Aretha Franklin House: Homes Fit For The Queen She Was

Aretha's House Photos

Bloomfield Hills Home

Emma Farrow

Updated on July 10, 2024

Aretha Franklin was a huge icon in the music industry. She was a soul singer who was also known as the ‘Queen of Soul’ and is best known for her hit records including ‘I Say A Little Prayer’, ‘Respect’, and ‘Freeway of Love’. And although she went through some financial troubles in her life, Aretha Franklin house was always a treasure!

She started her career as a gospel singer at her dad’s Baptist congregation which was named Bethel Baptist Church. But shortly after she found her voice as an amazing soul singer. One of her greatest achievements, among many, is that she was the first ever woman to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. She was also an avid civil rights activist who sang “Precious Lord” at the great Martin Luther King Jr’s funeral in 1968, and she also performed at the inauguration of Barack Obama in 2009.

So how old is Aretha Franklin today? Aretha Franklin was born in 1942 and unfortunately passed away in August 2018 due to a battle with pancreatic cancer.

Where does Aretha Franklin live?

Until the end of her life, Aretha Franklin lived in Riverfront Towers in Detroit, a highly secure and private condo block which is also home to other celebrities and sports stars.

For a great portion of her career, Franklin resided in Encino, CA, but moved back to her hometown of Detroit in 1982, to be with her siblings and her father who was severely ill.

Aretha Franklin House in Bloomfield Hills / Bloomfield Township

She also had a home in the Bloomfield Hills area outside Detroit. Aretha Franklin house Bloomfield Hills was purchased in 1997 for $1.2 million. Not much was known about her home until she passed because she tended to keep her private life just that, private.

But in late October 2018, Aretha’s home was listed for sale at $800,000. The listing photos show what was once a gorgeous home, not in need of a lot of TLC.

Even so, this is quite the bargain for a slice of music history.

Aretha was also known as an excellent cook. It’s fascinating to see the huge kitchen in the home where she undoubtedly prepared many delectable dishes.

Check out more Aretha Franklin House Photos here!

Aretha Franklin Childhood Home in Detroit

Although born in Memphis, Tennessee, Aretha was raised in Detroit. Aretha Franklin house Detroit was a 6,000 square foot Boston-Edison home. Although Franklin moved out of her childhood home, she kept it because she loved it and the memories it held so much. She even had a clause that it couldn’t be sold for 40 years. But when Nikkia Sanders and her husband came along and fell in love with the home (not knowing it’s famous owner at first), the star agreed to give it up and sold the home in December 2013.

Aretha Franklin House: Aretha Franklin childhood home

What is Aretha Franklin’s net worth?

Aretha Franklin net worth was a reported $80 million! Where that money will go is yet to be confirmed, but distributing assets of so much worth is neither a quick or easy process.

So how did Aretha make her money?

The Queen of Soul was and will forever be an icon for hundreds of thousands of musicians and singers around the world. She made a living through her love of music and tons of hit songs. What was Aretha Franklin’s first song?

In 1956, she released her very first album at just 14 years old named, ‘Spirituals,’ which was later re-released as ‘Songs of Faith: The Gospel Sound of Aretha Franklin’. But she really made it big when she released her very first record beneath Columbia Records. This was in 1967 and the song is one we all know and love, named ‘Respect’. Following that hit came ‘(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman’ and ‘Baby I Love You.’

In the following year, she was nominated for and WON two Grammy Awards – ‘Respect’ won for Best Rhythm and Blues Recording and one for Best Rhythm and Blues Solo Voice Performance, Female.

How many kids does Aretha Franklin have?

Aretha left behind four wonderful sons – Clarence, Edward, Teddy White Jr. and Kecalf. Aretha gave birth to Clarence when she was just 12 years old! His father is Donald Burke, who Aretha knew from her school.

Edward came two years later when the star was 14. Then at the age of 19, she married her first husband Ted White and gave birth to son number three when she was 25 years old. And last but not least, Kecalf was born in 1970 when Aretha was 28 years old, and his father is Ken Cunningham, the singer’s tour manager.

Did Aretha Franklin have cancer?

Yes, Aretha Franklin’s cause of death was pancreatic cancer. She underwent surgery in December of 2010 yet didn’t confirm what it was for. She did, however, tell the public that they surgery was ‘highly successful’. However, in more recent times, it was reported that superstar was ‘gravely ill’ and was not in a good place at all. Gwendolyn Quinn, Franklin’s publicist said in a statement, “Franklin’s official cause of death was due to advanced pancreatic cancer of the neuroendocrine type, which was confirmed by Franklin’s oncologist, Dr. Philip Phillips of Karmanos Cancer Institute in Detroit, MI.” She went on to say, “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. 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.”

Aretha was in hospice care at the end of her life and was surrounded by family and friends at the time of her sad death.

When the news of her death broke, fans, celebrity friends and admirers alike flooded to social media to pay tribute to the American legend. Here is what some of them had to say:

“I adored her and I know the feelings were mutual. While I’m heartbroken that she’s gone I know she’s in the Lord’s arms and she’s not in pain or suffering anymore from the damn cancer that took her away from us…I’m going to hope, pray and count on the fact that I will see her again sometime. Rest in the Lord’s arms in love, Re.” – Sam Moore, a friend and fellow soul singer.

“Aretha helped define the American experience. In her voice, we could feel our history, all of it and in every shade — our power and our pain, our darkness and our light, our quest for redemption and our hard-won respect. May the Queen of Soul rest in eternal peace.” – Barack Obama

Rest In Peace, Queen of Soul.