Aretha Franklin Died of Advanced Pancreatic Cancer

MARK SAGLIOCCO / FILMMAGIC / GETTY IMAGES

SINGER ARETHA FRANKLIN, 76, died of advanced pancreatic cancer on Aug. 16 at her home in Detroit, with her family and friends at her bedside.

Franklin, who underwent surgery for neuroendocrine tumors, a rarer type of pancreatic cancer, in December 2010, kept her diagnosis private.

The Monday before she died, a source told the Associated Press that the Queen of Soul was “seriously ill” and her death was “imminent.” Franklin entered hospice care just days before her death.

“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,” her family said in a statement. “We have lost the matriarch and rock of our family. The love she had for her children, grandchildren, nieces, nephews and cousins knew no bounds. … We have felt your love for Aretha, and it brings us comfort to know that her legacy will live on.”