NEW YORK (AP) — The clarity and the command. The daring and the discipline. The thrill of her voice and the truth of her emotions.

Like the best actors and poets, nothing came between how Aretha Franklin felt and what she could express, between what she expressed and how we responded. Blissful on "(You Make Me Feel Like) a Natural Woman." Despairing on "Ain't No Way." Up front forever on her feminist and civil rights anthem "Respect."

Franklin, the glorious "Queen of Soul" and genius of American song, died Thursday morning at her home in Detroit of pancreatic cancer. She was 76. Few performers...