Beyoncé dedicates Detroit concert to ailing Aretha Franklin

Brian McCollum | Detroit Free Press

Beyoncé dedicated Monday night's Detroit concert to the ailing Aretha Franklin, drawing a massive roar from the Queen of Soul's hometown crowd.

The moment came early in Beyoncé's show with Jay-Z at Ford Field, packed with 40,000-plus.

"We love you," Beyoncé said of Franklin, adding a thank-you for "the beautiful music."

DJ Khaled, spinning tunes ahead of the power couple's set, had drawn his own stadium-sized cheers when he served up Franklin's "Respect."

Ford Field is just around the corner from Aretha Franklin Way, the Detroit street ceremonially named last summer for a tearful Franklin.

The Beyoncé dedication marked a cross-generational show of support: the most prominent woman in modern music paying tribute to the most important woman in the history of soul and R&B.

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As the Free Press confirmed today, the 76-year-old singer is seriously ill. She is under the watch of family and doctors at her home in Detroit's Riverfront Towers.

Detroit is the latest stop on Beyoncé and Jay-Z's On the Run II tour.

Contact Detroit Free Press music writer Brian McCollum: 313-223-4450 or bmccollum@freepress.com.