ASIA MEDIA INTERNATIONAL WRITES — All the major Asian newspapers, from Bangkok to Tokyo, had nothing for praise — and a great deal of coverage – for America’s blues diva Aretha Franklin on the occasion of her death at 76.
Above is a front page of the ordinarily straight-laced Straits Times, the dominant, high-quality newspaper of SIngapore. Similar superstar treatment was accorded by the Bangkok Post, the Jakarta Post, The Japan Times, The Australian – all major newspapers in the region.
As Leonard Bernstein would always argue, great music is universal. Beethoven was not just a German composer; Aretha Franklin’s distinctly American artistry flowed around the world.
The best that is in us on this planet is the idea that we are all in this life together, and it is music-perhaps at least as much as anything else-that can bring us all together. Aretha certainly did that, with all the panache of the true superstar. She was as immensely loved as she was deeply talented.
Sad to hear