Last Words Stevie Wonder Ever Said to Aretha Franklin Make Him Break Down Crying
On August 16 we said goodbye to the Queen of Soul just days after learning she was gravely ill. Aretha Franklin touched the hearts of many with her sweet music.
But none were so touched, perhaps, as her longtime friend, Stevie Wonder. According to CBS This Morning, the legendary singer and songwriter said his goodbyes to Franklin during a final visit to her Detroit home on Tuesday.
Franklin and Wonder have performed together many times over the years. Wonder noted that Franklin always took a song and made it her own.
“The greatest gift for me was when I heard her sing ‘Until You Come Back to Me,'” he shared with CBS. “Someone said on one of the channels yesterday that when she sings your song, she takes it, and you don’t get it back. And that’s what she did … I don’t mind it at all.”
Sadly, the duo would not get the chance to perform together again. People confirmed that 76-year-old Franklin passed away from pancreatic cancer.
She was surrounded by family and friends, one of those friends being Wonder. When he shared his final moments with Franklin, the Grammy-winning legend broke down in tears.
“She wasn’t able to speak back, but her family felt that she could hear me,” Wonder said. “And so I just said all the things that I’ve always said and told her to say hello to my sister — that I lost this year as well.”
It’s clear from Wonder’s emotional and heartfelt interview that these two shared a special bond. Wonder revealed the two had been discussing another collaboration in the future.
“We’d been talking about it,” he said. “There was a song that I had written called ‘The Future,’ and we were going to sing it together.”
It was after relaying this news that Wonder choked up.
He had no idea the last time he performed with Franklin would truly be the last.
Our hearts and prayers are with the family at this time. We also send our condolences to the great Stevie Wonder. His sweet words in memory of his friend are ones that will stick with us.
“She believed, I think that most of all she was doing God’s work, and she was,” he said. “She brought joy to others’ lives, and she will — her voice and the essence of her will long live all of us that are here right now.”
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