FANS paid their respects en masse Tuesday to US music icon and “Queen of Soul” Aretha Franklin, whose body lay in a golden casket while dressed in a red dress and matching stilettos in Detroit.
The 76-year-old singer, beloved by millions around the world, died of cancer on August 16, closing the curtain on a glittering six-decade career that made her one of America’s most celebrated artists.
Thousands of people are expected to bid her farewell at the Charles H. Wright Museum for African American History on Tuesday and Wednesday, at her father’s New Bethel Baptist Church on Thursday and a star-studded funeral on Friday.
White-gloved, sharp-suited pallbearers escorted her casket into the museum for the first of two days of 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. viewing, where she lay in state surrounded by enormous clouds of pink, white and purple roses.