A Tribute Fit for a Queen
FRIENDS, FANS AND FAMILY MEMBERS SAY AN EMOTIONAL GOODBYE TO THE SOUL LEGEND WITH A STAR-STUDDED SERVICE
It was the ultimate act of R-E-S-P-EC-T. Aretha Franklin — the Queen of Soul, who died of pancreatic cancer at 76 on Aug. 16 — was laid to rest in a gold-plated casket as part of two weeks of ceremonies singing her praises. “She was show business royalty,” biographer Mark Bego tells Closer. “She leaves behind a wealth of incredible music.”
What she didn’t leave behind, surprisingly, was a will. But her niece Sabrina Garrett Owens was appointed as her executor, with Aretha’s estimated $80 million fortune expected to be divided equally among her four sons. (Her oldest, Clarence, has had lifelong mental-health issues, and a court-appointed guardian will handle his inheritance.)
Fans lined up to view Aretha’s body as it lay in state at Detroit’s Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History, which she frequented. The public mourning period was slated to culminate with her funeral at the Motor City’s Greater Grace Temple on Aug. 31, and the lineup of artists performing reflected Aretha’s diverse musical legacy: Stevie Wonder, Faith Hill, Chaka Khan, Jennifer Hudson and more. Speakers and attendees were set to include former President
Bill Clinton, the Rev. Jesse Jackson and Aretha’s longtime friend and fellow soul legend Smokey Robinson. “She will be known through her music by kids who haven’t even been born yet,” says Smokey.
SAY A LITTLE PRAYER
“Aretha’s legacy will live on through her brilliant library of recordings,” says Bego, who will publish an updated version of his 1989 book, Aretha Franklin: The Queen of Soul, on Sept. 18. “Her career was so multifaceted.”
While she spanned genres from R&B to pop, Aretha always brought the devotion she learned singing in her father’s church as a girl. “When God loves you,” she once said, “what can be better than that?” — Bruce Fretts, with reporting by Marc Cetner