Winning 18 competitive and two honorary Grammys is no minor achievement, and Aretha Franklin is known as the “Queen of Soul” for a reason. She’s racked up 45 Top 40 hits on Billboard’s “Hot 100” list over the past 50 years, but her most stunning accomplishment to date happened in New York City this week.

Aretha Franklin successfully talked herself out of a parking ticket in Manhattan.

If you’ve ever driven and parked in New York City, you probably understand how remarkable this is. New York’s parking enforcement employees are notoriously indifferent to celebrities or individual circumstances, and common belief is that they’ll ticket their own grandmothers without a second thought. They’re as tenacious as a pit bull on a pork chop, and equally easy to reason with.

The incident occurred on Monday night, in front of Neely’s Barbecue Parlor on Manhattan’s Upper East Side. Franklin spotted the parking official honing in on her car while at dinner with friends, and intercepted the ticket bearer, demanding R.E.S.P.E.C.T.  Franklin got it, and traded a signed envelope for leniency.

We don’t recommend you try this yourself, no matter how famous you are. Winning Grammys is one thing, but talking your way out of a parking ticket in NYC? Now that’s impressive.

[Fox News]