Celebrity BBW Spotlight: Aretha Franklin – Singer

Posted on May 9, 2011 by admin

Aretha Franklin

Aretha Franklin - Singer

Famous as “The Queen of Soul”, Aretha Franklin is also renowned for her jazz, rock, blues, pop, R&B and gospel, in addition to being a songwriter and pianist. The power and intensity of her voice exploded onto the music scene during the turbulent 1960s, at a time when female singers sang mostly about standing by their man, or waiting patiently for love to come their way. But there was Aretha telling her man to respect her and warning him about the consequences of his actions. This at a time when the civil rights and women’s liberation movements were spreading throughout the nation. “The Queen” became a symbol of power and self-confidence for millions of African-American girls and women. In 1968, she became the second African-American woman to appear on the cover of Time magazine.

A superstar by the late 60′s, by the mid-70′s Aretha suffered a number of personal and professional setbacks. However, her performance as the upset wife of band member Matt “Guitar” Murphy in the movie, “The Blues Brothers”, led to a new record contract and more Billboard hits throughout the 1980s. In 1987, she became the first female artist to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Franklin received the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 1994. In September 1999, she was awarded The National Medal of Arts by President Clinton. In 2005, she was awarded The Presidential Medal of Freedom. In 2008, Rolling Stone magazine ranked Franklin #1 on its list of The Greatest Singers of All Time, and the ninth greatest artist of all time. In 2009, she was the only featured singer at the presidential inauguration of Barack Obama. On May 23, 2010, Franklin received an Honorary Doctorate in Music from Yale University. 2011 marked her 50th anniversary in show business and to celebrate the occasion, Aretha has just released her 38th studio album, “Aretha: A Woman Falling Out of Love.”

Aretha Franklin has a total of 45 “Top 40″ hits on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. She has won 18 Grammy Awards during her long career and still holds the record for most Best Female R&B Vocal Performance awards, with eleven to her name.

Aretha is also famous for her unique plus size designer fashions, in which she proudly displays her big beautiful womanly curves. Her famous hat worn at Barack Obama’s 2009 presidential inauguration is now on display at the Smithsonian Museum in Washigton, D.C.

Aretha Franklin Sings “My Country, ’Tis of Thee” At Barack Obama’s Presidential Inauguration

Share
Posted in Celebrity BBW Entertainers | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Celebrity BBW Spotlight: Alexandra Beller Plus-Size Dancer

Posted on May 9, 2011 by admin

Alexandra Beller

Alexandra Beller - Dancer

Alexandra Beller made a place for queen-sized dancers on the concert stage. She holds a BFA in Dance from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, and a MFA in Dance from the University of Wisconsin at Milwaukee. Her unique work blends theater and movement with astute choices and intense performances. Beller is a powerful and voluptuous mover. When she dances, you’re bowled over because, while her anatomy leads you to expect an earth goddess – weighty and rooted – she’s quick, light, and buoyant, with a mercurial liquidity in her joints. Alexandra received an NCCI commission from Montclair State University to serve as adjunct faculty and guest choreographer in 2003/2004. Film work includes “Romance and Cigarettes” by John Turturro. She has modeled for fashion, feature and commercials and has appeared on the Ananda Lewis Show, The Oxygen network, E! Entertainment Television, and other shows. Alexandra is also a part time dance critic and writes dance reviews.

“It is always good to see an artist pushing at awkward, deeply felt realities, and Ms. Beller does so with a generous spirit…her choices are smart, including her fine dancers. They slide with aplomb between comic-pathetic exchanges and Ms. Beller’s full-bodied, voluptuous choreography.” – The New York Times

See Alexandra Beller Dance

“egg” is a solo work for Beller unearthing the turmoil, ecstasy, passion and ambivalence in the first year of motherhood. Confronting both personal and cultural expectations for women and mothers through humor, confession, and a construction of impossible tasks, egg reveals why we fail as mothers in the eyes of society and attempts to find love within the matrix of perfection. Celebrated dancer Alexandra Beller uses dance, text, mathematics, and raw eggs in her search for balance, humor, love and justification. The piece demands an answer to the unanswerable questions of both motherhood and the artistic life. A mine field of sound-producing equipment sets the stage for Bellers lush and evocative dancing around and between twelve dozen raw eggs. An eerie and three dimensional sound score by Robert Poss and vintage-inspired costume by Karen Young enrobe the artist in textured, shifting archetypes and images.

Share
Posted in Celebrity BBW Entertainers | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Welcome to Celebrity BBW

Posted on May 9, 2011 by admin

Featuring famous Big Beautiful Women from the worlds of entertainment, politics, fashion, science, sports, and more. This blog site frequently adds and spotlights BBWs, so bookmark this page and check back often.

Share
Posted in General | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment