Celebration of life for a queen in detroit right now, all to honor the legendary queen of soul Aretha Franklin. Well show you some live pictures from inside the Greater Grace Temple church, where family, friends, and some fortunate fans are paying their respects. Among the wellknown faces was one of Aretha Franklins childhood friends, smokey robinson. So now my longest friend has gone home, and you went to be with our father like we all have to do one of these days. And i know youre up there celebrating with your family and with all of our neighborhood friends who have gone, and youre going to be one of the featured voices in the choir of angels because, you know, youd have to be. Through prayers of comfort, songs of celebration, the life of the queen of soul is being remembered right now. Take a look at some of the moments from the service so far. Its a very tough day, even though you knew over the last couple months she was sick. You knew this day was coming. She had so many gifts. She could sing, play, write, and perform with other artists. Every artist that is doing very well have patterned themselves after her. They do her runs, that kind of stuff we get from her. Aretha wasnt just about music. You know, looking at being a part of the Civil Rights Movement to what shes been able to do as a messenger through her music, thats been truly unbelievable, and we ride on her shoulders and will continue to carry on that legacy. People have come to pay tribute to a once in a lifetime talent whose voice was the sound track of our lives. Ai rretha franklin has touch the world, each of us in our own way. From the palaces in england singing for the queen, to p popping up in the backseat of a car in the middle of a commercial, aretha was everywhere. She was the worlds queen, an invaluable musical treasure, a daddys girl filled with amazing grace, but more than anything else, she was a quintessential epitome of the greatness and authenticity of the city of detroit. She was so amazing to her city, and she gave back. She used to give programs. She used to feed people. I mean, the neighborhood. Its like, theyre giving back to her, saying thank you today. Amazing woman indeed. Tyler perry, whoopi goldberg, former president bill clinton are just some of the other prominent guests in attendance. The incredible lineup of speakers and performances still to come also include the former president as well as chaka khan, jennifer hudson, and Stevie Wonder. Lets go to cnns ryan young joining us from detroit, just outside the funeral. Set the scene for us, ryan. Reporter wolf, this has been unbelievable when you think about the combination of people here, but then you think about all the normal citizens who just wanted to come out and pay their respects to the queen of soul. Weve been here for the last few days, and weve watched thousands of people, some who could barely walk, who said they had to be here. They wanted to come, they wanted to make this journey because of how much she meant to them. When you think about the Civil Rights Movement and i was talking with Jesse Jackson. He talked about the times she would go around the country, making sure she would use her voice to help raise money for Martin Luther king and the push for civil rights. The idea of one time they were somewhere and someone tried to tear gas her out of that arena, and she would not leaf. She wanted to make sure she could perform. Then also the fact that detroit has gone through some tough times, and she never left detroit. I think people here definitely remember that. Theres an idea that shes connected to the church. Theres the gospel thats involved here, the fact that her voice came from god. Thats what so many people say. They believe this is the only way for her to go. Theres so many preachers involved in this as well. You think about that connection to the Civil Rights Movement and the church and the black community and all this sort of comes together. This is also a celebration of a lifetime, this woman who dedicated her life for six decades to music but also serving her community because every year she would try to feed the homeless in the city. Last night the city was awash of pink. You could see respect all over the place. You look at the crowd here, it is a mix of people and of course generations now coming together to remember a woman whose voice will never die, and thats been the conversation so far outside. When we were inside and saw some of these people come in, bill clinton when he walked in got a standing ovation. Smokey robinson was standing just behind us and welcomed the family. These connections lasted generations. And just think, reverend Jesse Jackson has been holding her hand through all this, has to get up and talk about losing another friend. This is a generation this country is connected to in a different way, especially when you think about civil rights and the black community. Wolf . This celebration of her life, as its being called, ryan, its been going on for about three hours or so, maybe a little longer. They were originally planning five hours, but it looks to me, looking at the schedule, like this could two a bit longer. Reporter absolutely, wolf. I know youve been to a black church before. Sometimes we dont stick to the time limit. This is the program i have in my hand. We have been taking bets out here. We believe its going to go a lot longer. In fact, somebody said they plan to be here for eight hours. And guess what, she deserves a day. Thats what we have been told by so many people. There were people lining up, fans were getting here yesterday at 4 00 in the afternoon. There was a rumor that fans were going to be allowed into the funeral. Thats exactly what happened. We were with them as nearly a thousand people who just got to go inside, they got wristbands, and they were so excited to go in and be able to pay their respects. Yes, i think its going to stretch some time. You got preachers who need to speak next. Theyre not going to stay to a fiveminute