A slideshow of the landmark events Aretha Franklin's life

Early in 1967 when she was already a music industry veteran but had only a few minor hits to show for it, Aretha Franklin recorded "Respect" and sent herself into superstardom. The song was released as a single and was the lead track on her breakthrough album, "I Never Loved a Man the Way I Love You," her debut for Atlantic Records. Producer Jerry Wexler encouraged her to embrace her soul-and-gospel roots and together they found the sound that birthed "Respect." The song had been a moderate hit for Otis Redding, who wrote and first recorded it. Franklin flipped the gender, spelled out R-E-S-P-E-C-T in the lyrics, and added the repeated "sock it to me" line from the backup singers. The result was a career-defining hit that won Franklin two Grammys, became an anthem for women and quickly entered the pantheon of American song.

Franklin's flagging career got an unlikely boost from John Belushi and Dan Aykroyd when she appeared and sang her classic "Think" in the 1980 movie "The Blues Brothers." Franklin plays a fed-up waitress who sings the song as a warning to her short-order cook boyfriend, who wants to rejoin the Blues Brothers band and go back on the road. Waitresses, customers and Belushi and Aykroyd served as her backup singers and dancers. The scene introduced Franklin to a new generation, and signaled that she'd have a career revival in the '80s.

Aretha Franklin became the first woman inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1987, joining a boys' club of two dozen men. Her class included Marvin Gaye, Bo Diddley, B.B. King and Franklin's essential producer, Wexler. The ceremony was all-male anyway, with Franklin a no-show and Keith Richards delivering her induction speech. Franklin's brother Cecil, a minister, accepted on her behalf and did an impromptu victory dance with Richards.

FILE - In this March 3, 1975 file photo, singer Aretha Franklin poses with her Grammy Award for for best female R&B vocal performance for "Ain't Nothing Like the Real Thing" at the 17th Annual Grammy Award presentation in New York. A person close to Franklin said on Monday that the 76-year-old singer is ill. Franklin canceled planned concerts earlier this year after she was ordered by her doctor to stay off the road and rest up. (AP Photo, File)

George W. Bush gave Franklin the Presidential Medal of Freedom in a White House ceremony in 2005. The highest civilian honor bestowed by the United States, the Medal of Freedom honors those who have made especially meritorious contribution to the security or national interests of the United States, world peace, cultural or other significant public or private endeavors." Bush said in his citation for Franklin that she "revolutionized American music" and "has captivated listeners ever since she toured with her father's gospel revue in the 1950s. She is among our nation's greatest musical artists and has captured the hearts of millions of Americans."

Franklin sang "My Country, 'Tis of Thee" at the first inauguration of President Barack Obama. The celebration of the election of the nation's first black president was perhaps the pinnacle of Franklin's long tradition of singing at America's big ceremonial moments. She sang at the inauguration of Jimmy Carter, at the official festivities surrounding the inauguration of Bill Clinton, and at memorials for the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. and Rosa Parks. At Obama's inauguration, Franklin appeared on the cold January day in a winter coat and a hat with a huge gray bow on top that brought a stream of jokes and comments on the fledging Facebook and Twitter. She gave the usually stodgy "My Country 'Tis of Thee" a soul-and-pop feel in her performance, endlessly stretching out and vamping on the final line, "let freedom ring."

FILE - In this Dec. 4, 1994 file photo, President Bill Clinton, from right, and first lady Hillary Rodham Clinton applaud the 1994 Kennedy Center Honors award recipients, from left, songwriter Pete Seeger, director Harold Prince, composer Morton Gould, singer Aretha Franklin and actor Kirk Douglas during a reception in the East Room of the White House. A person close to Franklin said on Monday that the 76-year-old singer is ill. Franklin canceled planned concerts earlier this year after she was ordered by her doctor to stay off the road and rest up. (AP PhotoDoug Mills, File)

FILE - In this Jan. 20, 2009 file photo, Aretha Franklin performs at the inauguration for President Barack Obama at the U.S. Capitol in Washington. A person close to Franklin said on Monday that the 76-year-old singer is ill. Franklin canceled planned concerts earlier this year after she was ordered by her doctor to stay off the road and rest up. (AP PhotoRon Edmonds, File)

FILE - In this Oct. 16, 2011 file photo, Aretha Franklin sings as President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama look on during the dedication of the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial in Washington. A person close to Franklin said on Monday that the 76-year-old singer is ill. Franklin canceled planned concerts earlier this year after she was ordered by her doctor to stay off the road and rest up. (AP PhotoCharles Dharapak, File)

WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. intelligence officials have determined that Russian President Vladimir Putin likely didn’t order the death of imprisoned opposition leader Alexei Navalny in February, according to an official familiar with the determination.

While U.S. officials believe Putin was ultimately responsible for the death of Navalny, who endured brutal conditions during his confinement, the intelligence community has found “no smoking gun” that Putin was aware of the timing of Navalny's death — which came soon before the Russian president's reelection — or directly ordered it, according to the official.

The official spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the sensitive matter.

Soon after Navalny’s death, U.S. President Joe Biden said Putin was ultimately responsible but did not accuse the Russian president of directly ordering it.

At the time, Biden said the U.S. did not know exactly what had happened to Navalny but that “there is no doubt” that his death “was the consequence of something that Putin and his thugs did.”

Navalny, 47, Russia’s best-known opposition politician and Putin’s most persistent foe, died Feb. 16 in a remote penal colony above the Arctic Circle while serving a 19-year sentence on extremism charges that he rejected as politically motivated.

He had been behind bars since January 2021 after returning to Russia from Germany, where he had been recovering from nerve-agent poisoning that he blamed on the Kremlin.

Russian officials have said only that Navalny died of natural causes and have vehemently denied involvement both in the poisoning and in his death.

In March, a month after Navalny’s death, Putin won a landslide reelection for a fifth term, an outcome that was never in doubt.

The Wall Street Journal first reported about the U.S. intelligence determination.

FILE - Russian opposition politician Alexei Navalny gestures while speaking during his interview to the Associated Press in Moscow, Russia on Dec. 18, 2017. U.S. intelligence officials have determined that Russian President Vladimir Putin likely didn't order the death of Navalny, the imprisoned opposition leader, in February of 2024. An official says the U.S. intelligence community has found "no smoking gun" that Putin was aware of the timing of Navalny's death or directly ordered it. (AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko, File)