DETROIT

The “Queen of Soul” Aretha Franklin was remembered and celebrated in a star-studded marathon funeral service last Friday that drew laughter, tears and, as with any large family gathering, controversy.

The nearly nine-hour service at Detroit’s Greater Grace Temple featured tributes by 27 speakers, ranging from former President Bill Clinton to childhood friend Smokey Robinson, and musical performances by 19 others, including the powerful voices of Gladys Knight, Jennifer Hudson, Chaka Khan, Shirley Caesar and Ariana Grande.

The 76-year-old, who began her musical career as a child singing gospel at her minister father’s New Bethel Baptist Church in Detroit, died Aug. 16 at her Detroit home from pancreatic cancer.

More than 100 pink Cadillacs escorted the hearse carrying the late singer’s casket to the church, where crowds of fans gathered outside, many wearing their Sunday best.

Ms. Franklin was a fan of Cadillacs, particularly pink Cadillacs, and sang about them in her 1985 hit, “Freeway of Love.”

Many of the owners and drivers were Mary Kay cosmetics representatives who had won their signature pink Cadillacs. But others were Cadillac owners who had driven in from as far as Texas and North Carolina for the auto tribute.

“This is as close as you get to royalty here in America, and Aretha earned every bit of it,” said Missy Settlers, 53, an automotive parts assembler.

While the funeral had been billed as closed to the public, some fans were admitted into the church to sit behind Ms. Franklin’s family.

“Come on, this is a church service. Lift your voices!” Bishop Charles H. Ellis III, pastor of Greater Grace Temple who officiated at the funeral, exhorted the congregation as the large choir and orchestra swayed behind him. The church swelled with the sound of music.

More than eight music-filled hours later, Stevie Wonder took to the stage to close out the ceremony with a performance of his song “As,” the crowd joining him in its refrain, “I’ll be lovin’ you always.”

“She had the voice of a generation, maybe the voice of a century,” President Clinton said, describing himself as an Aretha Franklin “groupie” long before he became president. Ending his remarks, President Clinton held the microphone to his smartphone and played Ms. Franklin’s 1968 hit “Think” over the church’s speakers.

Civil rights leaders Jesse Jackson and the Rev. Al Sharpton were on stage to honor Ms. Franklin’s contributions to black empowerment, sharing the pulpit with Nation of Islam Leader Minister Louis Farrakhan.

Rev. Sharpton lauded Ms. Franklin for providing the soundtrack of the Civil Rights Movement, with songs such as her signature 1967 hit “Respect.”

“She was a black woman in a white man’s world,” Rev. Sharpton said, as mourners cheered. “She was rooted in the black church, she was bathed in the black church, and she took the black church downtown and made folks that didn’t know what the Holy Ghost was shout in the middle of a concert.”

Ms. Franklin was recalled as both an American institution, who sang at the presidential inaugurations of Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton and Barack Obama, and as an aunt and grandmother, who took her young relatives shopping or to see Disney on Ice shows.

“Nothing sounded better to me than the way my grandma sings,” Victorie Franklin said.

Motown singer and friend Smokey Robinson crooned a few lines of his song “Really Gonna Miss You.” Ariana Grande belted out “Natural Woman” while Gladys Knight took on “You’ll Never Walk Alone.”

An ensemble performance of “Precious Lord” so moved the congregation that the officiant told the orchestra to keep going as clergy danced on the stage, expanding a program that by then was already running two hours behind schedule.

Her civil rights legacy was mentioned often during the service. Several speakers used the moment to continue to demand respect for black America. Amid the personal reflections were calls to register and turn out to vote in November and condemnation of President Trump, who, upon her death, referred to Ms. Franklin as “someone who worked for me” — a comment that rankled many.

“No — she used to perform for you,” Rev. Sharpton said to cheers and applause from the crowd. “She worked for us. Aretha never took orders from nobody but God.”

