Soul singer passes away at 76

Legendary singer,

The soul singer who had a very successful career passed away in the early hours of Thursday, August 16, after a long illness, that saw her admitted at an hospital in Detroit.

According to a statement released by her publicist and received by a number of online media, the singer died of advanced pancreatic cancer in the early hours of Thursday at her home in Detroit.

"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 have lost the matriarch and rock of our family," the family said.

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There have been speculations that Aretha Franklin was diagnosed with cancer, which persisted for years, but she had never publicly confirmed that she was suffering.

In November 2017, there were rumors that she had passed away, but she refuted those speculations with the release of a statement to US Weekly.

The 18-time Grammy winner who underwent a surgery in 2010 was confirmed dead on Thursday.

On Aretha Franklin

Born on March 25, 1942, Aretha Franklin, has not performed in public since November last year and cancelled two concerts scheduled for April and March this year on the orders of her doctors.

The singer who announced her retirement last year released her first album in 1956.

Rumors of her health problems resurfaced in May, when she announced to an audience that she was battling an “upper respiratory viral infection.”

Franklin eventually recorded a total of 112 charted singles on Billboard, has over 20 number one singles in the US, becoming the most charted female artist in the charts history, and winning the Grammy for Best R&B vocal performance for eight years running [1968 to 1975].