Callers share memories of Aretha Franklin on Houston radio show

HOUSTON – AT MAGIC 102.1, callers shared their grief with radio hosts Kandi Eastman and AV about the passing of Aretha Franklin.

“I would like to extend my condolences to Aretha's family,” said one caller.

The radio hosts also shared memories about the legend.

“She was going to ride a bus to every show she went to,” AV said.

What followed was a clip of Aretha Franklin talking about her fear of flying.

"I had such a bad flight, a twin-engine flight, dipsy doodle, going up and down, all the way home from Atlanta and I said ‘Oh my God, when I get to Detroit that's it," Franklin said in a clip they shared with KPRC.

She was known as the Queen of Soul.

“When I think about Aretha Franklin, come on, like all the queen talk, it started with her,” said Sky Houston, a radio personality at Magic 102.1. “She was the first woman to be inducted into the Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame, what was it, 1987? She was the queen, when there were no titles before her.”

Franklin sang for three presidents, won 18 Grammys and sold more than 75 million records worldwide. She called Detroit home. That's where she met Frank Taylor, who was originally from Galveston. Taylor owned eight restaurants in Detroit.

“I had our Aretha Franklin's table - that was her personal table, she loved it,” Taylor said. “I did several events for Aretha -- her birthday parties and Christmas parties, you name it.”

Taylor came to know the singing great well. At every party Franklin held, Taylor said she would give her guests a gift. At one party, she gave her guests a gift that resembled the gray hat with a bow that she wore for President Barack Obama’s Inauguration.

“She had a cake made of that hat,” Taylor said. “She gave everyone a personal small cake with that hat. It was amazing. She was a really giving person.”

She was admired by her peers. R&B singer Macy Gray told Magic 102.1's Sky Houston on Wednesday that the word legend was for people like Franklin.

"I don't know anyone who can do what she does with her voice,” Gray said. “She's, like, the way you're supposed to sing."

With hits such as "Respect," she garnered the respect of a nation.

“What I really admired was watching her perform as she was at the piano,” said Bill Travis, the production director at Magic 102.1.

Franklin died of pancreatic cancer. It took its toll on the singer.

Taylor said he knew it was a bad sign when Franklin missed her own Christmas party last year.

“Everyone wanted to be at her party, including Aretha, because she knew it was going to be a great party,” he said.