(July 17, 2003 - New York, N.Y.) Arista recording artist Aretha Franklin has zoomed to #10 on the Billboard Urban AC Monitor with "The Only Thing Missin'," the first single from SO DAMN HAPPY, her eagerly anticipated new album, it was announced today by Antonio "L.A." Reid, President and CEO, Arista Records. As "The Only Thing Missin'" enters its fourth week at radio, it is the #2 spin gainer, with a total audience in excess of 5.2 million and adds continuing to pile up from every market, a strong showing of support for Aretha's latest hit.

"The Only Thing Missin'" is the opening track on SO DAMN HAPPY, set to arrive in stores on September 16th. It is Aretha's 12th Arista album since 1980, and her first major new release since 1998's A Rose Is Still A Rose. That album featured the title tune hit single and its follow-up, "Here We Go Again," and generated nearly a dozen Grammy and NAACP Image Awards nominations in 1999. "The Only Thing Missin'" was produced by Troy Taylor, and co-written by Taylor with Gordon Chambers, Myiia Davis, and Rick Williams.

"The Only Thing Missin'" is one of many outstanding collaborations on SO DAMN HAPPY, which goes on to contain:

* "Holdin' On," produced by Troy Taylor, co-written by Taylor and special guest performer Mary J. Blige;
* "Wonderful," produced and co-written by Ron "Amen-Ra" Lawrence;
* "So Damn Happy," produced and written by Aretha Franklin;
* "Everybody's Somebody's Fool," produced and written by Jimmy Jam, Terry Lewis & Big Jim Wright for Flyte Time Productions;
* "You Are My Joy," produced and written by Aretha Franklin;
* "No Matter What," produced by Troy Taylor, co-written by Taylor and special guest performer Mary J. Blige;
* "Good News," produced and written by Norman West;
* "Ain't No Way," produced and written by Barry J. Eastmond and Gordon Chambers;
* "Falling Out Of Love," produced and co-written by Burt Bacharach;
* "You Are My Joy (Reprise) ," produced and written by Aretha Franklin

Aretha is performing "The Only Thing Missin'" as well as her other classic hits on her current tour, entitled "The Queen Is On... The 2003 Tour." Her performances are receiving rave reviews and as an added surprise, certain concerts will include at least one special guest duet performance with Aretha, with such names as Cissy Houston (in a rare reunion), Ronald Isley (Isley Brothers), Dennis Edwards (Temptations), and Ali "Ollie" Woodson (Temptations) already confirmed.
[This message was edited Sat Jul 19 0:42:38 PDT 2003 by Harlepolis]

Aretha is beyond compare. I can not wait for this album to be released. She needs to come back and claim her throne... (just like Patti)...

SynthiaRose said:

Ahh can't wait 4 LaBelle's release,,,you know that Prince is co-producing a couple in that CD don't you?

Do ya' thing Re Re!!!

Harlepolis said:

No, I didn't! I'm not surprised though; they have good chemistry.

I just heard Aretha's new single "The Only Thing Missin" on the radio and it's a cool song but...what happened to her voice?? She's not singing with the same power and intensity anymore.I was shocked.It sounds more like a weak falsetto.I thought maybe it was just me,but when I discussed this song with a friend of mine,she said the same thing! But like I said,it's a very good song.The most soulful thing she's done in years.

DavidEye said:

I think what you may be hearing is the fact that she's not singing live. Aretha (along with a host of other great singers) has a very strong voice and a lot of times, A&R reps, producers, record companies, and so forth make artists "lighten the blow" so to speak and not project their voices as loud as they would when singing live.

Elektra Records did the same thing with Karen Clark Sheard's last album, 2nd Chance. Everybody knows that with her being a member of the famed Clark Sisters, they used to do some serious sangin' but for radio airplay they had to have her sustain her voice during the recording sessions.

Judging from Re Re's live performances, she's still got it and more!!! It's just in the studio, I think she has to soften up a bit.