Aretha Franklin's ex-husband has described the Queen of Soul's final days after visiting her on her deathbed two days before she lost her battle with pancreatic cancer at the age of 76 on Thursday.
Glynn Turman, who was married to Franklin from 1978 to 1984, was joined by Stevie Wonder when he paid his last respects on Tuesday.
The actor said his former wife was 'strong until the very end' before her death left millions of fans around the world devastated.
Aretha Franklin's ex-husband (pictured together in 1979) has said she 'was strong and full of life' right up until she died aged 76 on Thursday
Speaking to ITV's Good Morning Britain from Los Angeles, he said: 'We were just both on the plane to pay our respects, both trying to hold onto the hope that everything would be alright.
Turman said when he arrived at Franklin's Detroit home on Tuesday, her carer gently shook her and said "Aretha, Glenn is here."
'She woke up, opened her eyes and made contact. It was a wonderful thing to see,' he said.
'I could tell by the look in her eye, she knew it was me.'
'I was holding her hand at her bedside, holding her wrist,' the 71-year-old said.
'Her pulse was so strong and full of life. Her breathing was such a defiance of what was attacking her.'
Turman, a producer and actor who has recently been in The Wire and House of Lies, said Franklin, his second wife, had a 'great sense of humor' and was 'always cracking jokes.'
'She had a repertoire of jokes she would try out on anyone,' he said.
Turnman said Franklin was 'strong till the very end,' adding: 'I was holding her hand at her bedside, holding her wrist, her pulse was so strong and full of life
Aretha Franklin (centre) poses with Glynn Turman (left) in 1980. The couple split in 1982 and then divorced in 1984
Left to right: Magic Johnson, Glynn Turman, Aretha Franklin and George Benson in 1981. Franklin passed away aged 76 on Thursday
Memorials in honor of Franklin have started growing across the United States as her devastated fans, loved ones and fellow stars pay tribute to the long-reigning Queen of Soul. Pictured: Fans at the Apollo theatre in New York
'There are some, but I can't tell you what they are. She could make a situation funny... it would crack you up.
'She was full of life, a very curious woman, she wanted to try things.'
The actor, who was Franklin's second husband, said his favorite moment with her was when she sang for the Queen Mother in Britain.
'It meant a lot to her and all of us,' he said.
'I never forget the Queen Mother being as gracious as she was.'
Talking about Franklin's rise to super-stardom, he said: 'She did it with a tremendous will - you had to come up with a strong argument to change her mind.'
After divorcing her first husband Ted White in 1969, Franklin married Turman in April 1978 at her father's church, becoming stepmother to his three children from a previous marriage.
They separated in 1982 after Franklin returned to Michigan from California, and they divorced in 1984.
Memorials in honor of Franklin have started growing across the United States as her devastated fans, loved ones and fellow stars pay tribute to the long-reigning Queen of Soul.
Fans started flocked to concert venues across the country, including the Apollo Theater in New York (left) and Stax Museum in Memphis, Tennessee (right), where Franklin played throughout her career
Aretha Franklin, the long-reigning Queen of Soul, died on Thursday morning at age 76 from advance pancreatic cancer. She is pictured at her last public performance in New York in November last year
Fans lined up to lay flowers on Franklin's Hollywood Walk of Fame star soon after news of her death was announced
Franklin passed away on Thursday at 9.50am surrounded by family and friends at her home in Detroit following a battle with advanced pancreatic cancer.
'In one of the darkest moments of our lives, we are not able to find the appropriate words to express the pain in our heart. We have lost the matriarch and rock of our family,' a statement from her family read.
'We have been deeply touched by the incredible outpouring of love and support we have received from close friends, supporters and fans all around the world. Thank you for your compassion and prayers.
'We have felt your love for Aretha and it brings us comfort to know that her legacy will live on. As we grieve, we ask that you respect our privacy during this difficult time.'
Franklin, who sang with matchless style on such classics as 'Think,' 'I Say a Little Prayer' and her signature song, 'Respect', announced her retirement from touring last year.
The mother-of-four had battled various undisclosed health issues in recent years. Her last public performance was at Elton John's AIDS Foundation gala in New York in November last year.
Soon after news of her death - which came on the same day as Elvis Presley and Babe Ruth - was announced, celebrities took to social media to mourn the loss of the Queen of Soul.
Elton John, Barbra Streisand and The Clintons were among those to share touching notes about Franklin.
Barack and Michelle Obama, who considered Franklin a close friend, released a joint statement, saying they could 'feel our history' in Franklin's voice when she sang.
