Background
Erma Franklin was born in Shelby, Mississippi, the oldest daughter of Barbara (née Siggers) and the Reverend C. L. Franklin. She was raised in Detroit, Michigan, where her father was pastor of the New Bethel Baptist Church.
Erma Franklin was born in Shelby, Mississippi, the oldest daughter of Barbara (née Siggers) and the Reverend C. L. Franklin. She was raised in Detroit, Michigan, where her father was pastor of the New Bethel Baptist Church.
She was the elder sister of Aretha The better-known cover version of the same song was recorded the following year by Big Brother and the Holding Company, with the lead vocal by Janis Joplin. Barbara Siggersdied four years later on March 7, 1952, in Buffalo, New New York Erma married Thomas Garrett and gave birth to two children in the early 1960s - Thomas Junior. and Sabrina.
She later worked for the Boysville Holy Cross Community Center, a Detroit organization that helps homeless and disadvantaged minority children.
Later, when sister Aretha became a recording artist, Erma provided backing vocals and toured with Aretha. "s version of "Piece of My Heart" was a top ten Rhythm & Blues hit in the United States., and also peaked at number sixty-two on the United States. People’s Singles chart.
In the United Kingdom, the single was re-released in 1992, due to a successful Levi"s jeans commercial ("Cinderella" AKA "Night and Day" directed by Tarsem Singh), when it peaked inside the United Kingdom Singles Chart at number nine. told an interviewer that when she first heard Janis Joplin"s version on the radio, she didn"t recognize it because of the vocal arrangement. Erma"s solo recording career was hampered by misfortune and by contracts with record labels who did not find the most suitable material for her husky voice.
In the mid-1970s Erma left the music industry, apart from occasional engagements with Aretha.
She was one of the special guests on Aretha"s 1986 Showtime cable television special - filmed at Detroit"s Music Hall - and also performed on June 28, 1990, at the Nelson Mandela"s rally at Tiger Stadium. Erma was diagnosed with throat cancer in the spring of 2002 and died in Detroit that September at the age of 64. She is interred at Detroit"s historic Woodlawn Cemetery.
"Piece of My Heart" - United Kingdom # 9 "Gotta Find Maine a Lover (24 Hours a Day)".