Respect. Thankfully my father has a version of respect like nobodys vision. Do we have it on video . I dont need to share my wedding video because it would be sad for everyone to see that. But she had a huge impact on all of our lives. Look at our faces. This is a woman who just passed and we are listening to her music and dancing. I think it is an interesting tribute to Aretha Franklin. It is a sad moment, 50 years of producing and performing, and yet we are celebrating her life, which is really i think the way she would have liked it. Her musical life, her life as a human being. As a civil rights activist. As a civil rights icon. Amazing. Thank you for that. Im ali velschi. And im stephanie ruehl. We just mentioned her, the queen of soul, the legendary Aretha Franklin has died. She was 76 years old. She died earlier this morning at her home in detroit, michigan, and she was surrounded by dear family and friends. Clearly an iconic figure, a musical power house with an instantly recogn
at the superbowl. it was a great feeling to share the stage with aretha. i had met her a couple of times before and she was always pleasant and a real nice lady and a great talent. i wrote this about her. i said, i know that the heavenly choir is welcoming aretha franklin with open arms. she was definitely the queen of soul. i m so happy that i knew her and had the privilege of sharing the stage with her. i can see her now putting on her golden robe and slippers while god takes her in his loving arms, while she s singing precious lord, take my hand. may she rest forever. special love for aretha franklin. aaron neville. the heavenly choir got a great new addition. a solo act in there. yes. aaron, you yourself had a remarkably long and successful musical career. this is a woman who has been performing for 50 years throughout, you know, her career, and times have changed so much.
you may me feel you make me feel like a natural woman lester holt, nbc news. a life well-lived. let s bring in michael erik dyson, a close friend of aretha s. aalong with us eric deggins, nbc media analyst. you guys stay there for a second. we want to bring in aaron nevell who is joining us now. aaron sang with aretha franklin at the soups bowl in detroit at 2004, it was the lions versus the vikings. aaron, what was it like to be up there next to aretha franklin? aaron, you with us? okay. we got an audio problem with aaron. we ll get to aaron as soon as we are back to our assembled guests. michael, tell me what you
he said, basically she done took my song and i ain t going to never get it back. because what he and otis redding was a genius himself. died at 26 years old in a plane crash, but when he heard aretha franklin s rendering of his song, she brought depth and gravity and insight to that song that he had never begun to understand or plumb because she was a woman, because she brought a sense of burgeoning racial pride and deep and profound understanding of what it meant to be a woman. those two things came together and her art was fuelled by her relentless drive to be excellent and, of course, to be the diva she always was. i think the audio has been repaired and we have aaron nevell, soul singer and r & b star with us. talk us through 2006, performing in detroiltt, michigan, the tow where aretha franklin grew up, performing the national anthem