Throwback Clip: Aretha Franklin talks writing ‘Day Dreaming’ about Dennis Edwards

Aretha Franklin Dennis Edwards theGrio.com
(Photo: Mike Coppola/Getty Images and John W. Ferguson/Getty Images)

The music industry is mourning the death of Temptations lead singer Dennis Edwards, whose soulful tunes touched and inspired generations of music lovers.

While the Grammy-winning Motown star gave us songs like “Papa Was a Rollin’ Stone” and “Cloud 9,” what some may not know is that Edwards was also the inspiration for another hit song sang by none other than the Queen of Soul Aretha Franklin.

Franklin and Edwards dated in the early 1970s, and Franklin was apparently so smitten by Edwards that she wrote a song about him. On “Day Dreaming,” released in 1972, Franklin lauds a lover who’s “the kind of guy that you give your everything.”

Aretha Franklin Dennis Edwards theGrio.com

CLEVELAND, OH – NOVEMBER 05: (L-R) Aretha Franklin performs an encore with Ronald Isley and Dennis Edwards during the Roll Hall of Fame honoring Aretha Franklin, 16th American Music Masters Tribute at PlayhouseSquare’s State Theatre on November 5, 2011 in Cleveland, Ohio. (Photo by Jason Miller/Getty Images for Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame)

The record would go on to sell over a million copies and became one of Franklin’s many number one hits.

In a throwback interview with Oprah Winfrey, Franklin admits “Day Dreaming” was indeed about Edwards and even blushed while taking a walk down memory lane.

“I liked him a lot,” Franklin told Winfrey in the 1999 appearance on The Oprah Winfrey Show. “I did write that with him in mind.

Take a look at the clip below.

 

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