Ariana To Perform At Aretha’s Funeral
• Ariana Grande has been added to the list of superstar singers set to perform at Aretha Franklin’s funeral at Detroit’s Greater Grace Temple on Friday, Franklin’s longtime publicist, Gwendolyn Quinn confirmed to CNN. A video of Grande’s emotional tribute performance of “Natural Woman” with The Roots on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon after Franklin’s death went viral.
Grande joins previously announced performers Stevie Wonder, Jennifer Hudson, Jennifer Holliday, Chaka Khan, Faith Hill, Fantasia, Ronald Isley, Franklin’s son, Edward Franklin, gospel stars Yolanda Adams, Pastor Shirley Caesar, Marvin Sapp, Vanessa Bell Armstrong, and the Aretha Franklin Choir and the Aretha Franklin Celebration Choir.
Former President Bill Clinton is scheduled to speak during the service, as is former Attorney General Eric Holder, Michigan Governor Rick Snyder, Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan, the Rev. Jesse Jackson; the Rev. Al Sharpton; singer Smokey Robinson; record executive Clive Davis and actress Cicely Tyson.
Bishop Charles H. Ellis III, the pastor of Greater Grace Temple, will be the officiant of the service, and The Rev. Jasper Williams Jr., of Salem Baptist Church in Atlanta will deliver Ms. Franklin’s eulogy. Greater Grace, which holds 4,000 people, was the site of Rosa Parks‘ funeral in 2005, where Ms. Franklin sang “The Impossible Dream” from the musical Man of La Mancha.
The service will conclude a week of events in Franklin’s beloved Detroit, which has included her body lying in repose at the Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History so fans could pay their respects.
