"Respect" is a song written and originally released by Stax recording artist Otis Redding in 1965. "Respect" became a 1967 hit and signature song for R&B singer Aretha Franklin. While Redding wrote the song as a man's plea for respect and recognition from a woman, the roles were reversed for Franklin's version. Franklin's cover was a landmark for the feminist movement, and is often considered as one of the best songs of the R&B era, earning her two Grammy Awards in 1968 for "Best Rhythm & Blues Recording" and "Best Rhythm & Blues Solo Vocal Performance, Female", and was inducted in the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1998. In 2002, the Library of Congress honored Franklin's version by adding it to the National Recording Registry. It is number five on Rolling Stone's list of The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time. It was also included in the list of Songs of the Century, by the Recording Industry of America and the National Endowment for the Arts.

Otis Redding wrote and recorded "Respect" as a blues tune in the studio while finishing his third album, Otis Blue. The album became widely successful, even outside of his largely R&B and blues fanbase. When released in the summer of 1965, the song reached the top five on Billboard's Black Singles Chart, and crossed over to pop radio's white audience, peaking at number thirty-five there. At the time, the song became Redding's second largest crossover hit (after "I've Been Loving You Too Long") and paved the way to future presence at American radio.

Producer Jerry Wexler brought Redding's song to Franklin's attention. While Redding's version was popular among his core R&B audience, Wexler thought the song had potential to be a crossover hit and to demonstrate Franklin's vocal ability. "Respect" was recorded on February 14, 1967 with Aretha's sisters, Carolyn and Erma, singing backup

During the recording process, a bridge was added to Redding's original composition. Another addition was King Curtis' tenor saxophone and the slicker production of Wexler and co-producer Arif Mardin. The resulting song was featured on Franklin's Atlantic Records debut album, I Never Loved a Man the Way I Love You. As the title track became a hit on both R&B and pop radio, Atlantic Records arranged for the release of this new version of "Respect" as a single.

Franklin's rendition found even greater success than the original, spending two weeks atop the Billboard Pop Singles chart, and for eight weeks on the Billboard Black Singles chart. It also became a hit internationally, reaching number ten in the United Kingdom, and helping to transform Franklin from a domestic star into an international one. Even Otis Redding himself was impressed with the performance of the song, and at the Monterey Pop Festival in the summer of the cover's release, he was quoted playfully describing "Respect" as the song "that little girl done stole from me".

"Respect" is one of several songs considered to have defined the 1960s. It has appeared in dozens of films and still receives consistent play on oldies radio stations. In the 1970s, Franklin's version of the song came to exemplify the feminist movement. Although she had numerous hits after "Respect", and several before its release, the song became Franklin's signature song and her best-known recording. I Never Loved a Man the Way I Love Youwas ranked eighty-third in Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Albums of All-Time in 2002. Two years later, "Respect" was fifth in the magazine's 500 Greatest Songs of All-Time. The song "Respect" is part of the The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's 500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll list.

Despite being overshadowed, Redding's version is still considered a soul classic, and highly regarded by fans of Stax-Volt and southern soul recordings. The Vagrants, a Long Island, New York blue-eyed soul group recorded a version of Respect in 1967, which became a minor hit in the Eastern United States. Another regional band that had a hit with the song was the Michigan-based rock band The Rationals, whose 1966 release of the song received airplay on Detroit radio stations and predated the release of Aretha Franklin's version by a year. The Rotary Connection also have a version of the song, recorded in 1969 for Chess Records.

Ike and Tina Turner released it on their 1971 double live album What You Hear Is What You Get (Live at Carnegie Hall).

Janis Joplin also recorded the song. Joplin's version is similar to Redding's, although it was a September 1968 studio improvisation, and goes up only to 1st chorus, after which Janis stops, saying: "Another, another". This recording is released only on the unofficial album "Rarer Pearls", which contains various other Joplin studio and live cuts.

Cass Elliot and Sammy Davis, Jr. performed it as a medley with I Dig Rock and Roll Music, Say It Loud - I'm Black and I'm Proud, What'd I Say and another Franklin's tune, Think. They sang it on variety show The Hollywood Palace, in 1969.

Dexys Midnight Runners frequently included the song in their live set, and have issued at least two different live recordings of the song. A house music cover was released by singer Adeva in 1989, and reached #17 in the UK singles chart. The song was covered by the Basque fusion-rock band Negu Gorriak, translated as "Errespetua" ( respectin euskara) for their 1996 cover album Salam, agur. After the band's split, singer Fermin Muguruza continued to perform his version of the song in some of his solo projects' concerts, and it appeared as the final track on his live album Kontrabanda - Barcelona, Apolo 2004-I-21.

The phrase "what you want, baby I got it" was interpolated on Joss Stone's song "Headturner", from her 2007 album Introducing Joss Stoneand Kool Moe Dee's song "No Respect," from his 1987 album How Ya Like Me Now. The song was featured on the game Karaoke Revolution Volume 3.

Actress Jessica Biel sang the song during the season 1 episode Say Good-bye of the hit series 7th Heaven.

Amber Riley also sang the song in the pilot episode of the Fox series Glee.