Five songs to immerse yourself in to celebrate the legendary Aretha Franklin

As the camera panned back over to Lemon, he was singing along to the hit – his eyes filled with tears. And now that I’m inspired and no longer have to take my talents to Magic City to supplement for unpaid invoices, let me walk to my bosses office and demand my cash advance, right quick (say a little prayer for me, *wink wink*).

Asked later what the song meant to her, she told Vogue: “I can relate to it very easily”.

Fred Zilian, a university teacher from Rhode Island on a reunion with classmates from the United States military academy West Point, danced with his wife to an Aretha track playing at the Motown Museum. One of the bestselling recording artists of all time, she became famous in the 1960s as a singer with a uniquely expressive voice possessing great passion and control. “It was my aunt, but it was still Aretha Franklin”, says Charles. Although the interview took place “early”, Franklin serenaded Lemon with her hit, “Respect”. She was a civil rights and feminist icon, and she changed American popular vocal style. “It was.” Franklin replied. When I do hear her, I am reminded of all she embodied in her work as well as her life, and all of the historical moments at which her work gave embodiment to mine. “Sorry. But if I were?” “She was going to fight it ’til the end”. “I want to begin today by expressing my condolences to the family of a person I knew well”.

She also dropped more intel about their relationship and revealed she knew they’d be together forever since meeting on the set of Saturday Night Live in 2016.

“We have lost the matriarch and rock of our family”. He visited her in a room where she was getting ready, and she looked at him and said, “Rev. Al, it don’t get better than that, Aretha getting her hair done in the White House with a black president!”

A spokesperson for the family said that a traditional public viewing at a church just wouldn’t be enough to accommodate the thousands, if not tens of thousands, of mourners who are expected to pay their respects.