Aretha Franklin’s family moved to Buffalo, New York, when she was two years old.
Franklin was born in Memphis, Tennessee, in 1942. Her father, C. L. Franklin, was a prominent Baptist minister, and the family relocated to Buffalo when Aretha was two. They later moved to Detroit, where her father became pastor of New Bethel Baptist Church and where Franklin spent much of her childhood. Detroit became central to her musical development and public identity.
The Buffalo detail is sometimes overshadowed by the common description of Franklin as a Detroit native. She was raised largely in Detroit, but she was born in Memphis and spent an important early period in Buffalo. Her mother, Barbara Sigers Franklin, later returned to Buffalo after separating from C. L. Franklin; despite later claims that she had abandoned her children, Aretha recalled maintaining contact with her mother. Franklin’s childhood in a deeply musical and religious household helped shape the gospel foundations of her singing.