- Title: Remembering Aretha Franklin ahead of her funeral on August 31
- Date: 27th August 2018
- Summary: NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK, UNITED STATES (FILE - FEBRUARY 17, 2012) (REUTERS) ***WARNING CONTAINS FLASH PHOTOGRAPHY*** (SOUNDBITE) (English) SINGER ARETHA FRANKLIN SAYING: "Well it's always wonderful when you can make a contribution and you can help people help people - so I love that, yes, that's what I'm about." NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK, UNITED STATES (FILE) (REUTERS) FRANK
- Embargoed: 10th September 2018 19:56
- Keywords: Aretha Franklin funeral Detroit Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Grammys singer
- Location: NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK, UNITED STATES/LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, UNITED STATES/WASHINGTON DC, UNITED STATES/PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA, UNITED STATES/CLEVELAND, OHIO, UNITED STATES
- City: NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK, UNITED STATES/LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, UNITED STATES/WASHINGTON DC, UNITED STATES/PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA, UNITED STATES/CLEVELAND, OHIO, UNITED STATES
- Country: USA
- Topics: Arts / Culture / Entertainment,Music
- Reuters ID: LVA0038UYRAKN
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: 'Queen of Soul' Aretha Franklin will be laid to rest on Friday (August 31) at a ceremony in Detroit.
Franklin, 76, died on August 16 of pancreatic cancer in her Detroit home. Her Aug. 31 funeral will be held at Detroit's 4,000-seat Greater Grace Temple, which was the venue for the 2005 funeral of civil rights activist Rosa Parks.
Stevie Wonder, Jennifer Hudson and country singer Faith Hill will sing at the funeral. They will be joined by R&B singers Chaka Khan, Ron Isley, Fantasia and Yolanda Adams at the funeral for the late Queen of Soul, Franklin's publicist Gwendolyn Quinn said in a statement last week.
The funeral will be limited to family, friends, dignitaries and special guests.
Thousands of members of the public are expected to pay their respects to Franklin during three days of viewing of her casket at Detroit's Museum of African-American History, and at the New Bethel Baptist Church where a teenaged Franklin sang in the gospel choir.
The 18-time Grammy-winning singer of hits like "Chain of Fools" and "Respect" was born in Memphis, Tennessee, but grew up in Detroit and retained strong links to the city.
Her father, the Rev. C.L. Franklin, was a minister at the New Bethel Baptist Church for more than 30 years and Franklin honed her singing skills in the church choir.
Franklin's second son, Edward Franklin, will also sing at the funeral, along with the Aretha Franklin Orchestra and the Aretha Franklin Choir, Quinn said.
Detroit news media on Thursday reported plans by Greater Grace Temple church leaders to bring in dozens of pink Cadillacs to line the streets for next Friday's service. Franklin sang about cruising joyously in a pink Cadillac in her 1985 hit "Freeway of Love." - Copyright Holder: FILE REUTERS (CAN SELL)
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