"All Hail the Queen...of Soul!"

ALL HAIL THE QUEEN! Although the Queen of Soul departed less than 2 weeks ago, we’re not ready to stop talking about her. Aretha Franklin reigns once more, by rising above all on iTunes, Spotify and Billboard’s R&B Charts.

According to Nielsen’s Music Sales Measurement, Franklin’s album sales displayed an enormous increase in sales since her death and is constantly growing . The Queen of Soul’s highest sellers were: 30 Greatest Hits topped Nicki Minaj’s Queen album also which was set to be a record breaker soon after its release. Amazing Grace, Queen of Soul: The Best of Aretha Franklin, Soul Queen and The Best of Aretha Franklin all gracefully climbed into the top 10 albums.

In relation to album sales, the 18-time Grammy Award winner sold over 19,000 copies on the day of her passing which is a 1,566 percent increase over the 1,000 copies her albums sold on August 15th. Franklin’s digital song sales alone, increased by 1,569 percent the day of her passing selling over 115,000 copies compared to August 15, when 7,000 was sold.

The icon’s topmost 10 selling songs were hit singles such as “Respect” which climbed to No.1 on iTunes, “A Natural Woman (You Make Me Feel Like)”, “I Say a Little Prayer”, “Chain of Fools,” round out the remaining top 4 songs and “Think” at No. 6. According to Spotify, Aretha Franklin's catalog has been played 5,500% more times globally compared to the same time the previous week.

Billboard is already expecting to have a greater impact in the upcoming weeks’ chart ratings from an array of her albums and songs. Additional updates of Franklin’s impressive stream sets will be further monitored and reported. With more upcoming award shows on the verge, many are planning to pay tribute to Aretha Franklin, we’re curious of which artists are slated to pay their respect tonally and deliver the way the “Queen of Soul” would.