DETROIT – It should surprise no one that when the rise of promotional music videos occurred, Aretha Franklin would showcase her hometown.
When many artists decided to leave Detroit over the years, Franklin opted to spend her last days in the city with a home overlooking the Detroit River.
"She came home to be downtown," said Mayor Mike Duggan. "It said a lot. ... She wanted to be on the river. She ended her life the way she chose to."
Franklin lived a life that was exceptional but certainly wasn't easy. She described her father, the Rev. C. L. Franklin, as her biggest fan. He was shot in his home on Detroit's west side in 1979 and was in a coma for five years. It would have been easy for her to leave the city for brighter places without dark memories.
"She was a hometown girl," said Emery King. "It was all Detroit all the time as anybody from Detroit knows. That was the great thing about her -- she never separated from family. She never separated from her roots."
"She loved this city and stayed," Duggan said. "And, of course, the city loved her."