The music world’s focus this week will undoubtedly be on Lady Soul, Aretha Franklin, whose memorial service and funeral will be held in her hometown of Detroit, Michigan in the United States.
She died on 16 August after suffering from advanced pancreatic cancer at the age of 76.
The public will be allowed to view Franklin’s body at the Charles H Wright Museum of African American History on Tuesday and Wednesday.
The legendary diva will be buried on Friday at the Woodlawn Cemetery.
The Queen of Soul, an activist for civil and women’s rights in America, is also known for her passionate support of the late former president, Nelson Mandela and the liberation movement on home soil through her musical tributes while she was still alive.
Franklin played a unique role in welcoming Madiba to the States after his release.
On 20 June, 1990 during a freedom rally in his honour in Detroit, the singer called Mandela onto the stage where he spoke about listening to her music while in detention.
![[File photo] Library seen in the image above.](https://www.sabcnews.com/sabcnews/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/Bellville-Library-@Bellvillelibrary-120x86.jpg)
