Aretha Franklin released her version of “Respect” in 1967. Atlantic Records issued it as a single on April 10, 1967, following its appearance on her breakthrough album I Never Loved a Man the Way I Love You.
The song was originally written and recorded by Otis Redding, who released his version in 1965. Franklin transformed it rather than simply reproducing it: she changed the lyrical perspective, reshaped the rhythm, added the emphatic “R-E-S-P-E-C-T” refrain, and helped create the arrangement with her sisters Erma and Carolyn. Her recording featured musicians associated with the Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section and a prominent saxophone part by King Curtis.
The release became Franklin's first number-one single on the Billboard Hot 100 and topped the magazine's R&B chart as well. Its forceful demand for dignity later made it an anthem associated with both the civil rights movement and feminism. A common mix-up is answering 1965, which is correct for Redding's original, not Franklin's celebrated cover.