Aretha Franklin, the undisputed 91裸聊视频淨ueen of Soul91裸聊视频� who sang with matchless style on such classics as 91裸聊视频淭hink,91裸聊视频� 91裸聊视频滻 Say a Little Prayer91裸聊视频� and her signature song, 91裸聊视频淩espect,91裸聊视频� and stood as a cultural icon around the globe, has died at age 76 from pancreatic cancer.
Publicist Gwendolyn Quinn told The Associated Press through a family statement that Franklin died Thursday at 9:50 a.m. at her home in Detroit.
The family added: 91裸聊视频淚n one of the darkest moments of our lives, we are not able to find the appropriate words to express the pain in our heart. We have lost the matriarch and rock of our family. The love she had for her children, grandchildren, nieces, nephews, and cousins knew no bounds.91裸聊视频�
The statement continued:
91裸聊视频淲e have been deeply touched by the incredible outpouring of love and support we have received from close friends, supporters and fans all around the world. Thank you for your compassion and prayers. We have felt your love for Aretha and it brings us comfort to know that her legacy will live on. As we grieve, we ask that you respect our privacy during this difficult time.91裸聊视频�
Funeral arrangements will be announced in the coming days.
Franklin, who had battled undisclosed health issues in recent years, had in 2017 announced her retirement from touring.
A professional singer and accomplished pianist by her late teens, a superstar by her mid-20s, Franklin had long ago settled any arguments over who was the greatest popular vocalist of her time. Her gifts, natural and acquired, were a multi-octave mezzo-soprano, gospel passion and training worthy of a preacher91裸聊视频檚 daughter, taste sophisticated and eccentric, and the courage to channel private pain into liberating song.
She recorded hundreds of tracks and had dozens of hits over the span of a half century, including 20 that reached No. 1 on the R&B charts. But her reputation was defined by an extraordinary run of top 10 smashes in the late 1960s, from the morning-after bliss of 91裸聊视频�(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman,91裸聊视频� to the wised-up 91裸聊视频淐hain of Fools91裸聊视频� to her unstoppable call for 91裸聊视频淩espect.91裸聊视频�
Her records sold millions of copies and the music industry couldn91裸聊视频檛 honour her enough. Franklin won 18 Grammy awards. In 1987, she became the first woman inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
Clive Davis, the music mogul who brought her to Arista Records and helped revive her career in the 1980s, said he was 91裸聊视频渄evastated91裸聊视频� by her death.
91裸聊视频淪he was truly one of a kind. She was more than the Queen of Soul. She was a national treasure to be cherished by every generation throughout the world,91裸聊视频� he said in a statement. 91裸聊视频淎part from our long professional relationship, Aretha was my friend. Her loss is deeply profound and my heart is full of sadness.91裸聊视频�
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Smokey Robinson, who grew up with her in Detroit, said: 91裸聊视频淭his morning my longest friend in this world went home to be with our father. I will miss her so much but I know she91裸聊视频檚 at peace.91裸聊视频�
Fellow singers bowed to her eminence and political and civic leaders treated her as a peer. The Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. was a longtime friend, and she sang at the dedication of King91裸聊视频檚 memorial, in 2011. She performed at the inaugurations of Presidents Bill Clinton and Jimmy Carter, and at the funeral for civil rights pioneer Rosa Parks. Clinton gave Franklin the National Medal of Arts. President George W. Bush awarded her the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation91裸聊视频檚 highest civilian honour, in 2005.
