In January 1972, Aretha Franklin performed two now-legendary gospel concerts at Los Angeles’ New Temple Missionary Baptist Church. Six months later, Atlantic Records released Amazing Grace, a double live album culled from the shows that went on to be certified double-platinum by the RIAA and is one of the top-selling gospel albums of all time, as well as one of the most critically acclaimed.
Director Sydney Pollack made a companion documentary of the concerts, but the movie has never come out, and for the past three years, it’s been tied up in litigation with Franklin preventing the film’s release.
Following the iconic singer’s death on Thursday (Aug. 16), will Amazing Grace finally surface? Alan Elliott, who acquired the rights from Warner Bros. in 2007, remains optimistic, telling Billboard, “I hope we will have more news soon.”
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