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Aretha’s handprints to be unveiled outside Detroit museum

FILE - In this Feb. 5, 2006 file photo, Aretha Franklin and Dr. John, background on piano, perform the national anthem before the Super Bowl XL football game in Detroit. "Queen of Soul" Franklin and Nobel laureate and "Beloved" author Toni Morrison will be inducted into the National Women's Hall of Fame Thursday, Dec. 10, 2020 as part of a posthumous class of Black honorees that also includes Henrietta Lacks, whose cells were widely used in biomedical research; Barbara Hillary, the first Black woman to travel to both the North and South Pole, and civil rights activists Barbara Rose Johns Powell and Mary Church Terrell. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar, File) (Gene J. Puskar, AP2006)

DETROIT – The “Queen of Soul’s” handprints are to be unveiled outside the Detroit Historical Society Museum in advance of the release of a new film on Aretha Franklin’s life and career.

Sunday's unveiling on Legends Plaza will coincide with the opening of a new, temporary museum exhibit on Franklin, who died in 2018.

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Franklin cast her handprints in concrete for installation on the plaza in 2017 at the Detroit Music Hall's celebration of the dedication of Aretha Franklin Way in the city, the historical society said.

They last were seen as part of the museum’s commemorative exhibit following Franklin’s death and are being placed on permanent display in conjunction with the upcoming release of “Respect,” a new film on the life and career of the legendary singer, songwriter and global cultural icon.

Franklin died Aug. 16, 2018 of pancreatic cancer at age 76 in her Detroit home.

Franklin song, including “Think,” ″I Say a Little Prayer” and “Respect,” are considered classics.

The new museum exhibition opens at 1 p.m. Sunday to the public. It will feature costumes from “Respect,” along with other artifacts.

Read more: Entertainment headlines


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