Don Lemon Honors Aretha Franklin in Tearful Tribute: ‘Her Voice Has Been the Soundtrack of My Life’

EXCERPT:

LEMON: "This is very personal for me, as you can probably tell. One of the greatest blessings of the work that I do is that I get a chance to meet and have conversations with some really incredible people. More than once I’ve met a hero of mine. But nothing compared to getting to know Aretha Franklin, Miss Franklin. You know, in a lot of ways her music, her voice, it’s been the soundtrack of my life. Maybe yours too. For as long as I can remember, I’ve been listening to — there we are at her birthday party. I’ve been listening to and loving Aretha. In my house, at picnics, cookouts, at parties, in the car, plane, wherever I could listen to her. And the people who work on this show have heard me sing her songs more than a few time. Even in the commercial breaks here in the studio they have to listen to me. But sitting down across from her just a few years ago, I was just about speechless."