Aretha Franklin and the USA presidents: A look back

Franklin, who won 18 Grammys and had some 25 gold records, died at her home in Detroit, the AP said, citing a publicist for the singer.

She performed in November at the Elton John AIDS Foundation Gala in NY to a private audience.

Aretha Franklin’s family has been warned that the “gravely ill” star could die at any minute, according to a long-time friend.

Franklin, who sang with matchless style on such classics as “Think, ‘ “I Say a Little Prayer” and her signature song, “Respect”, announced her retirement from touring past year”.

Singer Alexander O’Neal told BBC News: “It meant a lot to me coming from the barriers that we had to overcome for race and everything else during that era, and time when she was such a success and became such a rock icon, a real icon”.

Franklin not only became an engrained part of American pop culture – she helped define it. She was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by then president George W. Bush in 2005. It was a bitterly cold day, and Franklin later said she was upset with how the freezing weather affected her singing voice.

And she delivered a virtuoso performance on Thanksgiving Day 2016, when the Detroit Lions played the Minnesota Vikings, accompanying herself on a baby grand piano positioned at the 50-yard line.

The message in Aretha Franklin’s most famous song was one that resonated with her throughout her six decades in music.

The following year, she was diagnosed with cancer, but later made a triumphant return to the stage in 2013, following surgery. Other hits included “Daydreaming” and “I Say a Little Prayer”.

Franklin was born in Memphis, Tenn., on March 25, 1942.

Clarence, a reverend, was largely responsible for raising her after separating from Franklin’s mother in 1948 and relocating the family to the city of Detroit, Michigan.

By the looks of it, Otis Redding certainly wielded an influence over Aretha in some form as the singer had turned Redding’s Think into an absolute sensation with her fine vocals.

“In rapid succession came hits like “Chain of Fools” and the sensual ballad “(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman”.

In the last few days she was visited by several high profile friends, including Stevie Wonder, Reverend Jesse Jackson and her ex-husband actor Glynn Turman.

At the inauguration of Barack Obama in January 2009, where she sang My Country Tis of Thee: An oversized, rhinestone-studded bow, tilting outrageously into Internet infamy.

She was managed by Ted White, a man she married in 1961 at the age of 19 and had another child with three years later. “I’m keeping my face in a jar by the door”, she tells us, remaking the meaning of the line.

“Her music is literally the soundtrack of my life”.