'America has no royalty. But we do have a chance to earn something more enduring. Born in Memphis and raised in Detroit, Aretha Franklin grew up performing gospel songs in her father's congregation. For more than six decades since, every time she sang, we were graced with a glimpse of the divine,' the Obamas wrote.
Memorials in honor of Aretha Franklin have started growing across the United States as her devastated fans paid tribute to the Queen of Soul
Franklin's star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame is adorned with flowers, candles and cards on Thursday
Flowers and photographs are seen outside the Apollo Theatre around the golden plate tribute to Aretha Franklin in New York
Floral tributes also started to pile up outside the home where Franklin was born in Memphis, Tennessee
'Through her compassion and unmatched musicianship, Aretha helped define the American experience. In her voice, we could feel our history, all of it and in every shade - our power and our pain, our darkness and our light, our quest for redemption and our hard-won respect.
'She helped us feel more connected to each other, more hopeful, more human. And sometimes she helped us just forget about everything else and dance.
'Aretha may have passed on to a better place, but the gift of her music remains to inspire us all. May the Queen of Soul rest in eternal peace. Michelle and I send our prayers and warmest sympathies to her family and those moved by her song.'
President Donald Trump also offered his condolences in an emotionless tribute, saying 'he knew her well'.
'She worked for me on numerous occasions. She was terrific - Aretha Franklin - on her passing,' Trump said, adding that she brought joy to millions. 'She was given a great gift from God - her voice, and she used it well. People loved Aretha. She was a special woman. So just want to pass on my warmest best wishes and sympathies to her family.'
ARETHA FRANKLIN TRIBUTES: STARS SHARE TOUCHING NOTES AFTER LEGEND DIES Soon after news of her death was announced, celebrities took to social media to mourn the loss of the Queen of Soul. Elton John, Barbra Streisand, Oprah, Barack Obama and The Clintons were among those to share touching notes about Franklin. Clive Davis, the music mogul who brought her to Arista Records and helped revive her career in the 1980s, said he was 'devastated' by her death. Smokey Robinson, who grew up with her in Detroit, said: 'This morning my longest friend in this world went home to be with our father. I will miss her so much but I know she's at peace.'
Aretha Franklin received a visit from her ex-husband Glynn Turman in her final days, and the actor is opening exclusively to PEOPLE about his fond memories of the late singer.
“I felt her pulse holding her frail, frail arm,” the actor, 71, says about his final moments with Franklin, whom he calls “a love of my life.”
“I was able to feel her pulse, which was strong. So she was fighting ’til the very end,” he says of the star, who died of pancreatic cancer at age 76 on Thursday morning. “She’s always been a warrior — a strong, strong woman and a fighter. Her pulse told me that she was not in surrender mode. She was going to fight it ’til the end.”
During his visit, Franklin was conscious but unable to communicate with Turman and Stevie Wonder. Still, “she did know that I was there,” he says. “And we were able to feed off of that recognition, feed off of the moment of both sort of realizing that time was extremely precious at this time. So it was a moment full of closure.”
Franklin and Turman, who did not have children together, wed in 1978, separated in 1982 and divorced in 1984. Franklin never married again but remained close to longtime love Willie Wilkerson until her death, while Turman married once more.
RELATED: Queen of Soul Aretha Franklin Has Died of Pancreatic Cancer at Age 76
Turman and Franklin circa 1980 Michael Ochs Archives/Getty
RELATED: Remembering the Queen of Soul: Aretha Franklin’s Life in Photos
Despite their marriage ending, Turman says he and Franklin “remained friends over the years” and would often speak on the phone, mostly about a film she was working on.
Turman saw a side of Franklin, a mother to four sons (Ted White Jr., 54, Clarence Franklin, 63, Kecalf Cunningham, 48, and Edward Franklin, 61), that the public did not always see. “The good times were wonderful. The things we were able to share, things we were able to do together, the concerts that we were able to share,” he recalls.
“People think of her often as an iconic singer, an iconic performer, but they don’t necessarily remember that she was a mother and a wife and someone’s lover,” he adds. “There was that part that I’m glad I got to know about.”
Aretha Franklin Taylor Hill/Getty
Now, he will remember Franklin’s humor and stubborn streak. “She was hilarious,” he says. “She had a roster of jokes and could make funny situations out of situations that you wouldn’t think … were funny.”
At the same time, Franklin was “stubborn, stubborn as hell,” he adds. “Women’s Rights Movement should have her name written all over. She just didn’t take tea for the fever, as the old folks would say. She was stubborn and hard to persuade. When she got her mind made up on something, you might as well pretty much forget trying to change it.”
