Aretha Franklin, New York City, 1960

After signing with Columbia Records in 1960, Aretha Franklin was weaving her gospel musical roots into a jazz-influenced pop-oriented sound inspired by artists like Sam Cooke and Dinah Washington. In August 1960, when Don Hunstein took this early photo of the future queen of soul, Aretha Franklin was 18 years old, her lifetime of hits still on the horizon.