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That's what Luke Song of Mr. Song Millinery remembers about the Queen of Soul, a longtime patron of the metro Detroit milliner.
Franklin, 76, died Aug. 16 at her home in Detroit, following a battle with advanced pancreatic cancer.
"When she liked something, she was humming, in sort of a groove," Song said. The hat shop's staff would fall silent, straining to hear every note, aware they were experiencing something few ever would. Aretha Franklin was there, in their store, and she was humming.
"It was the best," Song said.
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By the time Franklin's patronage catapulted the metro Detroit-based business, now operating online, into global headlines, after Franklin wore a Mr. Song hat to perform at President Barack Obama's 2009 inauguration, she'd been a Mr. Song customer for decades.
And like any other customer, she just walked in.
"You know these celebrities, you know their songs, and she just walked in, like no big deal, right? You’re just frozen in place, oh my God, that’s Aretha Franklin walking into your showroom," Song said.
Despite her celebrity stature, she was easy to work with, Song said:  "She was very nonchalant and very down-to-earth. She’s not like how some people say, that she’s a diva."
"She did come with an entourage, in a stretch limo, but other than that, she was down-to-earth."
Franklin would browse Song's showroom, or sometimes bring in a sketch of a hat she'd like to have.
"And we'd make it for her," Song said.
Like the hat — heather gray felt, with a large bow and Swarovski crystal detailing — Franklin wore at Obama's first inauguration. After the singer's rendition of "My Country Tis of Thee," it became an overnight must-have.
"Lots of people wore outfits to the inauguration that didn’t go viral like the hat did," he said. "I thought maybe I’d get a few calls, but two minutes after she started singing, we didn’t have time to even appreciate it because the phone was ringing, not just friends and customers but from everywhere around the world."
By the end of the next day, Song had sold hundreds of near-replicas of Franklin's instantly iconic hat (out of respect for his longtime customer, Song wouldn't sell an exact copy).
Song says he last saw Franklin in person a few years back, at a local fundraiser. He doesn't remember the cause.
For the last few years, they did business by phone; Franklin would call Song to order hats (Song particularly remembers providing a hat for Franklin to wear to Whitney Houston's 2012 funeral), and he'd send hats to wherever Franklin was.
Over the years, Song said, "She’s been very loyal to me. I’ve seen her in only my hats. I’m so privileged to have been her milliner. It’s an honor and a privilege. It’s beyond words."
And for Song, there was no better representation of the town they both loved.
"Her songs, everything ... she was Detroit," he said. "She defines for me what Detroit is. She persevered through the years. A class act."
Nancy Kaffer is a Free Press columnist. Contact: nkaffer@freepress.com.
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