‘Greatest vocalist I’ve ever known’: Celebrities lead tributes to Aretha Franklin

She died at her home in Detroit on Thursday, her publicist told AP news agency.

She announced past year she was retiring from music.

Since rising to fame in the ’60s, Franklin has been cited as the musical inspiration for countless contemporary performers, including Jennifer Hudson and Christina Aguilera.

Last year, Aretha gave her last performance at a gala in NY held in aid of the Elton John Aids Foundation.

The Queen of Soul remained a prominent face – and voice – for African American civil rights throughout her life.

When Aretha Franklin held court, it was always on her terms.

Aretha Franklin grew up in 1950s Detroit, surrounded from childhood by the now-famous faces of the civil rights movement.

“Aretha’s legacy should be excellence in music”, Mitchell said. But Aretha did and she raised the roof.

Her parents separated in 1948, and contrary to popular belief, Barbara Frankin stayed very close to her children until her death in 1952. She did not attend either. But she kept pursuing her dream.

Her father started to manage her when she was 14 and she toured the country performing in various churches.

King was a frequent guest in her father’s home. She got a musical education from gospel greats: the Staple Singers, the Soul Stirrers, James Cleveland and The Mighty Clouds of Joy.

Aretha may have passed on to a better place, but the gift of her music remains to inspire us all. She left Atlantic and, in 1980, signed with Artista Records, the label founded by Clive Davis.

The singer continued to cancel shows between 2011 and 2018 on doctor’s orders while she recovered from illness. We were witnessing the greatest soul artist of all time.

“The Queen in Waiting: The Columbia Years 1960-1965” (2002): Highlights from her underrated jazz and big-band recordings before she became a national star. Respect, in her version, was a declaration of independence. Her records sold millions of copies and the music industry couldn’t honor her enough. “The greatest vocalist I’ve ever known”, tweeted fellow musician John Legend, who had collaborated with Franklin in “What Y’All Came To Do”.

“For more than six decades. every time she sang, we were all graced with a glimpse of the divine”. Her last public performance was at Philadelphia’s Mann Centre in August 2017; she was already battling dehydration and exhaustion.

Aretha Franklin-the legendary “Queen of Soul”-has died at the age of 76″. The mother of four boys has also had severe weight issues and has struggled with alcoholism and smoking addictions.

“My parents took me to see Aretha Franklin at the Apollo Theater in 1971”.