Twenty-one iconic music venues across the U.S. are showing R-E-S-P-E-C-T to the late Aretha Franklin ahead of what would have been her 79th birthday on Thursday, March 25.
On the heels of the premiere of National Geographic’s Genius: Aretha, New York City’s Gramercy Theatre and Irving Plaza, Los Angeles’ Hollywood Palladium and The Wiltern and more venues announced their plans to honor the Queen of Soul with marquee takeovers during her birthday week.
To celebrate the news, National Geographic is making a donation to Crew Nation, the global relief fund launched by Live Nation and powered by nonprofit partner Music Forward Foundation that provides financial support for live music crews impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.
The other venues currently participating are Detroit’s The Aretha Franklin Amphitheatre and The Fillmore; Philadelphia’s The Met; Washington, D.C.’s Warner Theatre; Silver Spring, Maryland’s The Fillmore; Atlanta’s Tabernacle; Charlotte, North Carolina’s The Fillmore; Louisville, Kentucky’s Louisville Palace; New Orleans’ The Fillmore; Chicago’s Byline Bank Aragon Ballroom; Denver’s The Fillmore Auditorium; Indianapolis’ Old National Centre; Minneapolis’ Varsity Theater; Houston’s House of Blues; San Antonio’s The Aztec Theatre; San Diego’s The Observatory North Park; and San Francisco’s August Hall.
Genius: Aretha stars Cynthia Erivo as the “Chain of Fools” singer, who died at the age of 76 in August 2018. The first two episodes of the eight-part series premiered on Sunday, March 21, and two more episodes air each night until Wednesday, March 24. The anthology is also available to stream on Hulu.
