice Franklin on 13 March 1938 in Mississippi, US.
  • She was born in Shelby, Mississippi, but moved several times during her childhood before settling in Detroit, Michigan.
  • Her mother Barbara (Erma's middle name, 'Vernice', was also her mother's middle name), who was a gospel singer, left the family when she, her two sisters, and her brother were young children.
  • Erma and her sisters, Aretha and Carolyn, sang at their father, Reverend C. L. Franklin's, Detroit-area Baptist church. Though Aretha went on to great fame, Carolyn, like Erma, was a struggling musician.
  • Their brother, Cecil, became a minister like their father and managed Aretha's career for a while.
  • In addition to Aretha, she was survived by her children, daughter, Sabrina Owens and son, Thomas Garrett Jr.
  • Died on 07 September 2002 in Michigan, US.

  • The song was covered in a different arrangement by Janis Joplin, Faith Hill, British soul singers Beverley Knight and Dusty Springfield; and used as the basis of a song by Shaggy. "
  • Her career was hampered by misfortune and by contracts with recording companies who could not find appropriate material for her.
  • In the 1970s she left the music business, apart from engagements with her sister Aretha. She died in 2002 after a long battle with throat cancer. She was 64.