Since her death on August 16th, the Queen of Soul Aretha Franklin has been the recipient of countless shout-outs, tributes and honours. People have sampled her, covered her most iconic songs and come out in droves to attend her memorial and tribute show. But this one honour is perhaps the biggest of all. The mayor of Detroit, Mike Duggan, announced at Franklin's memorial that he would be submitting a proposal to the Detroit city council to rename Chene Park, a waterfront concert venue, to Aretha Franklin Park.
“Our beautiful waterfront jewel will be Aretha Franklin Park," said Duggan, "and when performers from generations to come, from around the world, come here, they will be reminded that they are performing at the home of the Queen of Soul." The announcement prompted a wisecrack from Bishop Charles Ellis, who said, "and the mayor just got reelected.”
Although perhaps a normal, fun joke, the Bishop's remarks are, unfortunately, coloured by a scandal that arose from the same event and included, among other things, a less tasteful joke. Along with saying, “when I saw Ariana Grande on the program, I thought that was a new something at Taco Bell,” Ellis can also be seen clearly groping Grande's breast while he has his arm around her.
Controversy aside, the Queen now has a physical monument named in her honour and the tributes will doubtless continue.
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