About this item
A frank examination of Aretha Franklin, Mark Bego's definitive biography traces her career accomplishments from her beginnings as a twelve-year-old member of a church choir in the early 1950s, to recording her first album at the age of fourteen and signing a major recording contract at eighteen, right up through untimely passing in 2018. Originally positioned to become a gospel star in her father's Detroit church, Aretha had a privileged urban upbringing; ;stars such as Mahalia Jackson, Dinah Washington, and Sam Cooke regularly visited her father, Rev. C. L. Franklin. It wasn't long before she was creating a string of hits, from "Respect" to "Freeway of Love"; and becoming one of the most beloved singers of the twentieth century. This New York Times bestselling author's detailed research includes in-person interviews with record producers Jerry Wexler, Clyde Otis, and Clive Davis, Aretha's first husband, several of her singing star contemporaries, and a rare one-on-one session with Aretha herself.
About the Author
Mark Bego is the author of 60 books on rock & roll and show business, including two "New York Times" Best Sellers, a "Los Angeles Times" Best Seller, and a "Chicago Tribune" Best Seller, three multi-million-sellers, and two half-million selling titles. His latest book is his first novel, "Murder at Motor City Records." Set in a world-famous Detroit record company, it seems that all of the stars on the label have a motive for wanting the company's president dead. It becomes detective Marcus Rusk's most fascinating case.
With over 10 million books in print, Mark is acknowledged as the best-selling biographer in the rock and pop music field. In 2010 he published his memoir about his career as an author, entitled "Paperback Writer." The following year Bego wrote the book "Where the Action Is!" with '50s rock legend Freddy Cannon. And, in 2012 he had a huge international sensation with the book "Whitney Houston! The Spectacular Rise and the Tragic Fall of the Woman Whose Voice Inspired a Generation," as well as an updated version of his book "Aretha Franklin: The Queen of Soul."
His show business biographies have included the life stories of some of the biggest stars of ROCK (Elton John, Elvis Presley, Michael Jackson, Madonna, Bonnie Raitt, The Doobie Brothers, Three Dog Night, Billy Joel) , SOUL (Aretha Franklin, The Supremes, Martha Reeves & The Vandellas, Tina Turner, Whitney Houston) , POP (Sonny & Cher, The Monkees, Sade, Barry Manilow) , and COUNTRY (George Strait, Patsy Cline, Alan Jackson, Vince Gill) . He has also written about film and television stars as well (Rock Hudson, Julia Roberts, Leonardo DiCaprio, Will Smith, Matt Damon, The Marx Brothers.
One of the most exciting books of Bego's career is his 2009 biography "Elton John: The Bitch is Back." The book was released in June of 2009 by Hannibal books of Austria. Published in the German language under the title "Elton John: Die Story," it has been heralded in the media as "the ultimate Elton John" biography by "Manner Magazine." In England and Australia it was published under the title "The Elton John Story" from JR Books in London. In addition it has been published in Denmark and in Russia as well.
Thanks to Hannibal Books, in 2009 Mark had a great year in German language bookstores. As he explains it, "Not only has Hannibal published my 'Elton John: Die Story,' they also published the German language reprint of my Tina Turner book, under the title 'Tina Turner: Die Biographie.' In addition, they also published a German language exclusive: 'Whitney Houston: Die Biographie.'" All three books are available internationally through German Amazon.com and they are also distributed to bookstores throughout Austria, Germany and Switzerland. The Whitney and
