MTV VMAs working to craft tribute for Aretha Franklin
FILE – In this July 8, 2012 file photo, Aretha Franklin performs at the Essence Music Festival in New Orleans. Franklin died Thursday, Aug. 16, 2018 at her home in Detroit. She was 76. Image: Cheryl Gerber/Invision/AP, File
NEW YORK — The MTV Video Music Awards plans on honoring the legacy of Aretha Franklin — they’re just not sure how they will do it.
The VMAs will air live Monday. Show executive producer Jesse Ignjatovic tells The Associated Press on Friday that his team is “working on a lot of different options.”
Franklin, who was 76, died Thursday at her home in Detroit from pancreatic cancer.
Ignjatovic says he’s working to find “the right tone and the right artist” to properly pay tribute to the Queen of Soul.
He adds: “Whether it’s a performance or spoken — just something that’s organic and done in a way that feels tonally right because it’s Aretha Franklin.”
The VMAs will be held at Radio City Music Hall in New York. MKH
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