The world mourns the ‘Queen of Soul’
THE CLARITY and the command. The daring and the discipline. The thrill of her voice and the truth of her emotions.
Like the best actors and poets, nothing came between how Aretha Franklin felt and what she could express, between what she expressed and how we responded. Blissful on (You Make Me Feel Like) a Natural Woman. Despairing on Ain’t No Way. Up front forever on her feminist and civil rights anthem Respect.
Franklin, the glorious ‘Queen of Soul’ and genius of American song, died on Thursday morning at her home in Detroit of pancreatic cancer. She was 76. Few performers were so universally idolised by peers and critics and so exalted and yet so familiar to their fans.