There’s no denying that the world lost a true icon when Aretha Franklin passed away. In the latest issue of Closer Weekly, her family and closest friends open up like never before, sharing intimate details about her life and the incredible legacy she left behind. Aretha wasn’t just a singer—she was a queen, a legend, and a soulful force who touched so many lives. At 76 years old, she left this world after battling pancreatic cancer, but her spirit lives on in every note she ever sang.

On the day Aretha passed, August 16, songwriter Diane Warren paid tribute to her in a way that only someone who truly understood her artistry could. Diane, who wrote several duets for Aretha, including the unforgettable "It Isn’t, It Wasn’t, It Ain’t Never Gonna Be" (which she performed with Whitney Houston), said it best: "Aretha could take any song and make it her own. She wasn’t just a singer; she was a goddess of soul, a queen of music. She earned every bit of that title, and she’ll always be remembered as a legend." Those words ring so true, don’t they?

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From the Church Choir to the Spotlight: Aretha’s Journey

Aretha’s story didn’t start in the spotlight—it began in a church. Long before she became the Queen of Soul, she was a young girl sitting in the choir at the New Bethel Baptist Church in Detroit, teaching herself how to play the piano. Her nephew, Tim Franklin, shared with Closer Weekly just how deeply rooted her faith was. "She was a woman of faith," he said. "She grew up in the church, started out singing gospel, and she had a personal relationship with God. That faith carried her through everything." It’s no wonder her music always felt like it came straight from the heart.

But for all her success, Aretha didn’t let fame get in the way of what mattered most to her: her family. Though she rarely spoke publicly about her personal life, Tim revealed that her family was her rock. "When she’d come to Dallas to perform, she’d always make time to see me," he remembered. "She’d arrive with her whole entourage, but once we sat down, it was just us. She’d say, ‘Tim, this is what it’s all about. It’s all about family, baby. Nothing else matters.’" Those words say so much about who Aretha really was—a giver, a listener, and someone who truly understood what life was all about.