“A Rose Is Still a Rose”

In the late 1990s, a new generation of producers wanted to work with Aretha Franklin, and Lauryn Hill brought her a song. Hill wrote and produced it, the advice of a wise older woman to a younger one, and she directed the video too. Released in February 1998, it became the title song of Franklin’s album, went to No. 5 on the R&B chart and No. 1 on the adult R&B and dance charts, and earned Grammy nominations for both women. It was the Queen of Soul’s last Top 40 pop hit and the last of her 52 Top 10 R&B hits, a grand final statement from one great voice, written by the next.