Born on March 25, 1942, Franklin, an American singer and pianist began her career as a child singing gospel at New Bethel Baptist Church in Detroit, Michigan, where her father, C.L Franklin was a minister.
The legendary singer whose gospel-rooted singing and bluesy yet expansive delivery earned her the title “the Queen of Soul,” was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in 2010, and she announced in 2017 that she was retiring from music.
Franklin, mom-of-4 sons- Clarence Franklin, 63, Edward Franklin, 61, Ted White Jr., 54, and Kecalf Cunningham was on August 13, 2018; reported to have been seriously ill at her home in Riverfront Towers, Detroit.
She was also said to have been under hospice care surrounded by friends and family. She died in her home at 9:50a.m on August 16, 2018, aged 76. The cause of death was reported as advance pancreatic cancer of the neuroendocrine type according to a statement on behalf of Franklin’s family from her longtime publicist, Gwendolyn Quinn.
The family statement says:
“The official cause of death was due to advance pancreatic cancer of the neuroendocrine type, which was confirmed by Franklin’s oncologist, Dr. Philip Phillips of Karmanos Cancer Institute in Detroit.”
Her death came 3 days after a source close to Franklin told CNN’s Don Lemon, that the singer was in hospice care.
“In one of the darkest moments of our lives, we are not able to find the appropriate words to express the pain in our heart. 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,” the family said in a statement.
“We have been deeply touched by the incredible outpouring of love and support we have received from close friends, supporters and fans all around the world.
Thank you for your compassion and prayers. We have felt your love for Aretha and it brings us comfort to know that her legacy will live on. As we grieve, we ask that you respect our privacy during this difficult time.”
Meanwhile, Aretha Franklin’s ex-husband, Glynn Turman has described the Queen of Soul’s final days after visiting her on her deathbed 2 days before she died.
Turman was joined by Stevie Wonder when he paid his last respects on Tuesday. The actor said his former wife was ‘strong until the very end’.
Speaking to ITV’s Good Morning Britain from Los Angeles, he said:
”We were just both on the plane to pay our respects, both trying to hold onto the hope that everything would be alright.”
Turman said when he arrived at Franklin’s Detroit home on Tuesday, her carer gently shook her and said “Aretha, Glenn is here.”
”She woke up, opened her eyes and made contact. It was a wonderful thing to see. I could tell by the look in her eye, she knew it was me. I was holding her hand at her bedside, holding her wrist,” the 71-year-old said.
”Her pulse was so strong and full of life. Her breathing was such a defiance of what was attacking her.”
“I felt her pulse holding her frail, frail arm. I was able to feel her pulse, which was strong. So she was fighting ’til the very end. She’s always been a warrior — a strong, strong woman and a fighter. Her pulse told me that she was not in surrender mode. She was going to fight it ’til the end.”
During his visit, Franklin was conscious but unable to communicate with Turman and Stevie Wonder.
”Still, she did know that I was there,” he says. “And we were able to feed off of that recognition, feed off of the moment of both sort of realizing that time was extremely precious at this time. So it was a moment full of closure.”
Franklin was married twice. Her 1st husband was Theodore “Ted” White, whom she married in 1961 at age 19. After a contentious marriage that involved domestic violence, Franklin separated from White in 1968, divorcing him in 1969. Franklin then married her 2nd husband, actor Glynn Turman on April 11, 1978; at her father’s church. They separated in 1982 and were divorced in 1984.
Franklin never married again but remained close to longtime lover, Willie Wilkerson until her death, while Turman got married once more.
Despite their marriage ending, Turman says he and Franklin “remained friends over the years” and would often speak on the phone, mostly about a film she was working on.
Turman saw a side of Franklin that the public did not always see.
“The good times were wonderful. The things we were able to share, things we were able to do together, the concerts that we were able to share,” he recalls.
“People think of her often as an iconic singer, an iconic performer, but they don’t necessarily remember that she was a mother and a wife and someone’s lover,” he adds. “There was that part that I’m glad I got to know about.”
“She was hilarious,” he says. “She had a roster of jokes and could make funny situations out of situations that you wouldn’t think … were funny.”
At the same time, Franklin was “stubborn, stubborn as hell,” he adds.
“Women’s Rights Movement should have her name written all over. She just didn’t take tea for the fever, as the old folks would say. She was stubborn and hard to persuade. When she got her mind made up on something, you might as well pretty much forget trying to change it.”
The singer had been reported to be in failing health for years and appeared frail in recent photos, but she kept her struggles private.
A source told PEOPLE that Franklin had taken a turn for the worse and that her death was “imminent.”
“She has been ill for a long time,” the longtime friend told PEOPLE. “She did not want people to know and she didn’t make it public.”
In summer of 2011, Franklin performed live at several concerts and talk shows to promote her album, Aretha: A Woman Falling Out of Love”, looking svelte and healthy.
In April of that year, she sat down for an interview with PEOPLE just months after being hospitalized for an unspecified operation. Though she strongly denied having bariatric surgery, the singer — who had lost 85 lbs. — did not directly address the rumours that she had cancer.
“I feel fabulous, really,” she told PEOPLE. “And I’m so thankful to all of the people who said a little prayer for me. People at the check out line in the market were telling me that they prayed for me. It’s amazing how beautiful people can be.”
A musical phenomenon who crossed musical, racial and gender barriers, Franklin began her vocal career as a teenager, singing gospel hymns in her father’s Detroit church.
From these humble beginnings she scaled to the very heights of stardom, scoring her first national chart-topper in 1967 with a searing version of “Respect.”
May Aretha Louise Franklin‘s soul rest in perfect peace.
