Among the admirers greeting Pope Francis on Saturday in Philadelphia, the last stop on his tour of the United States, will be American royalty. Aretha Franklin, the Queen of Soul, is scheduled to perform that night for the pope at the Festival of Families concert, along the city’s Benjamin Franklin Parkway, with a million people expected to attend.
She will be joined by Mark Wahlberg, the event’s host, along with the Fray, Juanes, Jackie Evancho and other performers. But perhaps no other artist could be as prepared as Ms. Franklin, 73, who has sung over the years for Pope John Paul II, Queen Elizabeth and President Obama, to name only a few.
On Thursday, Ms. Franklin discussed her trip to the festivities, her impressions of Pope Francis and how Jay Z fits into the equation. These are edited excerpts from that conversation.
Q. I know you prefer to travel only by tour bus — did you drive all the way from your home in Detroit to Philadelphia?
Yes we did. It was lovely! I didn’t really do anything. I just rested all the way into Philadelphia. I had a trillion things to do at home — tons of stuff on my desk, my front steps needed doing and like a trillion emails a day, going back and forth about the trip and the people that were going to be there and all that sort of thing. We got it all done, I think, but it’s still not quite over. Email is going on all day, every day.
This is sort of old hat for you — you’ve performed for many dignitaries and world leaders. Do these events ever make you nervous?
It’s never old hat. I never take it for granted. If it’s new, it’s new. Every once in awhile there are butterflies. Every once in awhile. I wouldn’t say anyone makes me nervous — just a tiny butterfly here and there.
You’ve said you’ll be singing “Amazing Grace.” Why that song?
Because “Amazing Grace” is universal. It’s loved and appreciated by all faiths and, I expect that there will be a cross-section of faiths in the audience Saturday night.
Can we expect anything secular — “Respect,” or something in between, like “I Say a Little Prayer”?
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Mmm, I’m not going to tell you what I’m going to be doing. It’ll be a very nice surprise.
Pope Francis made his first visit to the United States in September 2015, meeting followers and dignitaries in Washington, New York and Philadelphia. Explore the full coverage from The Times.
Your father, the Rev. C. L. Franklin, was a prominent civil rights activist and a Baptist preacher. What would he think of his daughter performing for the leader of the Catholic Church?
I think that he would be thrilled. My dad listened every Sunday to other faiths and other churches, other ministers, popes. If it was religious, he was listening. He was a theologian himself.
Speaking of my dad, I’m giving the pope a boxed set of my dad’s sermons on CDs — 25 volumes: the 23rd Psalm, “The Eagle Stirreth Her Nest,” “Dry Bones in the Valley,” “Jacob Wrestled With the Angel” and so on.
What will you say to the pope if you have a moment to greet him personally?
I would just love to hear him speak on world peace. And I would like for him to meet my family, of course. I’m waiting — they’ll let me know. He’s had some kind of schedule, though, I’m telling you. But he’s stepping right along. He looks like he’s really, really, really enjoying it.
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Are there specific aspects of Pope Francis’s message that speak to you most?
His humility and his concern with people, how he refers to himself as the son of an immigrant — I’m most impressed with that. That just tells me that he remembers who he is and his person, and particularly, honoring his father: “I am the son of.” And the fact that he is not overwhelmed by his title. He remembers where came from and who he is, as well as being the pope. There is greatness in humility, so I appreciate that.
I also like the idea of some possible change in the Vatican. I like the idea that he sent some of his assistants out to install showers in St. Peter’s Square. You can see that he adores the people and the people adore him. I was looking at his boyhood picture and you just see a goodness about him.
Is there anything he’s said thus far in his papacy that you disagree with?
No, nothing at all.
Along with Pope Francis, you’re on a bill with Andrea Bocelli, Juanes and the comedian Jim Gaffigan — are you a fan of any of the other performers?
I enjoy them all. Sister Sledge, you forgot them. I would love to have a duo with Mr. Bocelli — we’ll get our day one day.
You’ve said that you’ll be taking a semi-retirement moving forward.
Next year [interrupted by news footage of the pope leaving Washington, D.C.]. The pope is pulling away — American Airlines, there it goes. I’m watching TV while I’m talking to you. Lotta folks out there. I love the pageantry that D.C. had at his reception. I’ve never seen the White House that beautiful. Did you see that lighting on top of the White House? Have you ever seen that before? I think they must have had that put there just specially. All of the pomp and pageantry was just great. They certainly received the holy father appropriately.
Tell me about your retirement.
I’m not going to be doing as many concerts as I have been — three a month lately. I’ll do one a month, maybe two a month. But I’m going to spending time with my grandchildren. That’s what I want to do.
I drove 4,200 miles round-trip to Los Angeles [for concerts in August]. I went from Detroit to L.A. and I did several concerts out there. I was supposed to meet Mr. Davis — Clive Davis — in Las Vegas to talk about re-signing with RCA. But after driving 2,100 miles the one way and three concerts and all of the backstage guests and pictures, I was just beat by the time we got to Las Vegas. So I had to reschedule that. But there’s going to be new product coming up and they’re all going to be originals. I would say the first of the year.
What can you say about Sydney Pollack’s 1972 documentary about your album, “Amazing Grace,” which is currently in legal limbo?
There’s a gag order. I can’t talk to you about it at all.
Jay Z’s streaming service Tidal is going to have live video of Saturday’s concert on the Internet. Do you keep up with the battles over online streaming?
Sometimes I do. Jay Jay?
Jay Z.
Jay Z? You mean the rapper Jay Z? What’s the name of that company? I hadn’t heard that. What I think is great about the hip-hoppers is they are very aggressive young businessman. That’s great. They’re setting a very good example for others to follow.
Correction: September 26, 2015
An earlier version of a headline with this article misspelled the given name of a singer who will be performing for Pope Francis at the Festival of Families concert. As the article correctly notes, she is Aretha Franklin, not Arethra.
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