Ariana Grande has been added as one of the many musicians set to perform at Aretha Franklin’s funeral. Aretha’s publicist confirmed to CNN that Ariana will take part in the funeral, which will take place in Detroit on Friday, August 31, after a week-long period of public viewing at the city’s Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History. Stevie Wonder, Faith Hill, Chaka Khan, and Jennifer Hudson are also set to perform.
Aretha and Ariana, while personifying different eras and genres of music, formed a very friendly relationship while the Queen of Soul was still alive — which is more than likely why Ariana’s been asked to lend her vocals for the occasion. The same evening Aretha died, following her battle with pancreatic cancer, Ariana performed “(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman” on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon. Ari also shared a story about the first time the two met. “We sang at the White House and she was so sweet. She was, like, so cute, and I was like, ‘How are you a real person?'” Ariana said. “It’s an honour to have met her, and we’re gonna celebrate her.”
During the interview, Ariana also reminisced about the one time Aretha surprised her with a phone call, asking her to listen to a relative’s music. “I was like, ‘Oh, my God, I’d be honoured to listen. Thank you for thinking of me,” she explained with a laugh. “‘OK, just, like, text me the MP3 or something.’ And she was like, ‘Well, I don’t know how to do that, so I’m gonna send it to you.’ And, like, four months later, I got a package with, like, a CD!”
While Aretha’s funeral will be private for family and friends only, it will be live-streamed for fans across the world.
Taken from Teen Vogue. Read the original here.
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