Others seized on President Trump’s comments and Ms. Franklin’s message of dignity to speak to the present social and political climate. In pointing out the long lines to pay tribute to Ms. Franklin last week, Rev. Jackson lamented that the lines to vote often aren’t nearly as long.

“Aretha was on the battleground for 60 years,” Rev. Jackson told the audience. “We have long lines to celebrate death, and short lines for voting. Something is missing. If you leave here today and don’t register to vote, you’re dishonoring Aretha.”

Judge Greg Mathis, one of Ms. Franklin’s many friends who often talked politics with her, said that his last conversation with Ms. Franklin earlier this summer was about the ongoing water crisis in Flint, Mich., where government negligence has left residents living with lead-tainted water since 2014.

“Her last words to me ... were ‘Go back up there and sock it to ’em!,’ ” Judge Mathis told the crowd before vowing that he would in her memory.

Georgetown University professor Michael Eric Dyson took several shots at President Trump in his remarks, assigning the president several nicknames — “orange apparition,” “lugubrious leech,” “doppleganger of deceit and deceit,” “lethal liar,” “dimwitted dictator” and “foolish fascist.”

“She ain’t work for you,” Dr. Dyson shouted over applause. “She worked above you. She worked beyond you. Get your preposition right.”

Late Friday, Ms. Franklin’s casket was entombed in Detroit’s Woodlawn Cemetery near her father, the Rev. C.L. Franklin; her brother, Cecil Franklin; and her sisters, Carolyn and Erma Franklin.

Later Friday, Bishop Ellis apologized to Ms. Grande for how he touched her onstage and joked about seeing her name on the funeral program and thinking it was a new item on the Taco Bell menu.

During the service, he awkwardly greeted Ms. Grande on stage after she performed. Images of the moment showed Bishop Ellis’ hand holding her well above her waist, his finger pressing against one side of her chest. Many people posted close-up images of the moment on Twitter, tagging it #RespectAriana.

“It would never be my intention to touch any woman’s breast … I don’t know, I guess I put my arm around her,” he told the Associated Press. “Maybe I crossed the border. Maybe I was too friendly or familiar. But, again, I apologize.”

He said he hugged all the performers during the service.

“I personally and sincerely apologize to Ariana and to her fans and to the whole Hispanic community,” Bishop Ellis said. “When you’re doing a program for nine hours you try to keep it lively, you try to insert some jokes here and there.”

Meanwhile, Ms. Franklin’s family on Monday called the eulogy delivered by the Rev. Jasper Williams Jr. offensive and distasteful.

His fiery, old school eulogy described children being in a home without a father as “abortion after birth” and said black lives do not matter unless black people stop killing each other.

“He spoke for 50 minutes and at no time did he properly eulogize her,” said Vaughn Franklin, the late singer’s nephew, who said he was delivering a statement for the family.

Many thought Rev. Williams, who is pastor of Salem Bible Church in Atlanta, took a shot at Ms. Franklin, who was a single mother of four boys.

The family selected Rev. Williams because he has spoken at other family memorials in the past, most prominently at the funeral for Ms. Franklin’s father 34 years ago.

The pastor said the last time he spoke with Aretha Franklin was a few months ago. His eulogy “caught the entire family off guard,” Vaughn Franklin said. The family had not discussed what Rev. Williams would say in advance, he said.

“It has been very, very distasteful,” he said.

Rev. Williams was blasted on social media for misogyny, bigotry and the perpetuation of false science on race. He blamed integration and the Civil Rights Movement for ripping the heart out of black micro-economies that once relied on black-owned small businesses such as grocery stores, hotels and banks.

Rev. Williams heard resistance at the funeral itself. Singer Stevie Wonder yelled out, “Black lives matter” after the pastor said, “No, black lives do not matter” during his eulogy.

The pastor has not backed down from anything he said, noting that he respects the family’s opinion. “I understand it,” he said. “I regret it. But I’m sorry they feel that way.”