Iconic singer Aretha Franklin has died of pancreatic cancer. She was 76.
Franklin passed away at 9:50 a.m. Thursday inside her Detroit home, according to a publicist.
"In one of the darkest moments of our lives, we are not able to find the appropriate words to express the pain in our heart," her family wrote in a statement. "We have lost the matriarch and rock of our family."
In March, Franklin canceled two concerts after doctors told her to stay off the road and rest for two months. According to a spokesperson, she was battling advanced pancreatic cancer of the neuroendocrine type.
Her most recent performance was a private appearance in November 2017 for the Elton John AIDS Foundation in New York. She last performed publicly in August 2017 at Philadelphia’s Mann Center.
In June 2017, Franklin sang near where she was raised in Detroit – ending the performance with a then-cryptic "Please keep me in your prayers."
Aretha Franklin through the years
The “Queen of Soul” achieved great commercial success with her renditions of songs like Otis Redding’s "Respect" and Carole King and Gerry Goffin’s "(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman.”
Franklin has 18 Grammy awards, including a lifetime achievement award, and five of her songs are in the Grammy Hall of Fame.
A biopic starring Jennifer Hudson as Franklin is slated to begin production in 2019.
Elvis Presley died on the same day 41 years earlier.
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