NEW YORK, NY – APRIL 14: Singer Aretha Franklin performs onstage at the 10th Annual TV Land Awards at the Lexington Avenue Armory on April 14, 2012 in New York City. Andrew H. Walker/Getty Images/AFP
NEW YORK, NY – APRIL 14: Singer Aretha Franklin performs onstage at the 10th Annual TV Land Awards at the Lexington Avenue Armory on April 14, 2012 in New York City. Andrew H. Walker/Getty Images/AFP
Fans queued en masse Tuesday to pay their respects to legendary US singer Aretha Franklin at her open casket viewing in Detroit, ushering in a four-day celebration of her life.
Beloved by millions around the world, the “Queen of Soul” died on August 16 following an extraordinary six-decade career that made her one of America’s most celebrated artists, also admired for her civil rights work.
On Tuesday, white-gloved pallbearers escorted her gold casket into the Charles H. Wright Museum for African American History, where local media reported that people camped out through the night to pay their respects.
Proceedings of Aretha Franklin final sendoff
Thousands of people are expected to file past her body in repose at the museum from 9 am to 9 pm on Tuesday and Wednesday, followed by an afternoon viewing at her father’s New Bethel Baptist Church on Thursday.
Considered royalty in her Michigan hometown of Detroit, people travelled from far and wide to wait outside the museum. Some wore Aretha T-shirts or held umbrellas and fanned themselves under the hot sun.
“She’s the Queen. She’s an icon, a legend. It’s just an honor to be able to be here to pay tribute to her,” one man told Detroit’s Local 4 News.
“Her music changed the lives of many and it’s an honor to be here,” said another who journeyed from Toledo, Ohio. “She touched so many people and it’s just a blessing,” he told the same network.
Civil rights icon Rosa Parks also lay in state at the same Detroit museum after she died in 2005.
A free tribute concert honoring Franklin’s life will be held on Thursday evening, before her funeral at the Greater Grace Temple on Friday, where Stevie Wonder and Jennifer Hudson are among stars expected to perform.
Former US president Bill Clinton, Smokey Robinson and Jesse Jackson, the civil rights leader, are among those expected to attend the service.
The 76-year-old gospel, soul and R&B star legend influenced generations of singers with unforgettable hits including “Respect” (1967), “Natural Woman” (1968) and “I Say a Little Prayer” (1968).
She died surrounded by family and loved ones, following a battle with cancer.
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