Aretha Franklin will be honored as MusiCares Person of the Year on Feb. 8 in the run-up to this year's Grammy awards. Among those set to pay tribute: R&B stars John Legend and Robin Thicke, her current duet partner Fantasia, best new artist nominee Ledisi, gospel greats Shirley Caesar and BeBe & CeCe Winans, Backstage Pass fave Lil Mama, as well as Dan Aykroyd and Jim Belushi as The Blues Brothers.
Franklin will also perform at the event. When I talked to her in the fall, she told me how much she loved Thicke's hit "Lost Without You" and how she wanted to sing it with him, even though she was a little worried about him feeling like she was stepping on his signature song. Trust me, Miss Franklin, he'd be thrilled to sing it with you. And so would music fans everywhere.
This year, the MusiCares auction goes online on auctionnetwork.com with items that include a replica of a pink Cadillac from Franklin's "Freeway of Love" video, a saxophone signed by Bill Clinton, a private painting lesson from Tony Bennett, "Stairway to Heaven" sheet music signed by Robert Plant, Jimmy Page and John Paul Jones, and other items from John Lennon, Madonna, Bruce Springsteen and others. Proceeds go to the MusiCares Foundation.