Aretha Franklin racked up a towering litany of honors during her 76 years, from the Presidential Medal of Freedom to the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award.
On Monday, the Queen of Soul was bestowed the most prestigious prize yet since her death in August, as she joined a lofty list of individuals and institutions honored by the Pulitzer Prize board with a special citation.
Unlike the Pulitzers’ annually awarded prizes in fields such as journalism and drama, special citations are granted selectively and sporadically, as a person or group’s larger body of work essentially forces the case.
Franklin remains a trailblazer even posthumously: The Pulitzers have granted just 43 special citations since 1930, and Franklin is the first woman honored with one.
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