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Aretha Franklin Has Passed Away at 76

Photo credit: RB - Getty Images
Photo credit: RB - Getty Images

From Redbook

Aretha Franklin, the Queen of Soul and a music pioneer, has passed away at 76, Aretha's rep confirmed to AP. The singer and songwriter passed away Thursday morning in her house in Detroit. Family had been with her this week, her nephew told People two days ago.

Reports of Aretha being seriously ill first broke Monday morning. TMZ reported, via a source close to Aretha for decades, that Aretha had been battling cancer and in the last two weeks, her health increasingly failed.

Aretha leaves behind a six-decade long career in music — for which she was heavily awarded. Considered a child prodigy on the piano, she got her start performing in front of her father's congregation before traveling to New York City in 1960 to sign with Columbia Records (which, today, represents artists among the likes of Beyoncé and Bob Dylan). She was just 18-years-old at the time.

Aretha went on to receive 44 Grammy nominations and 18 wins, was the first female artist to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and was honored with the Grammy's Lifetime Achievement Award in 1994. Aretha was still performing up through last November 2017:

Photo credit: Theo Wargo - Getty Images
Photo credit: Theo Wargo - Getty Images

Aretha's powerful gospel voice inspired generations of artists; her songs such as "(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman" and "I Never Loved a Man (The Way I Loved You)" endure as some of music's most highly-regarded classics.

Aretha was born in Memphis on March 25, 1942 to C.L. Franklin and Barbara Siggers Franklin. She is survived by her sons Ted White Jr., Kecalf Cunningham, Clarence Franklin, and Edward Franklin.

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