Aretha Franklin’s Grave
On Our Radar $
Why it’s on our radar
The Queen of Soul came home to Detroit. Aretha Franklin — raised on the city’s near west side, discovered singing gospel at her father C.L. Franklin’s New Bethel Baptist Church — is entombed in Woodlawn’s main mausoleum, a few miles from where she first learned what a voice could do. When she died in 2018, her funeral stretched past eight hours and drew mourners and legends from around the world; the pink Cadillacs lined up outside were a city’s way of saying goodbye.
She’s one of the reasons Woodlawn reads like a Motown family reunion — Jamerson, Stubbs, Benson and Ruffin are all here too. Pay your respects at the cemetery, then go put “Respect” on, loud. On our list.
