Aretha Franklin, the first woman to be inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, dubbed the Queen of Soul for powerful anthems like “Respect” and “Chain of Fools” — died on Thursday at her home in Detroit.
The legendary singer was diagnosed with cancer in 2010 and announced last year she was retiring from music.
Known for hits like Respect and Think, she had more than 20 US number ones over a career spanning seven decades.
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.Known as “the queen of soul”, Franklin sold more than 75m records in her lifetime and won 18 Grammy awards. She had 77 entries in the US Billboard Hot 100 and 20 No 1 singles on the R&B chart.