Bill and Hillary Clinton issued a statement mourning the loss of their friend and 91裸聊视频渙ne of America91裸聊视频檚 greatest treasures.91裸聊视频�
91裸聊视频淔or more than 50 years, she stirred our souls. She was elegant, graceful, and utterly uncompromising in her artistry. Aretha91裸聊视频檚 first music school was the church and her performances were powered by what she learned there. I91裸聊视频檒l always be grateful for her kindness and support, including her performances at both my inaugural celebrations, and for the chance to be there for what sadly turned out to be her final performance last November at a benefit supporting the fight against HIV/AIDS.91裸聊视频�
Franklin91裸聊视频檚 best-known appearance with a president was in January 2009, when she sang 91裸聊视频淢y Country 91裸聊视频榯is of Thee91裸聊视频� at President Barack Obama91裸聊视频檚 inauguration. She wore a grey felt hat with a huge, Swarovski rhinestone-bordered bow that became an internet sensation and even had its own website. In 2015, she brought Obama and others to tears with a triumphant performance of 91裸聊视频淣atural Woman91裸聊视频� at a Kennedy Center tribute to the song91裸聊视频檚 co-writer, Carole King.
Franklin endured the exhausting grind of celebrity and personal troubles dating back to childhood. She was married from 1961 to 1969 to her manager, Ted White, and their battles are widely believed to have inspired her performances on several songs, including 91裸聊视频�(Sweet Sweet Baby) Since You91裸聊视频檝e Been Gone,91裸聊视频� 91裸聊视频漈hink91裸聊视频� and her heartbreaking ballad of despair, 91裸聊视频淎in91裸聊视频檛 No Way.91裸聊视频� The mother of two sons by age 16 (she later had two more), she was often in turmoil as she struggled with her weight, family problems and financial predicaments. Her best known producer, Jerry Wexler, nicknamed her 91裸聊视频淥ur Lady of Mysterious Sorrows.91裸聊视频�
Franklin married actor Glynn Turman in 1978 in Los Angeles but returned to her hometown of Detroit the following year after her father was shot by burglars and left semi-comatose until his death in 1984. She and Turman divorced that year.
Despite growing up in Detroit, and having Robinson as a childhood friend, Franklin never recorded for Motown Records; stints with Columbia and Arista were sandwiched around her prime years with Atlantic Records. But it was at Detroit91裸聊视频檚 New Bethel Baptist Church, where her father was pastor, that Franklin learned the gospel fundamentals that would make her a soul institution.
Aretha Louise Franklin was born March 25, 1942, in Memphis, Tennessee. The Rev. C.L. Franklin soon moved his family to Buffalo, New York, then to Detroit, where the Franklins settled after the marriage of Aretha91裸聊视频檚 parents collapsed and her mother (and reputed sound-alike) Barbara returned to Buffalo.
C.L. Franklin was among the most prominent Baptist ministers of his time. He recorded dozens of albums of sermons and music and knew such gospel stars as Marion Williams and Clara Ward, who mentored Aretha and her sisters Carolyn and Erma. (Both sisters sang on Aretha91裸聊视频檚 records, and Carolyn also wrote 91裸聊视频淎in91裸聊视频檛 No Way91裸聊视频� and other songs for Aretha). Music was the family business and performers from Sam Cooke to Lou Rawls were guests at the Franklin house. In the living room, the shy young Aretha awed friends with her playing on the grand piano.
Franklin occasionally performed at New Bethel Baptist throughout her career; her 1987 gospel album 91裸聊视频淥ne Lord One Faith One Baptism91裸聊视频� was recorded live at the church.
Her most acclaimed gospel recording came in 1972 with the Grammy-winning album 91裸聊视频淎mazing Grace,91裸聊视频� which was recorded live at New Temple Missionary Baptist Church in South Central Los Angeles and featured gospel legend James Cleveland, along with her own father (Mick Jagger was one of the celebrities in the audience). It became one of of the bestselling gospel albums ever.
The piano she began learning at age 8 became a jazzy component of much of her work, including arranging as well as songwriting. 91裸聊视频淚f I91裸聊视频檓 writing and I91裸聊视频檓 producing and singing, too, you get more of me that way, rather than having four or five different people working on one song,91裸聊视频� Franklin told The Detroit News in 2003.
