Back in spring 2006, rocker Melissa Etheridge stood next to Aretha Franklin for hours as the two singers greeted graduates of the Berklee College of Music.
That wasn't how the pair had thought they would spend that day when Berklee bestowed upon them honorary doctoral degrees.
"I gave the commencement speech and she also gave a speech. And then unbeknownst to both of us, we had to shake the hands of all the graduates as they went by," Etheridge recalled Friday afternoon during a phone call from Vegas. "That meant we had to shake 800 hands that day. It just blew both of our minds, but we did it. She got to sit down after awhile, but we did it."
Etheridge's comments came as Franklin's friends, family and a whole host of political and entertainment celebrities packed the Greater Grace Temple in Detroit Friday to bury the Queen of Soul. Franklin died on Aug. 16 of pancreatic cancer at the age of 76.
Etheridge and Franklin later performed on the PBS special "Women of Soul" at the White House for Michele and Barack Obama in 2014.
Etheridge, who opens her "Yes I Am" 25th Anniversary Tour at Fox Tucson Theatre Sept. 16, also recalled memories of Arizona Sen. John McCain, who died Aug. 25 at his ranch near Sedona. He was 81.
"It was game six of the World Series when the Diamondbacks won and I was so nervous," she said. "This was 2001. I didn't know what people were going to think about me. My first time singing in a World Series, singing the National Anthem, and I was nervous as heck. (McCain) looked at me and waved and smiled and really connected with me. And I thought, 'What a beautiful man, sincere.' You could tell he was connected to humanity. He was just a wonderful man."
Friday's phone call was to talk about Etheridge's Sept. 16 Fox concert, which celebrates the anniversary of "Yes I Am." The 1993 album earned her a Grammy for best female rock song ("Come To My Window") and sold more than 6 million copies.
