Aretha Franklin, a pioneer of R&B and Gospel music and who rightly earned the title of Queen of Soul, died today at her home in Detroit after a battle with pancreatic cancer, according to CNN. She was 76.

The death of Franklin signifies an end to a life that was rich and robust, as colorful and full of memorable musical art as the woman herself. For over six decades, the singer’s instantly recognizable voice stretched to the emotional stratosphere and she became a titan not only in music, but provided a soundtrack, especially in her early superstar years, for a turbulent civil rights movement that was just at its peak during the late 1960s.