limit. Theyre going to go on. Theyre going to preach the gospel. They certainly will. Ryan, stand by. Fredricka whitfield is in detroit as well. Youve been watching every moment of this celebration of life, fredricka. Tell us a little bit about your impressions. Well hello to you, wolf. Its been an extraordinary day of emotion. People are emoting in so many different ways how much they love Aretha Franklin, how much they respect her, how much they honor her, how much she has done for them. In fact, lets go inside the church right now and hear the rest of this ongoing service, which is like going to church for sure. This is a church. And in church we do what church folk do. Come on. Watch this. I hear somebody saying i didnt know they was going to do all that. All right. So wolf, this is a tribute to her church roots at New Bethel Church here. This has been a moving ceremony that is spiritual based. I was talking to her ghostwriter biographer earlier who talked about how spirituality, you can hear it in every genre of music that Aretha Franklin would touch. You heard it in her r b. You heard it when she was, of course, doing gospel. You heard it when she was doing pop music. You heard it when she was doing opera music. You heard it when she was doing broadway tunes. This is the foundation of Aretha Franklin. Its been a celebration. This has been a true homegoing celebration for her. It has also involved people who have been part of her musical life and her personal life in so many different ways. Nba star isaiah thomas, he joined me a couple hours ago talking about how as a 20yearold, he came to detroit and Aretha Franklin called him and invited him essentially into her world. They developed a beautiful relationship, a mentor relationship. So many people have called her, Aretha Franklins like my mom, like my sister. I spoke with the clark sisters earlier. You saw them performing here in church at this ceremony earlier. When i spoke with them this morning, they called her like a big sister. They were detroit born. They remember as kids, you know, being enamored and idolizing Aretha Franklin. Then to be in her company and have an opportunity to sing with her. I talked to shirley caesar. She reflected on how difficult this day is going to be for her, how her heart is so heavy, but how honored she is to have an opportunity to sing with arena franklin as a teenager. Shirley caesar also a teenager. They would both be invited to the Obama White House and perform there as a gospel tribute. Everyone speaks so eloquently of her. When you talk to folks outside of this church, there were thousands of people who didnt have an opportunity to get inside. They lined up hoping to be able to. They speak as though they knew her because all of them speak so eloquently of how Aretha Franklin embodies detroit. You can feel it. It is pat panelpable. Were going to continue to enjoy this ceremony, this celebration of life because were going to be hearing from Stevie Wonder as well, a longtime friend, chaka chan wi khan with her musical tribute. Smokey robinson did almost a singing letter as he looked down at the goldplated casket of Aretha Franklin and how hes going to miss his friend. Wolf, this is a beautiful ceremony, a tribute to the queen of soul, but theres a lot of love here. You can feel it. Theres a lot of spirituality. It is full. Certainly is. Not only former president bill clinton, i think i saw eric holder in the crowd, the former attorney general of the United States during the obama administration. Hes going to be speaking as well, right . Thats right. Eric holder will be speaking. Former president bill clinton. You know, whats so remarkable, theres so many remarkable things about Aretha Franklin, but she was not political. She would tell you she was not political, but she was in the political arena in so many different ways. Of course, during the Civil Rights Movement. She was involved in three president ial inaugural celebrations. The first one being in 1977 with jimmy carter and then bill clinton, who is on deck to speak today. He has been a big fan of Aretha Franklin. He invited her to be a part of his inaugural celebration. Then of course once he was in the white house, he would reach out to Aretha Franklin again, and she would be part of his life and part of the cultural celebrations of the white house. And of course who can forget in 2009, inaugural ceremonies of barack obama and how Aretha Franklin essentially stole the show there wearing her beautiful gray ensemble with her hat that was just so striking. So she has roots in the white house, and she has been a recipient of the medal of freedom from president george w. Bush. So theres no surprise here as to why this fitting tribute, a tribute fit for a queen, would be that, that is taking place today for Aretha Franklin. Fred, who put together the program for today, the celebration of life for this truly amazing American Woman . It was a collaborative effort, but her niece apparently has been instrumental in hand picking and designing the program for today. Wolf, we got a copy of the program here. Its a beautiful piece of memorabilia here. Beautiful photographs of her spanning so many different portions of her life. Then this twopage biography of her life, spanning the beginning, then you move on to her musical career. Fred, hold on for one moment. Members of Aretha Franklins family have now walked up to the stage. Were going to hear from them. This could be an emotional moment. I want to listen. Hello, how are you . I remember when i was a kid, people used to always ask me, what does it feel like to be Aretha Franklins granddaughter . And id always shrug my shoulders and go, i dont know, its just my grandma. That young, i didnt really understand what that really meant. I knew she was someone special. I knew she was someone important. But i didnt really understand how big it was. As a kid, ive seen some of the greatest things. Ive met some of the greatest people. And it was crazy because