Music fans around the world were saddened by the news on Thursday that the queen of soul, Aretha Franklin passed away at the age of 76. Do you recall the time that Aretha Franklin almost performed in Rockford?

It was June 13, 2002, that the woman behind such iconic soul hits like 'Respect, 'Natural Woman,' and 'Freeway of Love" was scheduled to play at Rockford's legendary Coronado Theater, which at the time just completed being renovated.

The show was all set to go when at the last minute the show was cancelled by Franklin.

Hulton Archive, Getty Images
Hulton Archive, Getty Images
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The reason why the show was canceled, according to Frankin's lawyer, was because of a serious family illness, However, controversy erupted and made local headlines because of what the queen of soul allegedly said about Rockford's beautiful Coronado Theatre. She supposedly called the theater "a dump."

Franklin's lawyer at the time insisted that wasn't true, however, Rockfordians ran with it and were upset with the comments that made headlines at the time. In fact, many radio local radio stations even went so far as to boycott Franklin's music.

Sadly, the show was never made up and Franklin never made it back to Rockford.

 

 

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