The Queen of Soul has passed away at the age of 76. According to her publicist, Aretha Franklin died this morning. Franklin was stricken with advanced pancreatic cancer. “In one of the darkest moments of our lives, we are not able to find the appropriate words to express the pain in our heart. We have lost the matriarch and rock of our family,” Franklin’s family said in a statement. http://gty.im/475802865 It had been widely speculated that Franklin had been ill for several months after she began canceling tour dates in 2017 and 2018. She performed at the Elton John AIDS Foundation gala in New York City last November.