J-Speaks: The Ultimate Send-Off For The "Queen of Soul"

Three Thursdays ago, the world lost one of the most impactful people on not just the music industry, but one of the most powerful and forceful people that created change in not just music but in society. On Friday, the “Queen of Soul,” who taught us all to have “R-E-S-P-E-C-T” for one another received a star-studded send-off where a who’s who of entertainment, politics, media and the famous of the “Motor City.”  

The grand marathon eulogy of Aretha Louise Franklin, who passed away on Aug 16. at the age of 76 from reportedly pancreatic cancer had the proper send off fit for a queen at the Greater Grace Temple in her hometown of Detroit, MI. 

Ms. Franklin’s body arrived at the Temple in a very glossy gold casket that was carried into the temple by six pallbearers down her last ever red carpet. 

The casket was placed in right in the front of the church and was surrounded by hundreds of pink roses. 

She was dressed in a floor-length gold down and gold sequence pumps, which was the fourth and final wardrobe change in a week-long celebration, where her casket spent three days for the public to see in the “Motor City.” 

During one of the public viewings, Ms. Franklin was dressed in famed Christian Louis Vuitton high heel shoes, that were red. 

In tribute to her 1985 dance pop hit song “Freeway of Love,” more than 100 pink Cadillacs were brought in from across the nation to escort Ms. Franklin out in style. 

“Usually if it moves me, then other people like it,” Franklin said back in 1985 to “Entertainment Tonight” of her single being a hit. 

“The video was a lot of fun. It was my first. We did it at Doug’s Body Shop here in Detroit. I thought it was very nice.” 

It was fitting that on the day of her passing that a 1942 white two-door LaSalle Cadillac transport Ms. Franklin’s body. It was the same car that 34 years prior that transported her father, the renowned minister C.L. Franklin to his funeral. That same car also transported the body of Civil Rights activist Rosa Parks. 

Franklin sung at that service at the same chapel and said of honoring her fellow civil rights icon to “ET,” “I have a great respect and admiration for her courage.” 

Ms. Franklin’s final resting place will be at the famed Woodlawn Cemetery near her two sisters, her father, and the same place of Ms. Parks. 

Music as expected was the highlight of the epic service and producer of the ceremony Curtis Farrow said to “ET’s” Kevin Frazier the performers asked to sing at the service were more than happy to be a moment as Farrow put it, “We truly lost a history maker.” 

Grammy Award-winning artist and 2004 “American Idol” winner Fantasia Barrino performed the gospel song “Precious Lord, Take My Hand/You’ve Got a Friend,” without her shoes, which Franklin also did on her “Amazing Grace” album. 

“Everything,” is what Barrino said after her performance to ET’s Frazier. “Aretha Franklin, she is music. She is music.” 

Ariane Grande, whose short black dress made a lot of negative headlines sung Ms. Franklin’s 1967 hit “(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman. 

After her performance, the minister of the ceremony called Grande over for a funny moment saying, “When I saw Ariane Grande on the program I thought that was a new something at Taco Bell.”

Former American Idol contestant, singer and actor Jennifer Hudson, who sang “Amazing Grace” and said to the cameras of Entertainment Tonight about Ms. Franklin’s passing before her performance, “I have no words. I just want to be here for The Queen.” 

Audrey DuBois Harris, who sang “Great Is Thy Faithfulness;” The Clark Sisters, who hail from Detroit and who Franklin sang at their mother’s funeral sang “Is My Living in Vain?”

Legend Chaka Khan brought the house down with a lively version of “Going Up Younder,” while Jennifer Holiday and Ron Isley also performed. 

“I loved her very much. We loved each other,” Khan said to Frazier about her friendship with Ms. Franklin. “I’m honored to be here and give her a beautiful send off.” 

Another performance that got some of those in attendance on their feet, especially actor, and co-host on ABC’s “The View” Whoopi Goldberg was country star Faith Hill set the gospel tone for the service with a soul infused version of “What a Friend We Have in Jesus.” 

Other stars in attendance were actor and director Tyler Perry, and actors Cicely Tyson and Jennifer Lewis of ABC’s comedy “Blackish.”  

