On Thursday, August 17th, the music world lost a legend. Aretha Franklin, also known as “The Queen of Soul” has died from pancreatic cancer at the age of 76.
Franklin leaves behind four children, timeless classics, and a list of charitable and philanthropic work. Aretha’s father, who was a baptist minister, was also a civil rights activist. Aretha performed at many civil rights events and has donated money. She also performed at the dedication of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr’s memorial in 2011 as well as Rosa Parks’s funeral.
Every year the soul singer would donate to food pantries during the holidays and has supported charities such as feeding America and the Barbara Davis Center for Childhood Diabetes. She also performed with former U.S. secretary Condoleezza Rice in 2010 at Philadelphia’s Mann Music Center to raise money for inner city children and raise awareness for music and the arts in the Philadelphia and Detroit area, which is the singer’s hometown.
Franklin was dedicated to make the world a better place. In fact, her final performance was last year at Elton John’s annual AIDs Foundation gala. Franklin also supported the American Grammy Foundation, The Rainforest Foundation, Robert F Kennedy Memorial, The Special Olympics, and the NAACP.
