A tribute concert to the Queen of Soul is being held Thursday evening in Detroit, part of a four-day memorial that will end with Aretha Franklin’s private funeral on Friday at the city’s Greater Grace Temple.
More than 40 artists will appear throughout Aretha’s funeral including Gladys Knight, the Four Tops, Dee Dee Bridgewater, Raheem DeVaughn, Johnny Gill and Angie Stone, accompanied by the Ralphe Armstrong Band and Kern Brantley Band, who have performed with Aretha Franklin before.
Tickets for the tribute sold out in less than six minutes, according to the Detroit Free Press — but if you’re not in Detroit, you can watch a live stream of the show below.
Following Thursday’s tribute concert, Aretha will be laid to rest on Friday during a six-and-a-half-hour-long funeral (which we will also be streaming live right here).
https://youtu.be/MTEyB0jDzp0
via CBS:
The show will have four segments, beginning with an jazz and blues tribute featuring Ralphe Armstrong, Franklin’s bassist and longtime friend, as musical director. Joan Belgrave, Doug Carn, Jean Carne, Detroit’s Thornetta Davis and Dee Dee Bridgewater will also perform.
In the second segment, a 25-person choir will perform a gospel tribute. Filmmaker Tyler Perry and the cast of “The Haves and Have Nots,” and actress Jenifer Lewis will perform a piece she wrote for Franklin. Others who will appear during that segment include Santita Jackson, Dr. Bobby Jones, Randy Miles, Tasha Page-Lockhart and the Lisa McCaw Dancers.
Next up will be an R&B segment featuring Narada Michael Walden and Dave McMurray performing “Freeway of Love,” a song Walden wrote for Franklin. Other artists in that set include Angela Davis, Kimmie Horne, Gwen Foxx, Z, Beth Griffith and the George Faison Dancers, Cherri Black and Tasha Page-Lockhart.
The fourth segment will include performances by Regina Belle, Keith Washington, Angie Stone, Johnny Gill and the Four Tops.
https://youtu.be/MTEyB0jDzp0
