Aretha Franklin’s will: Who are the soul singer's 4 children, Clarence, Edward, Ted and Kecalf?

Aretha Franklin died on August 16, 2018, at the age of 76. It was revealed that the soul singer had died from a malignant pancreatic neuroendocrine tumour. When Franklin died, it was first believed that she had left no will.

However, two separate hand-written wills were discovered in her home and named different children as the executives of her estate. As reported by Sky News, the note from 2010 named her third son, Ted White Jr as the executor while the one from 2014 had White’s name crossed out and listed her youngest son, Kecalf as the executor.

The dispute between two of Aretha’s sons went to trial to be settled. Sky News revealed that the jury, who only took half an hour to decide, ruled that the note from 2014 would be used as the official will. This means that Aretha’s youngest son should inherit the singer’s home, which was worth $1.1m (£850,000) when she died.

The money earned through royalties and copyright will be shared between all four of Aretha’s sons.

Aretha Franklin had four children during her life, who are they and what are they doing now?

Clarence Franklin, Aretha’s first son

Aretha gave birth to her first son on January 28, 1955, she was only 12 years old. Aretha has never confirmed the father of her first child, although, for quite some time, it was believed that the was Donald Birke, a boy she knew from her school. Clarence was named after Aretha’s father, Clarence LaVaughn 'C. L.' Franklin.

However, in one of the hand-written notes found, it named Edward Jordan - her second son’s father - as Clarence’s father. It was also revealed in the notes that Aretha had made ‘special provisions’ for her firstborn who reportedly has undisclosed special needs.

Clarence has led a quiet life and out of her four children, he is the one that has taken the least interest in the music industry. As reported by Smooth Radio, it is believed that Clarence wrote songs, some of which were recorded by his mother.

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Edward Franklin, Aretha’s second son

Aretha gave birth to her second son on August 31, 1957, she was 15 years old. The soul singer named her second son after his father, Edward Jordan.

Despite having children at such a young age, this didn’t stop Franklin from pursuing her music career. Her two sons were raised by her grandmother, Rachel andher sister Erma.

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Aretha never liked to discuss her first two pregnancies with interviewers and was very private about that part of her life.

Edward took after his mother and developed a career in music and also became a singer. He sang at Aretha’s funeral in 2018.

Ted White Jr, Aretha’s third son

Aretha gave birth to her third son in February 1964, she was 25 years old, the exact date of his birth is unknown. Ted Jr is from her first marriage to Teddy White.

Ted and Aretha married in 1961, she was 19 while he was 30 and had only been dating for a few weeks. The pair divorced in 1969.

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Ted Jr also pursued a career in music. On stage, he became known as Teddy Richards. He has released a number of albums and often performed on stage with his mother. He also performed as an opening act for Seal and INXS.

Kecalf Cunningham, Aretha’s fourth son

Aretha gave birth to her fourth son in April 1970, she was 28 years old, as with her third son, the exact date of his birth is unknown. Kecalf’s father was Aretha’s then-road manager, Ken Cunningham.

Kecalf’s name is an acronym of his father and mother’s full name (Ke - Ken Cunningham, alf Aretha Louise Franklin).

Kecalf also took an interest in the music industry and became a Christian rapper. Like Ted Jr, Kecalf performed with his mother. One of his most iconic performances was at the 2008 concert at Radio City Music Hall.

Sources used:

Sky News: ‘Aretha Franklin note that was found under her sofa is legal will, jury rules’

Radio Smooth: ‘How many children did Aretha Franklin have and where are they now?’

Wikipedia: ‘Aretha Franklin’

Wikipedia: ‘Ted White (manager)’