Aretha Franklin honored by the Pulitzer Prize group

By mbrooks on April 17, 2019
FILE – In this Nov. 7, 2017, file photo, Aretha Franklin attends the Elton John AIDS Foundation’s 25th Anniversary Gala in New York. (Photo by Andy Kropa/Invision/AP, File)

Aretha Franklin, the Queen of Soul, is receiving laud and honor months after her death last year.

The Pulitzer Prize committee awarded the late Aretha Franklin on Monday. The group recognized her “for her indelible contribution to American music and culture for more than five decades.”

Franklin was the first woman to receive this Special Citation for the Arts and the fifteenth musician since the award was created in 1915.

Aretha Franklin is a famed singer, songwriter, and civil rights activist.

She began her career as a recording artist in her teens.

Aretha Franklin continued to perform until late in 2017, her professional musical career spanning 57 years.

She is credited with more than 110 singles to be charted on Billboard.

The Pulitzer group has been granting posthumous awards since the early days of the program.

The Pulitzer group has previously recognized musicians Duke Ellington, Thelonious Monk, Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II for their musical contributions.

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