Detroit gives Queen of Soul Aretha Franklin a little ‘Respect,’ naming street in her honor

Credit: David Guralnick

Credit: David Guralnick

The Queen of Soul can now drive her "Pink Cadillac" down Aretha Franklin Way in downtown Detroit after the city renamed a portion of Madison Avenue in the city's theater district outside the Detroit City Music Hall in her honor.

An emotional Franklin wiped away tears as a large crowd gathered last Thursday to watch as the new street sign was unveiled.

She called the newly renamed street a "resplendent and magnificent honor," according to the Detroit Free Press.

This is just the latest honor giving Franklin, 75, more R-E-S-P-E-C-T in a long list of honors over her decades long career.

The soul singer’s accomplishments include a Presidential Medal of Freedom, the No. 1 ranking on Rolling Stone’s all-time greatest singers list and her induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, to name a few.

Franklin, a native Detroit, who spent her childhood singing gospel music in her father’s church, has won 18 Grammy Awards and is considered one of the best-selling artists of all time, selling more than 75 million albums worldwide.

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