The most moving part of last night’s Kennedy Center Honors broadcast on CBS was when Aretha Franklin paid tribute to Carole King by performing “You Make Me Feel Like A Natural Woman,” which the latter wrote for the former in 1967. King seemed thrilled and shocked by Franklin’s appearance, particularly when she sat down to play the piano, and the rest of the crowd enjoyed the hell out of it, too.
The woman introducing Franklin is Chelina Kennedy, now playing King in the Broadway bio-musical “Beautiful.” I saw her in that role a few months ago, and she’s spectacular, as is the entire show. In fact, I’m going to take my wife to see it again in February at The Fabulous Fox here in St. Louis.
By the way, King and Franklin are both 73 and still sound great.