Legendary End!

Aretha Franklin, RIP — Queen Of Soul Dead At 76 Years Old

Legendary diva died as tribute concert was being planned

By J.R. Taylor

Aug 16, 2018 @ 10:08AM

Aretha Franklin — who won 18 Grammys as a legendary R&B singer and songwriter — has passed away from pancreatic cancer at her Detroit home at the age of 76. The pop diva was born in Memphis, but helped to turn the Motor City into a musical hotbed after moving there with her pastor father as a young woman. As covered by The National ENQUIRER, friends began to fear the worst when Aretha announced in Aug. 2017 that she was planning to return to Detroit in retirement. The megastar spoke of launching a food empire and performing at her own nightclub in the city, but both fans and friends were convinced she’d actually returned home to die. The Queen of Soul even had to struggle to finish her farewell concert tour, after canceling multiple dates — and often having to leave the stage during some shows…

Aretha Franklin, RIP — Queen Of Soul Dead At 76 Years Old

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A July 2017 concert in Virginia had ended with Aretha abruptly leaving the stage for 10 minutes. "Then she tried to cover an Adele song," added an eyewitness, "and just gave up singing at one point!" Aretha also lost a shocking amount of weight at the end of 2017. An insider told The ENQUIRER that Aretha was “due to have radical chemotherapy treatments, and was told by doctors she needed to lose weight if she wanted to survive.”

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The "Respect" singer had already shocked fans by announcing during an Aug. 2016 concert that she had just recently recovered from a secret bout with cancer. Just days after the show in Boston, Aretha was forced to cancel several more dates on "doctor's orders" — and had already told an interviewer, "I'm going to be retiring."

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A family member had confirmed to RADAR Online on Aug. 12 that Aretha was "very ill" and surrounded by family members. Stars including Mariah Carey were soon offering their prayers for Aretha's recovery — although the outspoken singer was also notorious for fueling feuds with divas including Dionne Warwick, and had even sparked family disputes. But an all-star turnout is still expected for a tribute concert that Aretha helped plan in her final days!

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Photo credit: Getty Images

Roger Friedman of Showbiz 411 revealed that music mogul Clive Davis had gotten together with Aretha to plan "A Tribute to Aretha Franklin." The show was scheduled for November 14th at Madison Square Garden, in hopes that Aretha would attend to see her fellow artists performing hits like “Natural Woman,” “Respect,” “Chain of Fools,” “Think” — plus hits that Aretha penned herself, including “Daydreamin” and “Who's Zoomin' Who.”