Smokey Robinsoncould not have hadmore loveto give duringAretha Franklin’sDetroit funeral on Friday.
The Motown legend took to the podium at Grace Temple in their shared hometown of Detroit to pay tribute tohis childhood friendwith a moving speech.
The pair hail from a Detroit neighborhood that was home to some of world’s brightest stars. “Diana Rosslived four doors down the street,” Robinson, 78, recalled during an interview onGood Morning Americaon Aug. 24. “The 4 Tops lived two blocks over and the Temptations lived three blocks over.”
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During the service on Friday, he reflected on their days growing up together. “We talked about it many times, how we were the two who were left of our neighborhood friends. We were the longest ones. Now my longest friend has gone home, and you’ve gone to be with our Father — like we all will. I know you’re celebrating with your family and our neighborhood friends who are all gone. And you’re going to be a featured voice in the choir of angels.”
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Robinson met Franklin at the age of 8 after her family — including her famous father, Baptist minister and civil rights activist C.L. Franklin — moved to the city from Buffalo, New York. The future Miracles frontman met her elder brother first, who invited him to the Franklin family home.
“I hear music coming from a little room,” Robinson remembered of visiting their house. “I hear piano being played and I hear this little voice singing. I look in and there’s Aretha sitting at the piano singing and playing almost like she sang and played in her adult life. She was probably 5 years old or so and she just hadit.”
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And up until she lost her battle with pancreatic cancer of the neuroendocrine type on Aug. 16 at the age of 76, the two remained “tight” and bonded until the end. “We had a wonderful, wonderful friendship that lasted throughout her entire life. She was my longest friend on earth. All of my other friends that we grew up with are gone.”
Though the world knew her as the Queen of Soul, Robinson says they never factored fame or fortune into their friendship. In fact, they usually ignored the spotlight completely.
“We always had a relationship that almost had nothing to do with show business,” he says. “There were a lot of us in that neighborhood, and those of us who were blessed enough to get our wish, or our dream, to be in show business — we just always had regular relationships. We very seldom, when we got together, even talked about show business.”
As a result, he saw a side of the famous diva that few would ever get a glimpse of, one beyond the regal outfits and million-dollar voice.
“Aretha had a great sense of humor. She was a very humorous woman,” he remembers. “She could throw down in the kitchen! She was just a great person. Great cook, great woman.”
Former PresidentBill Clinton, the Rev. Jesse Jackson and Cicely Tyson also offered up their long-lasting memories with the Queen of Soul, and icons includingStevie Wonder,Ariana Grande,Faith Hill,Shirley Caesar,Chaka Khan,Jennifer Hudson, Yolanda Adams, Marvin Sapp and Vanessa Bell Armstrong took to the stage to perform some of Franklin’s greatest hits, as well as religious hymns.
source: people.com
