Berklee College of Music remembers Aretha Franklin & honors her legacy

BOSTON - The pride of Motown.

Aretha Franklin was just 14-years-old when she released her first album and went on to win 18 Grammy Awards. In 1987, she became the first woman inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.

A voice of a lifetime that earned her the title of Queen of Soul, Franklin's musical reign transcends generations. With an unparalleled talent, Franklin sang at the inaugurations for Presidents Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton and Barack Obama.

On Thursday, Aug 16, Franklin lost her battle against advanced pancreatic cancer, her publicist told the Associated Press.

In a statement, the family said:

"Franklin's official cause of death was due to advance pancreatic cancer of the neuroendocrine type, which was confirmed by Franklin's oncologist, Dr. Philip Phillips of Karmanos Cancer Institute" in Detroit. We have been deeply touched by the incredible outpouring of love and support we have received from close friends, supporters and fans all around the world. Thank you for your compassion and prayers. We have felt your love for Aretha and it brings us comfort to know that her legacy will live on. As we grieve, we ask that you respect our privacy during this difficult time."

Franklin, who had battled undisclosed health issues in recent years, had in 2017 announced her retirement from touring.

A professional singer and accomplished pianist by her late teens, Franklin was a superstar by her mid-20s. Her lasting legacy will still go on in the hearts of many touched and inspired by her music as well as her political engagement.

As the world bids good bye to one of the greatest popular vocalists of all time, Franklin's music and what it teaches lives on.

Musician Jeff Ramsey teaches a rhythm and blues vocal and performance course at Berklee College of Music, which includes renown names such as Aretha Franklin, Stevie Wonder, Marvin Gaye and Chaka Khan.

"Her music transcended any particular genre," said Ramsey. "When she sang jazz, when she sang the blues, when she sang gospel, when she sang opera, when she sang rock - it all had soul."

Ramsey teaches his students that everything you hear on the radio started with singers like Aretha Franklin.

"Any singer that thinks that they're doing something new with the vocal acrobatics, she started all that," said Ramsey. "It takes the greatest of skills to know it's not how high you can sing or how loud you can sing, or even about how pretty your sound may be."

Franklin's music became an anthem for the civil rights movement, the women's rights movement and future political movements in history. She not only provided the civil rights movement with the right words, transforming pain into liberating song, but also financially supported them and made sure black women had a voice.

"The way she did it it's just, it's soulful, it's unapologetically black," said Ramsey.

In studying her work, students at Berklee College of Music, where Franklin got an honorary doctorate in 2006, remember the Queen of Soul with respect and carry her legacy.

Ramsey says the hardest thing for his students is to let go of their classical technique and capture the raw emotion in their singing that Franklin did so effortlessly.

"[It's important] for us to keep on digging deeper into our soul, into that place that some of us dare not go, because I think that's the kind of singing she did," said Ramsey.

The Associated Press contributed to this report. 

Cox Media Group