Legendary singer, Aretha Franklin popularly known as “The Queen of Soul is dead.
A statement issued on Thursday by her longtime publicist Gwendolyn Quinn, on behalf of Franklin’s family, said Franklin, died at 9:50 a.m. at her home in Detroit surrounded by family and friends.
The “official cause of death was due to advance pancreatic cancer of the neuron-endocrine type, which was confirmed by Franklin’s oncologist, Dr. Philip Phillips of Karmanos Cancer Institute in Detroit,” the family said.
[penci_blockquote style=”style-2″ align=”none” author=””]“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,” Franklin’s family said.[/penci_blockquote]
“In one of the darkest moments of our lives, we are not able to find the appropriate words to express the pain in our hearts.
“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,” Franklin’s family said.
Aretha Franklin’s died days after her health was reported to be failing. She had also appeared frail in her recent photographs, although she kept her struggles private.
Franklin began her career at the New Bethel Baptist Church in Detroit as a child, singing gospel act, where her father, C. L. Franklin was minister.
In 1960, at the age of 18, she embarked on a secular career, recording for Columbia Records but only achieving modest success.
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Following her signing to Atlantic Records in 1967, Franklin achieved commercial acclaim and success with songs such as “Respect’’, “(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman”, “Spanish Harlem’’ and “Think’’.
Franklin, at the time of death, had received 38 awards 38 times with 49 nominations.
The awards included 18 Grammy Awards, three Grammy special awards, three NAACP Image Award, three American Music Awards and one TV Land Award.