Queen of Soul

Aretha Franklin’s family is entangled in a legal battle over control of her estate, and now record exec Clive Davis is being dragged into it. We previously reported, Franklin’s son Kecalf Franklin wants the courts to remove the personal representative of his mother’s estate, Sabrina Owens (who is also his cousin), and name him as the rep in […]

News broke that the Queen of Soul left behind close to $1 million in un-cashed checks. Tom for one was not surprised to hear this news. Sybil felt like someone should have made sure that she cashed her checks but Tom brought up a good point, who’s going to tell the Queen what to do?

In the days leading up to the anniversary of Aretha Franklin’s death, two of her doctors spoke out about how the late singer handled her cancer diagnosis. “As a person, she was extremely kind, she was respectful, she was funny — she treated people like me and my team members as her friends,” Dr. Manisha […]

PONTIAC, Mich. (AP) — Aretha Franklin’s sons disagree about who should manage what could be a multimillion-dollar estate. Attorneys for Theodore White II last week told a Michigan judge in a court filing that White should be named co-executor, or personal representative, along with Franklin’s niece, Sabrina Owens. Owens has had that role since the […]

As previously reported, eight months after the death of Aretha Franklin, three handwritten wills have been found in her suburban Detroit home. At the time of her death last August of pancreatic cancer, lawyers and family members said the Queen of Soul had no will, but three handwritten versions were reportedly discovered earlier this month. RELATED: […]

PONTIAC, Mich. (AP) — The discovery of handwritten wills in the home of the late Aretha Franklin could ignite a dispute among family members about the estate of the “Queen of Soul.” She died last August without a formal document to guide her sons about her music, property and other assets. But the newly found […]

PONTIAC, Mich. (AP) — Three handwritten wills have been found in the suburban Detroit home of Aretha Franklin, months after the death of the “Queen of Soul,” including one that was discovered under cushions in the living room, a lawyer said Monday. The latest one is dated March 2014 and appears to give the famous […]

DETROIT (AP) — Family members are celebrating Aretha Franklin on what would have been the Queen of Soul’s 77th birthday with a memorial service and a screening of a documentary film. The service was held Monday inside a chapel at Woodlawn Cemetery in Detroit. Franklin died last year after battling pancreatic cancer and was laid […]

LOS ANGELES (AP) — The late Aretha Franklin’s songs were so impactful that some of music’s bests from Alicia Keys to Celine Dion took the stage Sunday to relive the Queen of Soul’s biggest hits in a taped tribute concert. Every rendition of Franklin’s songs from “Respect” to “I Say a Little Prayer” brought audience […]

NEW YORK (AP) — Elton John said he stood by the stage and sobbed at his foundation’s gala last year as Aretha Franklin made her final public performance. “I was shocked to see how thin she was, and she just smiled her sweet smile at me and said, ‘I didn’t want to let you down,'” […]

BLOOMFIELD TOWNSHIP, Mich. (AP) — The suburban Detroit home of the late “Queen of Soul” is for sale. Aretha Franklin’s 4,148-square-foot (385-square-meter) brick Colonial-style house in Bloomfield Township is listed for $800,000 . It offers five bedrooms, seven bathrooms and access to the gated community’s pool and tennis courts. There also is a three-car garage, […]

    DETROIT (AP) — Former presidents and preachers joined a parade of pop stars Friday in a singing, hip-swaying, piano-pounding farewell to Aretha Franklin, remembering the Queen of Soul as a powerful force for musical and political change and a steadfast friend. In a send-off both grand and personal, an all-star lineup of mourners […]