Posthumous Pulitzer Prize Awarded To Aretha Franklin

 (Photo by Kevin Winter/Getty Images)

 

Aretha Franklin has always been one to make history, and it seems even after her death she still is. The Queen of Soul received a posthumous Pulitzer Prize Special Citation honor from the organization on Monday. The Associated Press reported that she has become the first individual woman to earn the special citation since its inception in 1930.

Monday via Twitter, the Pulitzer Prize organization shared the good news with a post congratulating the late Soul Queen along with her family and friends.

 

The posthumous honor was awarded to the 18-time Grammy winner due to “her indelible contribution to American music and culture for more than five decades.”

Aretha’s niece and executor of her estate, Sabrina Owens, responded to the news and spoke to the Associated Press saying, “Aretha is blessed and highly favored even in death. She’s continued to receive multiple awards — she’s received almost every award imaginable and now to get the Pulitzer Prize, it’s just amazing.” Owens continued, “Aretha continues to bless us with her music and just paving the way for women going forward. It’s thrilling. She would be so happy right now.”

The Queen of Soul passed away on August 16 of pancreatic cancer at the age of 76 years old.

Featured Image: (Photo by Kevin Winter/Getty Images)

More from OG 97.9

OG 97.9 Contest

Playlist