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Cape Town - The world is mourning the loss of the Queen of Soul, Aretha Franklin, after she died from pancreatic cancer on Thursday in her Detroit home at the age of 76.
In honour of the late songstress, pop star Ariana Grande performed (You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman, the 1967 hit from Lady Soul, Aretha’s 14th studio album.
The performance took place last night on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon.
The God Is a Woman singer was visibly emotional while delivering her power-house vocals on stage, People reports.
WATCH THE PERFORMANCE HERE:
The 25-year-old then shared a picture of her and with late legend, saying she was so happy to have met Aretha.
“I met her a few times. We sang at the White House and she was so sweet, she was so cute,” Ariana said.
“It’s an honour to have met her.”
Jimmy then shared his memories of Aretha, Rolling Stone reports.
“She was so funny and so charming, and nice to everyone on staff, top to bottom . . . I just love her so much,” he said.
In a statement Franklin’s family said, “In one of the darkest moments of our lives, we are not able to find the appropriate words to express the pain in our heart. We’ve lost the matriarch and rock of our family. The love she had for her children, grandchildren, nieces, nephews, and cousins knew no bounds."
Former US president Barack Obama also paid tribute in a tweet, “Aretha helped define the American experience. 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. May the Queen of Soul rest in eternal peace.”
Aretha Franklin passed away on the morning of 16 August surrounded by family, Elle reports.
Sources: Elle, Rolling Stone, People