Childhood friend of Ms. Franklin’s since age 8 in the Motown legend Smokey Robinson crooned a few lines from his song “Really Gonna Miss You,” consisting of, “really gonna miss you. Truly gonna be different without you.” 

Robinson, who sat next to NBA Hall of Famer and two-time champion of the Detroit Pistons Isiah Thomas said of the first time that he heard Ms. Franklin’s God-Giving voice to the audience, “Eight years old just singing. That was my first reading and my first sight of you, and you’re going to be one of the featured voices in the choir of angels because you have to be.”

Former President Bill Clinton, who sat next to Rev. Jesse Jackson, Rev. Al Sharpton and Nation of Islam’s leader Louis Farrakhan in the front row played Ms. Franklin’s music on his phone, which consisted of the song “Think,” that got a laugh from Ms. Franklin’s Orchestra, his wife in former Secretary of State Hillary.” 

Mr. Clinton said to the audience that before ever holding office, Mrs. Clinton and he were “Aretha groupies” and performed once at The White House while he was president. 

 “She lived with courage. I just loved her,” he said at the service. “God Bless you Aretha. We love you.”

Among those of Ms. Franklin’s family at the service were granddaughter Victorie Franklin, niece Cristal Franklin, and grandson Jordan, who spoke with great affection for their famous relative who loved gossip and kept photos of her loved ones on her piano.

For the service, many of Franklin’s loved ones were dressed in all white in tribute to the legendary singer.  

Victorie in her speech said, “I remember when I was a kid people used to always ask me, ‘What’s it feel like to be Aretha Franklin’s granddaughter?’”

“And I would always shrug my shoulders and go, ‘I don’t know? It’s just my grandma.’” 

While she might have been just that to her grandchildren, she was an inspiration, motivator, and captivator to all those that saw her perform live, on television or on the silver screen. 

Ms. Franklin was also someone who had a personality of a diva, but also had a personality that was relatable to the average person. 

As Holiday, who sang Ms. Franklin’s “Climbing Higher Mountains” to conclude the service put it, “A lady next door.”

Legend Gladys Knight, who segued from the song “You’ll Never Walk Alone” to “Bridge Over Troubled Water” echoed those same sentiments by saying to Frazier, “She gave it all. Everything that God gave her as far as her gift is concerned. She used it and she used it to make a difference in the world.”

That was on full display at her funeral where before the service all those in attendance, especially the big stars of today had a chance to meet and mingle inside the church. 

Grande and fiancée Pete Davidson mingled with the likes of former President Clinton and Mrs. Clinton while also taking selfies.   

To bring home how special this send off was to a true American treasure and inspiration, there were 27 speakers in total at a service that was over eight hours long. A total of 18 musical tributes and what was supposed to be a private service for 4,000 people, but the Franklin family at the last minute opened the service to 1,000 members of the public. There were seven video cameras and three still photographers to capture candid moments of the grandkids hugging one another and of Mr. Clinton with Grande and Davidson.

Back in August, the nation and the world said goodbye to Aretha Louise Franklin, a woman who was a once in a generation entertainer, a wonderful mom, grandmother, and a leader who had an impact both musically and socially. She found her voice and shared it first with the members of New Bethel Baptist Church in Detroit and then the world. 

She also gave to the world a sense of responsibility of respect and care for one’s self and for others regardless of their differences. 

That resulted in a career, a life that was celebrated and a home going where her family, friends, fans admires, “Motor City” natives and the world got a chance to say thank you to a “Queen” whose music ruled the airwaves and stages across the globe and whose music will live on until the end of time.   

Information and quotations are courtesy of 8/31/18 7 p.m. “Inside Edition” on WCBS 2 New York with Diane McInerney with report from Steven Fabian; 8/31/18 7:30 p.m. edition of “Entertainment Tonight” on WCBS 2 New York with Nancy O’Dell and Kevin Frazier; 9/1/18 7 a.m. edition of NBC News’ “Today” with Sheinelle Jones and Kristen Welker, with report from Ron Mott; 9/1/18 Newsday article, “Paying R-E-S-P-E-C-T-S To Aretha,” by “The Associated Press;” 9/1/18 New York Post article, “Aretha’s Voice Lives On,” by Chuck Arnold; https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freeway_of_Love; and https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aretha_Franklin.