Queen of Soul Aretha Franklin, 76, dies
She was rated the greatest singer of all time by Rolling Stone magazine in 2010
Aretha Franklin, the preacher's daughter whose powerful voice made her the long-reigning "Queen of Soul" with such hit songs as Respect and Chain Of Fools, died yesterday at the age of 76, officials said.
Franklin, who won 18 Grammys and had some 25 gold records, died at her home in Detroit surrounded by family and loved ones, her publicist said. She had been battling advanced pancreatic cancer.
Franklin's father was a Baptist preacher in Detroit, and the gospel singing she heard in his church was her musical foundation.
She had a uniquely emotional and powerful voice that put her at the forefront of 1960s soul music along with Otis Redding, Sam Cooke and Wilson Pickett.
Franklin sang at the funeral of slain civil rights leader Martin Luther King, as well as at the presidential inaugurations of Mr Barack Obama and Mr Bill Clinton.
In 1987 she became the first woman voted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and in 2010 Rolling Stone magazine named her the No 1 singer of the rock era.
Franklin cemented her place in music history with a powerful, bell-clear voice that stretched over four octaves. In a career crossing generations, her hits spanned soul and R&B, to gospel and pop.
In the the early 1970s she dominated the music charts with I Never Loved a Man (The Way I Love You), Baby, I Love You, Chain of Fools, Think, (You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman, Do-Right Woman and Respect, a cover of a Redding tune that became a song of empowerment during the civil rights era.
Franklin's popularity would fade but she had a revival in the mid-1980s with songs such as Freeway of Love, a duet with George Michael named I Knew You Were Waiting (For Me),Sisters Are Doin' It for Themselves, Who's Zoomin' Who? and a cover of the Rolling Stones' Jumpin' Jack Flash.
Along the way Franklin inspired a generation of singers.
Franklin did not perform regularly for many years, partly because of an aversion to flying after a rough trip in 1982. Instead, she travelled in a customised bus.
Her last live performance was on Nov 7 last year, for the Elton John Aids Foundation gala.
"I feel very, very enriched and satisfied with respect to where my career came from and where it is now," she said last year.
"I'll be pretty much satisfied, but I'm not going to go anywhere and just sit down and do nothing. That wouldn't be good either." - REUTERS
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