Popular American soul singer, Aretha Franklin has been reported dead.

The 76-year-old legendary singer was diagnosed with cancer in 2010 and announced last year she was retiring from music.

She was admitted into the hospital on Monday after being in a critical state after which she died on Thursday at her home in Detroit.CNN reports.

Franklin held the record for the most-charted female artist in Billboard history for nearly 40 years, with 73 titles in the Hot 100.

She also racked up 18 Grammy Awards over the course of her career, and in 1987, she was the first woman to be inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.