Aretha Franklin is the Queen of Soul. She’s belted out some of the world’s most enduring R&B classics. She’s also had roughly twelve thousand hairstyles. Here, we look back on the music icon’s most unforgettable mane moments!
By the late ’60s, Franklin had gone from sweet, teenager-y bouffant wigs to a “Black is Beautiful” ’fro. Love the Afrocentric tunic.
For a 1968 promotional shot, Franklin rocks a tube top and a sleek, super-high topknot. This moment would look just as chic today, wouldn’t it?
Almost thirty years before Erykah Badu made the mile-high headwrap her “think,” Franklin rocked the look at a 1970 photoshoot.
Aretha is channeling her inner seductress here, sporting impressive cleavage, a thigh-high slit and a cluster of Billie Holiday-esque gardenias behind one ear. So elegant.
Aretha showed up to rehearsals for the 1975 Oscar ceremony wearing prim curls swept back away from her face.
At a performance in 1986, Franklin goes for all-out drama with a sky-high, curly pompadour, smokey eyes and serious sequins.
Franklin hit the red carpet at the 1990 Grammy Awards rocking a head full of soft, rippling waves.
At the 2008 VH1 Summer Of Soul Concert, Aretha went for an easy, casual look with these flippy, long layers.
