Cynthia Erivo celebrates 34th birthday with breathtaking poster of her as Aretha Franklin for upcoming National Geographic show Genius
She turned 34 years old this Friday.
And Cynthia Erivo celebrated on Instagram by sharing a breathtaking poster of herself as Aretha Franklin on the upcoming season of Genius.
The National Geographic show is an anthology series in which each season relates the life story of a different historic figure.
Happy birthday: Cynthia Erivo celebrated on Instagram by sharing a breathtaking poster of herself as Aretha Franklin on the upcoming season of Genius
Seasons one and two focused on Albert Einstein and Pablo Picasso respectively, and the third season premiering this March will be about Aretha.
In the new poster Cynthia is dressed up as the young Aretha, folding her arms determinedly alongside the slogan: ‘ALL HAIL THE QUEEN.’
The multimedia post included an audio clip of the real Aretha’s 1970 recording of Border Song (Holy Moses), a number originated by Elton John.
‘Today is my birthday and I couldn’t be prouder of the chance to tell the story of the Queen of Soul,’ Cynthia gushed in the caption.
As seen in 1964: Aretha started off as a gospel singer at her minister father’s church and became a star in the 1960s, embarking on a legendary career
‘She sang the songs for the feelings our hearts couldn’t find the words for. She told stories with the melodies she weaved and was unafraid to speak truth to power.’
Aretha started off as a gospel singer at her minister father’s church and became a star in the 1960s, embarking on a legendary career.
Her cover of Otis Redding’s Respect became an enduring symbol of the era’s social movements and she became the first woman in the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame.
Aretha, who sang at U.S. President Barack Obama’s first inauguration in 2009, died at the age of 76 in 2018 of a pancreatic neuroendocrine tumor.
Pictured in 1965: Her cover of Otis Redding’s Respect became an enduring symbol of the era’s social movements and she became the first woman in the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame
Cynthia is no stranger to singing, having come up in the musical theater and won a best actress Tony for a Broadway revival of The Color Purple.
In 2019 she starred as Underground Railroad heroine Harriet Tubman in the biopic Harriet, earning an Oscar nomination for best actress.
On Genius, Courtney B. Vance will be playing Aretha’s father C.L. Franklin, with Patrice Covington and Rebecca Naomi Jones as her sisters Erma and Carolyn.
Arrested Development star David Cross will feature as record producer Jerry Wexler, who helped nurture Aretha’s rise to stardom.
Songstress: Cynthia is no stranger to singing, having come up in the musical theater and won a best actress Tony for a Broadway revival of The Color Purple
Last March as the coronavirus lockdowns swept the country National Geographic announced that they would give money in her name to Feeding America.
‘During her lifetime, Aretha Franklin supported a large number of charities and advocacy organization, including Feeding America,’ said a network statement.
‘To mark what would have been her 78th birthday, and in recognition of the difficult times we are currently in, National Geographic Channel is making a donation to Feeding America in Aretha’s name,’ the statement read, according to E! News.
Pictured in 1972: Aretha, who sang at U.S. President Barack Obama’s first inauguration in 2009, died at the age of 76 in 2018 of a pancreatic neuroendocrine tumor