Aretha Franklin: Tributes Flow In For Queen Of Soul

'Dotun Akintomide
Writer

Ad

NUPENG dues is N7,000 not N54,000, By Owei Lakemfa

By Owei Lakemfa I have, given my experience as a retired labour leader, journalist, patriot and human rights activist, risen in the last few weeks to defend the fundamental rights of workers in the oil industry. I did this because I cannot fold my hands as Dangote Plc dumps huge funds on the mass and…

Ranked: Gas Prices Around the World in 2025

Key Takeaways Fuel prices in Hong Kong rank as the highest globally, at $3.07 per liter in 2025. Several European cities rank among the world’s most expensive for gasoline, driven by energy supply shocks. Riyadh, Saudi Arabia has seen the fastest price increase since 2020 across 69 cities analyzed, with fuel costs up nearly 49%.…

Oil Prices Edge Higher After Steep Two-Day Selloff

Oil prices recovered slightly in early Asian trading on Wednesday after two straight sessions of steep declines, as traders weighed the prospect of a larger OPEC+ output increase against signs of tighter U.S. crude inventories. At the time of writing, Brent futures for December delivery had climbed to $66.17 while WTI was trading at $62.50, up 0.21% on the…

Ad

Tributes are pouring in from the worlds of entertainment and politics for Aretha Franklin, the US singer known as the Queen of Soul, who has died at 76.

Franklin performed at inauguration events for three US presidents and was a powerful advocate for the civil rights movement.

“For more than 50 years, she stirred our souls,” Bill and Hillary Clinton said in a joint statement.

Barack Obama said her music had “helped define the American Experience”.

Remembered for hits like Respect and I Say A Little Prayer, Franklin won 18 Grammys and had 17 Top Ten US chart hits over a musical career spanning seven decades.

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

The singer died at her home in Detroit surrounded by family and loved ones, her family said in a statement.

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”.

She was “one of America’s greatest national treasures”, the Clintons said. “She was elegant, graceful, and utterly uncompromising in her artistry.”

Mr Obama said in a joint statement with his wife Michelle: “In her voice, we could feel our history, all of it and in every shade — our power and our pain, our darkness and our light, our quest for redemption and our hard-won respect.

“She helped us feel more connected to each other, more hopeful, more human. And sometimes she helped us just forget about everything else and dance.”

The current President, Donald Trump, tweeted that Franklin had been a “great woman, with a wonderful gift from God, her voice”.

The ACLU (American Civil Liberties Union) said Franklin had made sure “black women wouldn’t be ignored”.

Ad

Unlocking Opportunities in the Gulf of Guinea during UNGA80
X whatsapp