Aretha Franklin has died at age 76, publicist says

Aretha Franklin
Theo
Wargo/Getty

• Aretha Franklin, the “Queen of Soul,” died at her home
  in Detroit on Thursday at the age of 76, her publicist told the
  Associated Press. 
• Her cause of death was advanced pancreatic cancer,
  according to a statement from Franklin’s oncologist.
• Franklin’s passing follows reports earlier this week
  that the singer was “gravely ill” and put on hospice care in
  her home in Michigan.

Soul music legend Aretha Franklin died at her home in Detroit on
Thursday at the age of 76, her publicist told the
Associated Press. 

Her cause of death was advanced pancreatic cancer,
according to a statement from Franklin’s oncologist to the
AP. 

Franklin’s passing follows reports earlier this week that cited
friends and family who said the “Queen of Soul” was “gravely
ill” and put on hospice care in her home in Michigan. 

Her publicist, Gwendolyn Quinn, released a statement from
Franklin’s family to the AP, which read: “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.”

Franklin released her first album, “Songs of Faith,” in 1956, and
her decades-spanning career earned 10 top 10 singles, including
“(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman,” “Think,” “I Say a
Little Prayer,” “Chain of Fools,” and her iconic cover of Otis
Redding’s “Respect.”  

Franklin was one of the best-selling female artists in history
with
75 million records sold worldwide in her career, according to
one industry estimate. 

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