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FRIDAY: Aretha Franklin’s Funeral Scheduled For Six and A Half Hours: How To Watch On TV and Online

By Michael Fairman

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Photo: CBS

The Queen of Soul, Aretha Franklin, who passed away two weeks ago from pancreatic cancer at the age of 76, will be laid to rest tomorrow.  The funeral services will be a star-studded ceremony, and a religious one.

Aretha’s funeral will be made available via live-stream and on TV. Here is what we know: portions of the ceremony will also be shared on CNN, Fox News and MSNBC, while BET will air the funeral in its entirety.

PEOPLE,com and PEOPLE’s facebook page will have the live-stream while the WORD Network, a religious platform will be streaming it on their website.  The funeral will also be broadcast in full by the Associated Press.

The funeral will take place at Greater Grace Temple in Detroit, Michigan.  Attending the service will be family and friends of Aretha’s.

The six-hour event will begin at 8:30am/EST and go till 3PM.  It will start with a viewing. where many of Grammy Award-winning legends recordings will be played.

Performing will be: Stevie Wonder, Chaka Khan, Faith Hill, Shirley Caesar, Ron Isley, and Arianna Grande, as well as Jennifer Hudson who will sing “Amazing Grace”.  Hudson is also playing Franklin in the upcoming movie based on Franklin’s memoir, Aretha: From These Roots.

Gospel artists such as Yolanda Adams, Marvin Sapp, Vanessa Bell Armstrong, and The Aretha Franklin Choir will be on hand to perform as well.

Former President Bill Clinton, Smokey Robinson, Rev. Jesse Jackson, Cicely Tyson, General Eric Holder and Clive Davis are set to speak at the service.

Unfortunately, Barack Obama was set to speak, but he and Michelle Obama will now not be attending.  However, a letter written by the former president will be read at the service.  Obama is now set to deliver one of the eulogies for the late Senator. John McCain, on Saturday morning at the National Cathedral in Washington.

So, what do you think of the line-up for Aretha’s funeral?  Will you be watching the live-stream as we pay our respects and tribute to the one and only Aretha, who was one of The Young and the Restless‘ all-time biggest fans?  Comment below.

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”So, what do you think of the line-up for Aretha’s funeral?”

Of the 14 mentioned in the line-up- I know of only 3 .
Stevie Wonder, Bill Clinton, Eric Holder.

I have sent up a prayer and paid my respects to the The Queen of Soul, Aretha Franklin.
A great woman a great loss.
No, I will not tune into watch a depressing funeral eeessshhh..

I know suOOO, we just went through
Jonah’s” funeral! When is Amys!

Wow, this lady is getting the same send off as Hillary from Y&R! Not a fan. To me, she shouted everything! I hope Tone Loc gets the same love!

Only six hours??? That still pales in comparison to the week-long, wall-to-wall, multi-city funeral vigil concocted by the ever-egomaniacal McCain!

No, not 6 hours..
It was 10 hours..
on Twitter, people joked that Franklin wouldn’t be going home until Labor Day.

Well, su, at least in the battle of the “Dueling Diva” send-offs, Aretha’s was a private matter, financially-speaking…However, the taxpayers are stuck footing the obscenely-expensive bill for McVain’s huge ego-trip from the grave, which is more elaborate than the funerals of the last three deceased ex-presidents combined (Nixon, Reagan and Ford….) And it only took longer to bury Abraham Lincoln! (Three weeks….) Even JFK’s services were more expedient than this week-long funereal extravanganza, which just goes to show how out-of-proportion it all is!

su; I didn’t watch Aretha’s funeral but I will try to see parts of it if it’s rebroadcast. She was a legend; a deserved one. Her voice, her music, her impact on the time. Truly remarkable force in music.

Smokey Robinson of Smokey Robinson and The Miracles was one of the most influential groups in pop and R&B music history. Google him/them if interested. Clive Davis is a record producer who signed some of the biggest music legends of all time: Janice Joplin (PLEASE tell me you heard of her; huge rock legend and yes, before your time but if you like rock at all she’s in a class of her own), Bruce Springsteen, Billy Joel, Aerosmith, Alicia Keyes, Christina Aguilera, Carlos Santana, Barry Manilow, Dionne Warwick, founded a company with P. Didy, Babyface…the list goes on and on. And, of course, Aretha.

As for McCain’s funeral, watched quite a bit of it on Saturday and it was spectacular. The music (very moving, especially “Danny Boy” which you might not know either), the tributes, the historical precedence of having both former presidents Bush and Obama give speeches (two men he ran against and lost to and yet he reached across the divide and had respect for; an ability to work with). There were “daggers” thrown at Trump though his name wasn’t mentioned which, again, was historical in that instead of just a “sad” event/funeral, John McCain, (who planned his own service and requested Presidents Bush and Obama) trusted these men, the others who spoke as well as his daughter, to speak not only about him but send a message at the same time… this man reached out while he was still here to give his parting words/wisdom (when he was no longer here to do so) to a country divided.

