When soul icon Aretha Franklin died in 2018, she left behind not only a mammoth catalog of hits, but four children. Between 1955 and 1970, Franklin had sons Clarence, Edward, Teddy, and Kecalf, all of whom ultimately followed their mother into the music world in various forms.
Franklin’s story is coming back into the public focus with a pair of projects—the Cynthia Erivo-led Genius: Aretha, which is streaming on Hulu, and the Jennifer Hudson-fronted biopic RESPECT, out on August 13.
According to Genius: Aretha showrunner Suzan-Lori Parks in an interview with Oprah Daily, part of the desired takeaway from the Nat Geo series is for viewers to be inspired by how Franklin weathered difficult situations in her life.
“A lot of times as an African American woman, I feel in my struggles that I’m alone,” she said. “Just to know that there was another sister out there who went through some similar difficulties and persevered and she was tenacious.”
With Aretha buzz in the air, here's what you should know about the lives of her children.
She had four sons over the course of her life.
Franklin gave birth to four boys—Clarence Franklin, aged 66, Edward Franklin, 64, Teddy Richards, 57, and Kefcalf Cunningham, 51. Teddy was the child of her first husband and one-time manager, Ted White. Kecalf’s father was also another former manager of Franklin’s, Ken Cunningham.
Later in life, it was announced that Franklin intended to marry longtime friend Willie Wilkerson. The pair was engaged but called off a wedding in 2012. Wilkerson died of complications from COVID-19 in April 2020.
Franklin had her first child at 12 years old.
According David Ritz's 2015 book Respect: The Life of Aretha Franklin, she gave birth to her first child in 1955, just prior to turning 13. Her son Clarence was named after Franklin’s father, a successful minister who usually went by C.L.
Back Bay Books Respect: The Life of Aretha Franklin
Back Bay Books Respect: The Life of Aretha Franklin
Citing another Franklin biography, Ritz wrote that Franklin’s pregnancy was “non-eventful” and that despite her young age, Aretha’s father and extended family in Detroit were supportive. At the time, it was widely believed that the father of her child was a classmate named Donald Burk.
“Aretha went right back to school after having Clarence,” said her older sister, Erma— a Grammy nominated singer who passed away in 2002—according Ritz's book. “She was an excellent student who did well in all her classes. After school, she’d fly over to the Arcadia, our local roller-skating rink. The Arcadia is where she first ran into Donald Burk. Aretha could skate up a storm.”
Erma also explained that, despite giving birth young, their parents did not see that as a reason for them to stop pursuing their professional dreams.
“It was understood that our babies would be welcomed into the world and cared for with limitless love. It was also understood that our future as women—our education and our career—would not be compromised because of these early births,” she said. “Daddy recognized our ambition as a psychological force we had inherited from him. He did everything in his power to encourage that ambition. He did not see his daughters as housewives. He saw us as stars, and that’s how we saw ourselves.”
Aretha was private about her personal life, but new info came out in the form of a handwritten will.
According to NBC News, after the singer’s death, her family reportedly uncovered “three handwritten wills” in her home. Prior to that, it was believed that Franklin left no will when she passed in August 2018.
Included in one of those documents was the revelation that the father of Franklin’s son Clarence was apparently Edward Jordan Sr., and not Burke as was previously believed. That would make Clarence one of two children that Franklin and Jordan had, along with another son named Edward.
What was written suggested that he was completely absent from Clarence’s life.
“His father, Edward Jordan Sr., should never receive or handle any money or property belonging to Clarence or that Clarence receives as he has never made any contribution to his welfare, future or past, monetarily, material, spiritual, etc,” she wrote.
Per Ritz’s book, Franklin gave birth to her second child, Eddie, at age 14, and never spoke much about the child’s namesake. It was after having Eddie that Franklin left school and began to fully pursue music, and she signed a record deal with Columbia in 1960. Her debut studio album, Aretha: With The Ray Bryant Combo was released the next year.
Aretha’s children have followed in their mother’s career footsteps.
A love of music clearly ran in the Franklin family. Per a 2019 piece from The New York Times, her son Teddy played guitar at Aretha’s live shows for 25 years, while Edward sang gospel music, and her eldest, Clarence, reportedly has made music as well.
Franklin’s other son, Kecalf, aspired to be a Christian rapper. There’s not much record of his music, but a 2008 New York Times review indicates that he once performed with Aretha at Radio City Music Hall.
Teddy Richards is likely the most prolific and successful musician in the family. He’s an accomplished guitarist who has performed with Nellie Furtado, Joe Cocker, and Al Green, and has released several solo albums, including 2006’s Gravity. He is currently based in southwest Florida, and at work on a new record, titled Solitaire.
"I've evolved from a self-taught guitarist into a producer, engineer and accomplished tunesmith; I truly love music and enjoy the journey that it's taken me on," Richards wrote in his bio.
According to Luther Vandross in Respect, Franklin insisted that they record Clarence’s music and have Teddy play guitar during a 1982 session for Get it Right.
When Aretha passed, Edward sang Marvin Gaye's "Mercy Mercy Me" as a musical tribute to her.
Music written or performed by Clarence Franklin is difficult to find record of today.
Franklin reportedly had her children in her hometown of Detroit.
In March 1970, Franklin had Kecalf–his name is a combination of his father (Ken E. Cunningham) and mother’s initials (Aretha L. Franklin). According to Erma, she gave birth back in Michigan, and often leaned on her extended family to help care for the children while she dealt with the demanding schedule of a superstar singer.
“Aretha always went home to Detroit to have her children. She left her New York penthouse and all that glamour for the comfort of her father and grandmother and all her family,” Erma said. “She dearly loves her children...but we were part of that generation of young female singers who definitely sacrificed time with our kids to attend to our careers. We did so knowingly.”
Kecalf has been critical of the upcoming works about his mother.
Cunningham has spoken out against not only the Genius series, but also the biopic Respect, which stars Jennifer Hudson as Aretha.
“ONCE AGAIN….. THE FRANKLIN FAMILY (DOES NOT) SUPPORT THE MOVIE THAT IS IN PRODUCTION!!!!!” the New York Daily News said he wrote on Facebook. “NOR DO WE SUPPORT THE BOOK ‘THE QUEEN NEXT DOOR’!!!!! NEITHER ENTITY FELT THE NEED TO CONTACT THE (CORE) FAMILY ABOUT ANYTHING!!!!”
As reported by the Detroit Free Press, Cunningham also voiced his displeasure with the NatGeo show. “If you are a true fan please do not support it!!!” he wrote.
Per the Free Press, series writer Parks responded to Cunningham’s comments.
“As the showrunner of Genius: Aretha, I can tell you that every single day (and twice on Sunday!)—through COVID, social unrest, and every other challenge we faced—our intention was to respect Ms. Franklin in every aspect of our show and in every decision we made," she wrote.
According to the Daily News, Cunningham also took exception to The Queen Next Door: Aretha Franklin, An Intimate Portrait, a 2019 biography from her photographer Linda Solomon. He criticized her for apparently not talking enough to Franklin’s family and allegedly not asking for permission to use family photographs.
Kecalf has also worked to highlight his mother's history of activism. In 2018, he appeared in a YouTube video from the National Civil Rights Museum Freedom Awards with his children Victorie and Jordan Franklin and spoke about her efforts.
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Grant Rindner is a culture and music journalist in New York. He has written for Billboard, Complex, and i-D, among other outlets.