Turman believes that Franklin was aware of all the warm thoughts that fans and friends were sending her way before she died. “I’m sure she knew of all the people who cared about her,” he says. “I think that the people who were taking care of her continually told her of all the good wishes that were coming through.”
RELATED: Aretha Franklin Dead at 76: Celebrities Pay Tribute to the Queen of Soul
The Queen of Soul’s family released a statement on Thursday announcing her death: “In one of the darkest moments of our lives, we are not able to find the appropriate words to express the pain in our heart,” her family said. “We have lost the matriarch and rock of our family. The love she had for her children, grandchildren, nieces, nephews, and cousins knew no bounds.”
The statement continued, “We have been deeply touched by the incredible outpouring of love and support we have received from close friends, supporters and fans all around the world. Thank you for your compassion and prayers. We have felt your love for Aretha and it brings us comfort to know that her legacy will live on. As we grieve, we ask that you respect our privacy during this difficult time.”
Actor Glynn Turman was married to Aretha Franklin for six years.As much as he knew her incredible recording legacy, he says there were some private moments that really opened his eyes about just how gifted a musician she really was.In an interview in Los Angeles after Franklin's death, Turman recalled one of those moments to ABC7.He woke up in the middle of the night and realized his wife wasn't in bed."She was sitting at the piano, barefoot, cigarette hanging on the side of her mouth. In her nightgown. Playing this amazing music. Just amazing," he recalled."I started to say hey baby, come to bed. And I stopped and I sat down in the doorsill. And that's really the first time it really dawned on me that my wife was!"Turman, now 71, has had a long acting career in film and television, starring in shows such as "Peyton Place," "A Different World" and HBO's "The Wire."He first met Franklin in Los Angeles, backstage at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion during a performance by actor Ben Vereen, who was a high school classmate of Turman's.He was walking around backstage when he heard someone call out to him."Glynn Turman, my mother loves you!" the young man said. "I said 'Who's your mother?' He said, 'Aretha Franklin.' I said 'Whoa.'"They married in 1978 and divorced in 1984, in part because of the difficulty of maintaining a long-distance relationship.But he remained close with Franklin until the end, he said.As news of her illness emerged recently, Turman went to visit her."I went in, they said Glynn is here. She stirred. And we had a nice time together," he recalled.
Aretha Franklin received a visit from her ex-husband Glynn Turman in her final days, and the actor is opening exclusively to PEOPLE about his fond memories of the late singer.
“I felt her pulse holding her frail, frail arm,” the actor, 71, says about his final moments with Franklin, whom he calls “a love of my life.”
“I was able to feel her pulse, which was strong. So she was fighting ’til the very end,” he says of the star, who died of pancreatic cancer at age 76 on Thursday morning. “She’s always been a warrior — a strong, strong woman and a fighter. Her pulse told me that she was not in surrender mode. She was going to fight it ’til the end.”
During his visit, Franklin was conscious but unable to communicate with Turman and Stevie Wonder. Still, “she did know that I was there,” he says. “And we were able to feed off of that recognition, feed off of the moment of both sort of realizing that time was extremely precious at this time. So it was a moment full of closure.”
Franklin and Turman, who did not have children together, wed in 1978, separated in 1982 and divorced in 1984. Franklin never married again but remained close to longtime love Willie Wilkerson until her death, while Turman married once more.
RELATED: Queen of Soul Aretha Franklin Has Died of Pancreatic Cancer at Age 76
View photos Turman and Franklin circa 1980 More
RELATED: Remembering the Queen of Soul: Aretha Franklin’s Life in Photos
Despite their marriage ending, Turman says he and Franklin “remained friends over the years” and would often speak on the phone, mostly about a film she was working on.
Turman saw a side of Franklin, a mother to four sons (Ted White Jr., 54, Clarence Franklin, 63, Kecalf Cunningham, 48, and Edward Franklin, 61), that the public did not always see. “The good times were wonderful. The things we were able to share, things we were able to do together, the concerts that we were able to share,” he recalls.
“People think of her often as an iconic singer, an iconic performer, but they don’t necessarily remember that she was a mother and a wife and someone’s lover,” he adds. “There was that part that I’m glad I got to know about.”
View photos Aretha Franklin More
Now, he will remember Franklin’s humor and stubborn streak. “She was hilarious,” he says. “She had a roster of jokes and could make funny situations out of situations that you wouldn’t think … were funny.”
