--- description: Barack and Michelle Obama expressed their deep condolences after Aretha Franklin passed away on Thursday morning. title: Barack and Michelle Obama Mourn Aretha Franklin's Death image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt27b356931194bdca/698937edbc6cfc31173e6b5d/aretha-franklin-barack-obama-mourns-death.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Newsfeed](/tag/time-section-newsfeed/) ## Newsfeed Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # She ‘Helped Define the American Experience.’ Barack and Michelle Obama Mourn Aretha Franklin  by [Cady Lang](/author/cady-lang/)  ## Cady Lang Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Aug 16, 2018 5:30 PM CUT  WASHINGTON, DC - FEBRUARY 27: US President Barack Obama fist bumps with singer Aretha Franklin who sung during a farwell ceremony for Attorney General Eric Holder at the Justice Department February 27, 2015 in Washington, DC. The ceremony was held to unveil the Attorney Generals official portrait and commemorate his tenure before his expected departure from the department after more than six years of service. (Photo by Mark Wilson/Getty Images) WASHINGTON, DC - FEBRUARY 27: US President Barack Obama fist bumps with singer Aretha Franklin who sung during a farwell ceremony for Attorney General Eric Holder at the Justice Department February 27, 2015 in Washington, DC. The ceremony was held to unveil the Attorney Generals official portrait and commemorate his tenure before his expected departure from the department after more than six years of service. (Photo by Mark Wilson/Getty Images)Mark Wilson—Getty Images  by [Cady Lang](/author/cady-lang/)  ## Cady Lang Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Aug 16, 2018 5:30 PM CUT [Aretha Franklin’s death](http://time.com/5365353/aretha-franklin-dies/ "undefined") on Thursday shook the world and her legions of fan, including former President [Barack Obama](http://time.com/5336305/barack-obamas-best-president-survey/ "undefined") and First Lady [Michelle Obama](http://time.com/5178890/michelle-obama-president-leadership/ "undefined"), who mourned the passing of the great Queen of Soul. The Obamas were noted admirers of Franklin; the music legend sang the national anthem at [Barack’s first presidential inauguration in 2009](http://time.com/5367138/aretha-franklin-appreciation/ "undefined") and the former president was even caught wiping a tear away when Franklin performed [a phenomenal rendition](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XHsnZT7Z2yQ "undefined") of “(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman” at the 2015 Kennedy Center Honors. In a statement from their office, the Obamas noted that “Aretha helped define the American experience.” “In her voice, we could feel our history, all of it and in every shade — our power and our pain, our darkness and our light, our quest for redemption and our hard-won respect,” they wrote. “She helped us feel more connected to each other, more hopeful, more human.” Both Barack and Michelle also shared personal memories of Franklin on their Twitter accounts. > [](https://twitter.com/BarackObama/status/1030129887623958538) > [](https://twitter.com/MichelleObama/status/1030133288231489537) Read the Obamas’ full statement on Franklin below. > [](https://twitter.com/ABC/status/1030125675229990912) ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5369463/barack-obama-on-aretha-franklin-death/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5369463/barack-obama-on-aretha-franklin-death/"},"headline":"She ‘Helped Define the American Experience.’ Barack and Michelle Obama Mourn Aretha Franklin","datePublished":"2018-08-16T17:30:05.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T07:54:22.454Z","description":"\"She helped us feel more connected to each other\"","url":"https://time.com/5369463/barack-obama-on-aretha-franklin-death/","keywords":["Newsfeed","Music"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt27b356931194bdca/698937edbc6cfc31173e6b5d/aretha-franklin-barack-obama-mourns-death.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Cady Lang","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/cady-lang/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt27b356931194bdca/698937edbc6cfc31173e6b5d/aretha-franklin-barack-obama-mourns-death.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"President Obama Joins Justice Department Ceremony Honoring Eric Holder","caption":"President Obama Joins Justice Department Ceremony Honoring Eric Holder","creditText":"Mark Wilson—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5369463/barack-obama-on-aretha-franklin-death/","name":"She ‘Helped Define the American Experience.’ Barack and Michelle Obama Mourn Aretha Franklin"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"EXCLUSIVE: Aretha Franklin Performs \"Rock of Ages\"","description":"Franklin performed in the New Bethel Baptist Church in Detroit, which her father helped re-build in the early 1950s.","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/CzXDgI6O/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2017-08-31T14:17:10.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/CzXDgI6O.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/5369463/barack-obama-on-aretha-franklin-death/","duration":"PT7M45S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/5369463/barack-obama-on-aretha-franklin-death/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```