The music legend and Queen of Soul that is Aretha Franklin has sadly passed away.
Her representative, Gwendolyn Quinn, said she died on Thursday. The cause was advanced pancreatic cancer.
The news that she was ‘gravely ill’ and fighting for her life with her family gathered at her bedside emerged last weekend.
She was at home in Detroit, Michigan, when she died.
Franklin battled health problems over the years, beginning in 2010, and had cancelled recent shows due to ill health. She announced her partial retirement last year, saying she would release one last album and perform at "some select things."
The singer rose to fame in the 1960s, and is perhaps best-known for her cover of Otis Redding's classic hit “Respect”, one of her multiple number one hits. She was also renowned for singles like "Natural Woman," "Baby I Love You," "Chain of Fools" and "I Say a Little Prayer".
She became the first woman inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1987 and was the recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the National Medal of Arts and the Kennedy Center Honors. She received 18 Grammy awards over the course of her career, which spanned over six decades, and was named the best singer of all time by Rolling Stone in 2013.
Franklin leaves behind her four sons - Clarence, Edward, Teddy and Kecalf.
