28 Iconic Pictures From Aretha Franklin's Soulful Life

Aretha Franklin on May 16, 1968.

Franklin bends down onstage to shake hands with a crowd of fans at Madison Square Garden in New York City on Sept. 1, 1968.

Franklin performs in 1967.

Franklin reviews a copy of her album Aretha Franklin: Soul '69 at Atlantic Records Studios on Jan. 9, 1969, in New York City.

Left: Franklin holds her Grammy for Best Rhythm and Blues performance of the song "Bridge Over Troubled Water" on March 13, 1972, in New York. Right: Franklin poses with her Grammy for her performance in "Ain't Nothing Like the Real Thing" at the 17th Annual Grammy Awards in New York on March 3, 1975.

Rev. Jesse Jackson speaks to reporters at the Operation PUSH Soul Picnic at the Harlem Armory in New York on March 26, 1972. From left: Betty Shabazz, widow of Malcolm X; Jackson; Tom Todd, vice president of PUSH; Aretha Franklin; Miriam Makeba; and Louis Stokes (rear right). PUSH stands for People United to Save Humanity.

Franklin during the Montreux Jazz Festival in Switzerland in 1971.

Left: Franklin performing in 1974. Right: Singers James Brown and Franklin performing at Taboo nightclub in Detroit on Jan. 11, 1987.

John Belushi, Franklin, and Dan Aykroyd pose for a photo while on the set of The Blues Brothers in 1980.

Franklin joins George Michael during his Faith world tour in Detroit in 1988.

Franklin performs at the Lincoln Memorial for President Bill Clinton's inaugural gala in Washington, DC, on Jan. 17, 1993.

Franklin performs alongside Stevie Wonder, Michael Jackson, and Diana Ross at the inaugural gala for Clinton in 1993.

Franklin performs the finale of Aretha Franklin: Duets, an AIDS benefit concert in New York on April 28, 1993. From left: Smokey Robinson, Gloria Estefan, Rod Stewart, Bonnie Raitt, Dustin Hoffman, and Robert De Niro.

Franklin dances onstage during the first annual march on cancer in Washington, DC. The daylong event, known as the March, drew thousands of cancer survivors, patients, and loved ones descending on the National Mall to remember cancer victims and to ask for more research funds.

Clive Davis kisses Franklin during the T.J. Martell Foundation benefit in honor of Clive Davis in New York City on Sept. 14, 1995.

Franklin performs during a live televised concert with Kid Rock at New York's Radio City Music Hall on April 10, 2001.

Franklin performs during President Barack Obama's inauguration ceremony in Washington, DC, on Jan. 20, 2009.

Left: Franklin wipes away her tears after President George W. Bush presents her with the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation's highest civil award, in the East Room of the White House on Nov. 5, 2005. Right: Franklin meets Oprah Winfrey during a star-studded double-taping of an episode of The Oprah Winfrey Show on May 17, 2011, in Chicago.

Franklin and Josh Groban perform at the Mandela Day Concert to celebrate Nelson Mandela's 91st birthday at Radio City Music Hall in New York on July 18, 2009.

Obama smiles as outgoing Attorney General Eric Holder (left) bows to Franklin as she arrives in a surprise appearance to sing at an event celebrating Holder at the Department of Justice in Washington, DC, on Feb. 27, 2015.

Franklin was awarded an honorary doctorate at a Harvard University commencement in Cambridge, Massachusetts, on May 29, 2014.

From left: First lady Michelle Obama, President Barack Obama, and then–vice president Joe Biden watch as Franklin performs during the dedication of the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial on Oct. 16, 2011, in Washington, DC.

Jennie Thomas, head archivist of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum Library and Archives in Cleveland, looks over a series of correspondence between Franklin and Clive Davis on Jan. 17, 2012.

Memphis Mayor Jim Strickland stands next to a plaque marking the childhood home of Franklin on Aug. 2, 2017, in Memphis.

Franklin attends the Elton John AIDS Foundation's 25th Anniversary Gala in New York City on Nov. 7, 2017.