What was the last studio album released by Aretha Franklin during her lifetime?

Aretha Franklin Sings the Great Diva Classics was the last studio album released during Aretha Franklin’s lifetime. RCA Records issued the album on October 17, 2014, four years before Franklin died in 2018.

The album is primarily a collection of covers associated with prominent female singers. Franklin reinterprets songs connected with artists including Etta James, Gladys Knight, Alicia Keys, and Destiny’s Child. Its lead single, “Rolling in the Deep (The Aretha Version),” transformed Adele’s hit with Franklin’s commanding vocal style and an interpolation of “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough.”

The record marked a reunion with Clive Davis, Franklin’s former Arista Records executive. It was her first studio album released by a major label in 11 years, following 2003’s So Damn Happy, and her first album since 1998 to be executive-produced by Davis.

A later release, A Brand New Me, appeared in 2017 but used vintage Franklin vocals from the 1960s and 1970s with new orchestral arrangements. It is therefore not her final album of newly recorded studio performances.