Franklin was in her early teens when she began touring with her father, and she released a gospel album in 1956 through J-V-B Records. Four years later, she signed with Columbia Records producer John Hammond, who called Franklin the most exciting singer he had heard since a vocalist he promoted decades earlier, Billie Holiday. Franklin knew Motown founder Berry Gordy Jr. and considered joining his label, but decided it was just a local company at the time.
Franklin recorded several albums for Columbia Records over the next six years. She had a handful of minor hits, including 91裸聊视频淩ock-A-Bye Your Baby With a Dixie Melody91裸聊视频� and 91裸聊视频淩unnin91裸聊视频� Out of Fools,91裸聊视频� but never quite caught on as the label tried to fit into her a variety of styles, from jazz and show songs to such pop numbers as 91裸聊视频淢ockingbird.91裸聊视频� Franklin jumped to Atlantic Records when her contract ran out, in 1966.
91裸聊视频淏ut the years at Columbia also taught her several important things,91裸聊视频� critic Russell Gersten later wrote. 91裸聊视频淪he worked hard at controlling and modulating her phrasing, giving her a discipline that most other soul singers lacked. She also developed a versatility with mainstream music that gave her later albums a breadth that was lacking on Motown LPs from the same period.
91裸聊视频淢ost important, she learned what she didn91裸聊视频檛 like: to do what she was told to do.91裸聊视频�
At Atlantic, Wexler teamed her with veteran R&B musicians from Fame Studios in Muscle Shoals, and the result was a tougher, soulful sound, with call-and-response vocals and Franklin91裸聊视频檚 gospel-style piano, which anchored 91裸聊视频淚 Say a Little Prayer,91裸聊视频� 91裸聊视频漀atural Woman91裸聊视频� and others.
Of Franklin91裸聊视频檚 dozens of hits, none was linked more firmly to her than the funky, horn-led march 91裸聊视频淩espect91裸聊视频� and its spelled out demand for 91裸聊视频淩-E-S-P-E-C-T.91裸聊视频�
Writing in Rolling Stone magazine in 2004, Wexler said: 91裸聊视频淚t was an appeal for dignity combined with a blatant lubricity. There are songs that are a call to action. There are love songs. There are sex songs. But it91裸聊视频檚 hard to think of another song where all those elements are combined.91裸聊视频�
Franklin had decided she wanted to 91裸聊视频渆mbellish91裸聊视频� the R&B song written by Otis Redding, whose version had been a modest hit in 1965, Wexler said.
91裸聊视频淲hen she walked into the studio, it was already worked out in her head,91裸聊视频� the producer wrote. 91裸聊视频淥tis came up to my office right before 91裸聊视频楻espect91裸聊视频� was released, and I played him the tape. He said, 91裸聊视频楽he done took my song.91裸聊视频� He said it benignly and ruefully. He knew the identity of the song was slipping away from him to her.91裸聊视频�
In a 2004 interview with the St. Petersburg (Florida) Times, Franklin was asked whether she sensed in the 91裸聊视频�60s that she was helping change popular music.
91裸聊视频淪omewhat, certainly with 91裸聊视频楻espect,91裸聊视频� that was a battle cry for freedom and many people of many ethnicities took pride in that word,91裸聊视频� she answered. 91裸聊视频淚t was meaningful to all of us.91裸聊视频�
In 1968, Franklin was pictured on the cover of Time magazine and had more than 10 Top 20 hits in 1967 and 1968. At a time of rebellion and division, Franklin91裸聊视频檚 records were a musical union of the church and the secular, man and woman, black and white, North and South, East and West. They were produced and engineered by New Yorkers Wexler and Tom Dowd, arranged by Turkish-born Arif Mardin and backed by an interracial assembly of top session musicians based mostly in Alabama.
