Respect (Aretha Franklin recording)

"Respect" is a song recorded by American singer Aretha Franklin. It is a cover of a song originally written and recorded by Otis Redding, and which Franklin rearranged and reshaped to give the perspective of a woman as opposed to Redding's male perspective. The music in the two versions is significantly different, while a few changes in the lyrics resulted in different narratives around the theme of human dignity that have been interpreted as commentaries on gender roles, relationships and "respect". Franklin's rendition of the song was released on April 10, 1967, by Atlantic Records as the second single from her breakthrough debut Atlantic album I Never Loved a Man the Way I Love You.

Upon its release, the song became an immediate hit, reaching number one on the Billboard Hot 100, where it stayed for two weeks and won Franklin two Grammy Awards at the 1968 ceremony, including the first of eight consecutive Grammys for Best Female R&B Vocal Performance.

The song has since been held as a protest anthem, thanks to its connections to both the civil rights movement of the 1960s and the second-wave feminist movement of the 1970s. It has since been heralded as Franklin's signature song despite her celebrated career of hit singles spanning thirty years. In 1998, Franklin re-recorded the tune for addition to the film and soundtrack to Blues Brothers 2000. It is also the title of Franklin's estate-approved biopic, released in 2021 and starring Jennifer Hudson, who portrayed Franklin.

Considered one of the best R&B songs of its era, the song has made several best-of lists, including being ranked the greatest song of all time by Rolling Stone in 2021 and again in 2024, and the fourth greatest "protest song" of all time by the same publication in 2025. It was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1987 and the Library of Congress' National Recording Registry in 2002. It was also included in the list of "Songs of the Century", by the Recording Industry of America and the National Endowment for the Arts.