these amazing people were excited to meet me. And when i would go to her shows and watch her sing, 2 would it the best feeling in the world. Nothing sounded better to me than the way my grandma sings. Her voice made you feel something. You felt every word, every note, every emotion in the song she sang. Her voice brought peace. And watching her on stage from a young age to the last performance i saw her at, i knew that performing was something i was born to do. As a kid, i couldnt understand what it was like to be Aretha Franklins granddaughter, but i did know oh, i didnt know what that meant, but now i know what it feels like. It feels amazing to see a woman so fierce, so courageous, gifted, so respected, and to be able to call that my grandmother, to know that i have that running through my blood, and that shes a part of who i am [ applause ] and to know that shes a part of who i am, theres nothing like that. Every time i learn something new about my grandma, i see that i have so much of her in me, and it makes me smile. Im so proud to have had someone like her in my life to pave the way for me. I love you, grandma, and i will make you proud. [ applause ] good afternoon, everybody. I prepared something for my grandmother that i wanted to share with everybody. Dear grandma, i love you. I know in my heart that youre happy now and thats all that i care about. No amount of words can articulate what you mean to me, grandma. Thank you for loving me. Thank you for believing in me as much as you did. And thank you for always putting the family first and showing us the right way to handle success. Im sad today because im losing my friend, but i know that the imprint she left on this world can never be removed. [ applause ] you showed the world gods love, and theres nothing more honorable. [ applause ] im so proud of you. I know youd be watching me from the windows of heaven. And i promise to carry our family legacy with pride and joy. Long live the queen. [ cheers and applause ] i just want to first start out by saying i thank each and every person thats sitting in this auditorium. I think each and every person who stood in line. I want to thank everyone who bought her album, who bought her concert ticket. I want to thank everyone who ever took a picture of my aunt, whoever wrote an article about my aunt, and whoever loved every last song she wrote. When i was born in 73, she was already the queen of soul, had won eight grammys, had top ten hits on the top 100, but to me she was just my aunt. My fathers sister. And i was her namesake. I was given the name crystal robin aretha, named after my mothers younger sister and my fathers famous sister. My aunt robin never let aretha forget that her name came first, but aretha would laugh and say they saved the best for last. To the world she was known as the queen of soul, but to me she was just my aunt. The one who gave birth to my first road dog, my aunt who came to live with us at the age of 6 with my uncle vaughn, who i had no idea was a big movie star. The aunt who sung at my high school graduation, taught me my bad shopping habits, and took her granddaughters, my daughters, and i to see disney on ice. My aunt who taught me that emeralds were more than diamonds when me shopped for my graduation gift that im wearing today. My aunt who gave me my open house for college and cooked dinner for my roommate and i when she came to visit detroit for spring break. My aunt who had a picture of my best friend and i on her piano for over 20 years, the one who listened to me when i told her she had to have jill scott and mary j. On her diva special and she had to go on wendy. My aunt who chartered a bus so our family could go to president obamas inauguration and made sure i was front and center for the swearing in. The one who taught me the importance of capturing every moment with a picture or two. And after every award ceremony, she was my gossip girl. The one who could bring grown women and men to tears from the sound of her voice and the only person on earth that could call me chrissy. I will be forever grateful for every road trip, every person i ever met through my aunt, and im grateful most of all she had a loving brother who loved my mom and they got married and made me, and in turn i made my daughter brooklyn, whos now graduating from howard this year, and thats all possible because of my aunt. One of the most important things to our family is education. My daughter goes to howard, and victory goes to howard too. And their children will continue the legacy of education because i will continue it in my family name of doing the foundation so that children will never forget who my aunt was, never forget who my grandfather was, never forget my aunt carolyn, never forget my father, and never forget my uncle vaughn. Again, i just want to say to everyone sitting here, everyone watching in the world, thank you. [ applause ] i was once told that love is a verb. You can tell a person that you love them, but in the end it is what you show them that matters. My aunt loved as much and as hard as she could. As i thought about what i was going to say when i stood up here today, i thought about how much my family and i loved our mother, our grandmother, our auntie, the matriarch and the pillar of the franklin family. I asked myself, how do you say goodbye to someone that you just love so much . Someone who has been with you for all of your adult life. Someone who took you under their wings and loved you like a son after the death of your parents. Someone who was there for you through the good times and the bad times. And someone who could make you smile with a simple hello. Over the past few months, i spent a lot of time traveling back and forth from atlanta to detroit to help take care of my auntie in any way that i could. Doing those visits, she and i talked about the importance of family, and we would even cook together. When i was with my auntie in july at her apartment in downtown detroit, she and i were talkin