SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (KELO.com) -- Aretha Franklin died at her home in Detroit on Thursday at the age of 76.
Longtime KELO-AM Radio DJ Jon Michaels tells why she was the Queen of Soul.
"It makes you feel good," Michaels said. "It really hits you. She relates. She gets to you. She's kind of like the underdog but powerful too. Aretha's music you can listen to no matter what your color or your age. I think my dog would even like it!"
Michaels says nobody had the range and power that Aretha Franklin had but that's not all she did.
"Her music represented the '60s," Michaels said. "A time of civil rights, a time of women's changes. Everything from Hugh Hefner to the culture at that time."
Her voice even helped make a movie into a big hit.
"Her songs Think and Respect made the Blues Brothers movie, when you get right down to it," Michaels said.
Franklin's funeral is scheduled for August 31 in Detroit.
(Nick Hill, KELO.com News, contributed to this report.)