Legendary soul singer Aretha Franklin’s long and storied career made her one of the most prominent performers in the music industry and allowed her to develop relationships with some of the most important and influential people in the country, especially those within the Black community. Franklin’s influence and connections also apparently landed her on the radar of the FBI, who secretly tracked her moves and relationships as part of their process of monitoring and harassing Black leaders and prominent individuals during and after the Civil Rights Movement. Thanks to a request made by journalist Jenn Dize through the Freedom of Information Act, we now know the shocking details of the federal surveillance against Franklin.

Here are five of the most shocking things to be revealed through the formerly secret FBI files on Aretha Franklin.

Franklin was even more involved in the fight for Black freedom than we realized

It is well known that Franklin was a great supporter of the Civil Rights Movement and leaders such as Martin Luther King, Jr. and the FBI kept tabs on Franklin’s appearances such as the South Christian Leadership Conference banquet held by King. The agency even monitored Franklin and other entertainers initially scheduled to perform at King’s funeral, marking some of these performers as having “supported militant Black power concept and most have been in forefront of various civil rights movements.”

The FBI files reveal the depth of her involvement with various Black leaders, organizations and movements. Although Franklin’s support for Angela Davis has been mentioned in previous reports, the FBI documents note in greater detail Franklin raised money for Davis, leading the FBI to label Franklin as someone who was associated with “Black extremists.”

Another document recounts a moment in 1971 when Black Panther Party leader Bobby Seale attempted to book Franklin and other entertainers as part of a food drive being conducted by the organization for Los Angeles children. This was an activity that the FBI seemed to think was worthy of its attention — the memo detailing this was labeled Extremist Matter. The files also attempt to link Franklin to the militant Black Liberation Army, though the FBI fails to establish a connection between the singer and the group.

The FBI looked deep into Franklin's business

The file released by the FBI is 270 pages long and spans a wide variety of topics relating to the singer. One document, from 1971, included both contact information for Franklin and details of her Atlantic Records music contract. Dize hypothesizes that the FBI kept this information, seemingly unrelated to any political activities, “just in case.”

The FBI was watching Franklin for a long time

Beyond the fact that Franklin would be watched by the FBI at all, one of the most shocking things about the newly-released files is just how long Franklin was under FBI surveillance. While many of the documents were created in the 1960s, the files show that Franklin continued to be closely tracked throughout the 1970s and even into the 1980s.

The file even contains documents from the early 2000s, though these mainly revolve around an investigation over the sale of bootleg Aretha Franklin CDs and DVDs.

Surveillance extended to Franklin's family

As writer Michael Harriot noted in a long Twitter thread, FBI surveillance of prominent Black figures went back to at least the 1950s, during which time Franklin’s father, Rev. C.L. Franklin, was an extremely prominent Black pastor who helped fund major campaigns of the early Civil Rights Movement. Rev. Franklin’s prominence brought his daughter into early contact with both civil rights leaders and famous Black entertainers, and this brought both father and daughter to the attention of the FBI.

Included in the files obtained by Dize is a description of an incident in which the FBI obtained Rev. Franklin’s number through a false phone call. The records also detail contacts with Franklin’s brother Cecil, mainly concerning threats made against the singer and her family.

Franklin and her family were often in danger

The FBI files reference numerous incidents when Franklin or her family were threatened with violence or death. This included an extortion attempt in 1974 that threatened the singer and her father as well.

In 1979, Aretha and Rev. Franklin were both threatened again.

Between these outside threats and the level of scrutiny placed on her by the FBI, Franklin’s career and activism were met with many dangers. Nevertheless, she survived these challenges to become not only one of the most revered singers in American history but also an important figure supporting the fight for Black rights and freedom throughout the decades. The newly-released FBI files help to show just how much Franklin faced — even from her own government — to use her gifts in so many powerful ways.

Aretha-FranklinBlack-leadersFBIFBI investigationgovernment surveillance