Aretha Franklin & Smokey Robinson Duet on Soul Train, 1979

On August 16, 2018 Aretha Franklin died at the age of 76. In the following weeks many tributes and specials appeared, highlighting her stunning and untouchable body of work. And rightly so. But there have also been other tributes and specials throughout her illustrious career in which The Queen of Soul was featured front and centre. One of those specials happened on TV back in 1979.

At the time Aretha was in a bit of a commercial drought but the TV series Soul Train helped to turn that around in December of that year with their episode “Salute to Aretha Franklin”. In this video clip from that special Aretha appears with fellow superstar and close friend Smokey Robinson for a duet of Robinson’s song “Ooo Baby Baby”. The rendition is nothing short of stunning. Check it out for yourself,

You can listen to music from Aretha Franklin, Smokey Robinson and The Miracles and other artists from the 60s, 70s and 80s on Dusty Discs Radio.