Aretha Franklin's rousing performance of Samuel F. Smith's "My Country 'Tis of Thee" in front of the Capitol Building in Washington, D.C. — celebrating the inauguration of Barack Obama as the 44th president of the United States — was an extraordinary moment (and she certainly was wearing an extraordinary hat). But it was also one of many, many milestones in her long and illustrious career. [MTV]
Soul singer Franklin, "the greatest voice since Billie Holiday," also sang at Martin Luther King's funeral in 1968.
