‘Queen of Soul’ Aretha Franklin dies at 76 after losing battle to pancreatic cancer
AFTER being diagnosed with advanced pancreatic cancer and with failing health for sometime, the American music icon passed away following hospice care in a Detroit health care facility, her publicist confirmed.
Starting out as a teenage gospel singer in her hometown of Memphis, Tennessee, the powerful vocalist and talented pianist became one of the best-selling and most celebrated artists of all time. With world-renown hits like Respect, ( You make Me feel like) Anatural Woman and say a little Prayer, her career truly has endured the test of time.
Franklin was the first woman to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, inspired millions as a symbol of black empowerment and became one of the most honoured artist in Grammy Award history, with her 18th win in 2008.
Throughout her career Franklin has recorded eight number one albums and 20 number one hits. But it was the way her rich, expressive voice conveying complex emotions to her legions of fans that truly earned her title as The ‘Queen of Soul.’
She had the honour of
singing at the funeral of assassinated Dr Martin Luther King Jr and the inaugurations of Presidents Bill Clinton and Barack Obama.
Her emotional rendition of (Youmakemefeellike)anat
uralwoman at the Kennedy Centre Honours famously moved Obama to tears in 2015. Other career highlights also include giving a Command Performance for Queen Elizabeth at Royal Albert Hall, and serenading Pope Francis in Philadelphia in 2015. She shed a tear as George W. Bush presented her the highest civilian honour in November 2005. Although Franklin started to suffer health problems in 2010 she continued performing until late last year when she took the stage for the final time in November for the Elton John AIDS Foundation in New York.