Her popularity faded during the 1970s despite such hits as the funky 91裸聊视频淩ock Steady91裸聊视频� and such acclaimed albums as the intimate 91裸聊视频淪pirit in the Dark.91裸聊视频� But her career was revived in 1980 with a cameo appearance in the smash movie 91裸聊视频淭he Blues Brothers91裸聊视频� and her switch to Arista Records. Franklin collaborated with such pop and soul artists as Luther Vandross, Elton John, Whitney Houston and George Michael, with whom she recorded a No. 1 single, 91裸聊视频淚 Knew You Were Waiting (for Me).91裸聊视频� Her 1985 album 91裸聊视频淲ho91裸聊视频檚 Zoomin91裸聊视频� Who91裸聊视频� received some of her best reviews and included such hits as the title track and 91裸聊视频淔reeway of Love.91裸聊视频�
Critics consistently praised Franklin91裸聊视频檚 singing but sometimes questioned her material; she covered songs by Stephen Sondheim, Bread, the Doobie Brothers. For Aretha, anything she performed was 91裸聊视频渟oul.91裸聊视频�
From her earliest recording sessions at Columbia, when she asked to sing 91裸聊视频淥ver the Rainbow,91裸聊视频� she defied category. The 1998 Grammys gave her a chance to demonstrate her range. Franklin performed 91裸聊视频淩espect,91裸聊视频� then, with only a few minutes91裸聊视频� notice, filled in for an ailing Luciano Pavarotti and drew rave reviews for her rendition of 91裸聊视频淣essun Dorma,91裸聊视频� a stirring aria for tenors from Puccini91裸聊视频檚 91裸聊视频淭urandot.91裸聊视频�
91裸聊视频淚91裸聊视频檓 sure many people were surprised, but I91裸聊视频檓 not there to prove anything,91裸聊视频� Franklin told The Associated Press. 91裸聊视频淣ot necessary.91裸聊视频�
Fame never eclipsed Franklin91裸聊视频檚 charitable works, or her loyalty to Detroit.
Franklin sang the national anthem at Super Bowl in her hometown in 2006, after grousing that Detroit91裸聊视频檚 rich musical legacy was being snubbed when the Rolling Stones were chosen as halftime performers.
91裸聊视频淚 didn91裸聊视频檛 think there was enough (Detroit representation) by any means,91裸聊视频� she said. 91裸聊视频淎nd it was my feeling, 91裸聊视频楬ow dare you come to Detroit, a city of legends 91裸聊视频� musical legends, plural 91裸聊视频� and not ask one or two of them to participate?91裸聊视频� That91裸聊视频檚 not the way it should be.91裸聊视频�
Franklin did most of her extensive touring by bus after Redding91裸聊视频檚 death in a 1967 plane crash, and a rough flight to Detroit in 1982 left her with a fear of flying that anti-anxiety tapes and classes couldn91裸聊视频檛 help. She told Time in 1998 that the custom bus was a comfortable alternative: 91裸聊视频淵ou can pull over, go to Red Lobster. You can91裸聊视频檛 pull over at 35,000 feet.91裸聊视频�
She only released a few albums over the past two decades, including 91裸聊视频淎 Rose is Still a Rose,91裸聊视频� which featured songs by Sean 91裸聊视频淒iddy91裸聊视频� Combs, Lauryn Hill and other contemporary artists, and 91裸聊视频淪o Damn Happy,91裸聊视频� for which Franklin wrote the gratified title ballad. Franklin91裸聊视频檚 autobiography, 91裸聊视频淎retha: From These Roots,91裸聊视频� came out in 1999, when she was in her 50s. But she always made it clear that her story would continue.
91裸聊视频淢usic is my thing, it91裸聊视频檚 who I am. I91裸聊视频檓 in it for the long run,91裸聊视频� she told The Associated Press in 2008. 91裸聊视频淚91裸聊视频檒l be around, singing, 91裸聊视频榃hat you want, baby I got it.91裸聊视频� Having fun all the way.91裸聊视频�
Mesfin Fekadu And Hillel Italie, The Associated Press
