Reports that Franklin was "gravely ill" surfaced on 13th August after a source close to the family asked for prayers for the singer in the final days. Universally lauded as one of the all-time greatest singers and artists, Franklin is best remembered for her once-in-a-generation, technically flawless voice, which married gospel power with a singular grittiness and honesty. Songs like "Respect," "Think," and "You Make Me Feel Like A Natural Woman" are forever engrained in American pop culture for their reflection of the times the civil rights and feminist movements. In her autobiography, Franklin wrote of the 1967 classic "Respect," "It [reflected] the need of a nation, the need of the average man and woman in the street, the businessman, the mother, the fireman, the teacher — everyone wanted respect. It was also one of the battle cries of the civil rights movement. The song took on monumental significance." The track, originally recorded by Otis Redding but definitively performed by Franklin, was added to the National Recording Registry by the Library of Congress in 2002.