“Queen of Soul” Aretha Franklin dies at 76

American “Queen of Soul” Aretha Franklin, who became the first woman inducted into Rock and Roll Hall of fame, has died in Detroit at the age of 76.

Aretha was diagnosed with cancer in 2010. She announced last year, she was retiring from music.

Announced as legendary singer, Aretha was born in Memphis to a gospel singer/ pianist and a celebrated Baptist preacher. She was tutored how to sing since she was at an early age by such gospel stars as Mahalia Jackson and Clara Ward. At the age of 18, she published her very first album. However, she did not gain attention at the time. She struggled to find fame in the early years, with record label Columbia unsure how to frame her impressively powerful voice.

Until 1966, Atlantic Records saw her paired with the famed Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section, prompting some of her most soulful performances. In 1967, she gained a big success on the songs of “Respect”, “ A Natural Woman” etc. By 1968 she was renowned throughout America and Europe as “Lady Soul”, which was a symbol of black pride who appeared on the cover of Time and was given an award by Martin Luther King.

In her music life, there were total 112 songs were on the Billboard Chart, including 17 songs were on the Top 10 songs. She was the female singer who got the most songs on chart.

She gained a total 18 Grammy Music Awards, and was one of the best selling album singers in history. There were total 75 million sold around the world.

In the 1980s, she scored a number of big hits including “Who’s Zooming Who?” and “I Knew You Were Waiting”, after an eye-catching cameo in cult comedy The Blue Brothers.

In 2005, she was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President George W Bush when she was saluted for “capturing the hearts of millions of Americans”.