Emily Chan
Before the days of smartphones and the internet, it was hard to tell what celebrities really looked like.
Back then, the most you could ever catch a glimpse of was a picture of their face on an album cover or black and white images on the TV.
So, that may be why in the 1960s, some people wanted to cash in on this by impersonating famous stars.
One of the most popular of these impersonators was a woman named Vicki Jones, who pretended to be Aretha Franklin.
Most fans of Aretha Franklin didn’t really have a way of knowing when the singer would show up in town.
So, when she—or Vicki Jones—did appear, everyone flocked to the venue to enjoy the show. Lavell Hardy, a fellow impersonator who acted as James Brown, said that Jones was the best performer he’d ever seen. And she looked just like Aretha Franklin.
“She’s identical from head to toe,” he said. “She’s got the complexion. She’s got the looks. She’s got the height. She’s got the tears. She’s got everything.”
Hardy was also a promoter, and he hired Jones by telling her that she would be the opening act for Aretha Franklin in Florida.
But when she arrived in Florida, Hardy admitted that there was no Aretha. Instead, Jones would have to pose as the actual “Queen of Soul.”
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