It was truly amazing to watch and see people from different races, religions and political parties come together. One can only hope that Senator McCain’s attempt at humanity for all spoke to the people who seem to have either forgotten it or never had it.

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Robert Kelker-Kelly, ‘General Hospital,’ ‘Days of our Lives’ and ‘Another World’ Star Dies at 62

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Robert Kelker-Kelly

Robert Kelker-Kelly, who became prominent as a one of the leading men in soap operas back in the late 80s and 90s has died at the age of 62. TMZ first reported the news of Robert’s passing on Saturday, October 3 at his home in St. Peters, Missouri.

According to the St. Peters police report, officers responded to call at around 8:16 pm about an unconscious man who was not breathing, as paramedics and other EMS were en route. Kelker-Kelly had reportedly complained of chest pain shortly before becoming unresponsive and the circumstances appeared consistent with a medical event.

Officers and paramedics administered life-saving measures, but were unsuccessful in reviving Kelker-Kelly. The cause of his death is still unknown and under investigation.

Robert Kelker-Kelly

Photo: NBC

Daytime fans first saw Robert back in 1987 when he was cast as Sam Fowler on Another World. He played the role for three year suntil 1990. Two years later, he took over the role of Bo Brady on Days of our Lives replacing Peter Reckell, who at that time decided to leave the show.

As Bo, Kelker-Kelly was major in story playing opposite the likes of: Crystal Chappell as Dr. Carly Manning, Kristian Alfonso as Hope Williams and Lisa Rinna as Billie Reed. When Peter Reckell returned to his signature role in 1995, Kelker-Kelly left the show.

Next, Robert returned to his original stomping grounds at Another World but this time as race car driver, Bobby Reno who was actually Dr. Shane Roberts. His second AW stint lasted from 1996-1998.

Robert Kelker-Kelly, GH

Photo: ABC

Eventually, the actor would begin his run as the evil Stavros Cassadine on General Hospital in 2001, then make returns in 2002 and 2003. In 2013, he briefly returned as Stavros as part of the show’s 50th anniversary celebration, and made one last appearance in 2014.

Robert has also became a professional pilot full from 2003 to 2015 and had been married to former Days of our Lives star, Miriam Parrish (ex-Jamie Caldwell) from 1997-2011, but the couple divorced in 2011. Since that time, he has not remarried.

Recently, Robert was back in the news when Lisa Rinna talked about her time working with her former Days of our Lives co-star in her recently released memoir, You Better Believe I’m Gonna Talk About It.

Rinna shared on her then on-screen love interest, “Behind the scenes, we hated each other. Remember when Kathy Hilton said I was the biggest bully in Hollywood? Not true. Not even close! I have legit stories about the real bullies in this town. Robert Kelker-Kelly is one of those bullies.”

The former Billie Reed and reality star even punctuated that with, “He made my life a living hell on the set of DAYS, He was horrible to me, I’d go so far as to say verbally abusive. He was passive-aggressive, manipulative and played weird mind games.”

Besides his role in the soaps, Kelker-Kelly appeared on primetime on Touched by an Angel and Rescue 77 , and played Bo in the Days of our Lives specials Night Sins and Winter Heat in the early 90s.

Michael Fairman TV will provide further updates as they become available on the death of Robert Kelker-Kelly.

Now, share your remembrances and condolences on the loss of Robert Kelker-Kelly via the comment section below and let us know of all his daytime roles, which was your favorite.

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Hayden Panettiere’s Cause of Death Revealed

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Hayden Panettiere

On Tuesday, September 22, the Greenville, South Carolina Coroner’s office ruled that actress Hayden Panettiere’s death was an accident, attributing the 36-year-old’s passing to be a combination of toxic effects from fentanyl and other drugs that were in her system.

Panettiere was found unresponsive on Sunday, August 16. There have been numerous reports and sources speaking to various outlets about the manner in which the Nashville and Guiding Light alum died, but nothing was certain until now.

The Greenville County Coroner’s office shared that fentanyl, combined with 4-ANPP, Alprazolam (also known as Xanax), Methocarbamol (a muscle relaxant) and Quetiapine (used to treat bipolar disorder and schizophrenia but is sometimes prescribed to treat depression), were all found in Hayden’s system.

Hayden Panettiere Guiding Light

Photo: CBS

GUIDING LIGHT ALUM’S DEATH IS STILL UNDER AN ONGOING INVESTIGATION

Meanwhile, the Greenville Police Department shared there is still an ongoing investigation into this case. “Our detectives will continue to follow leads and gather information as we work toward resolving this case,” the department shared.

That is, because despite Panettiere’s death being ruled accidental, authorities continue investigating whether anyone might be criminally responsible for providing the star with a lethal substance. It is being shared that this is  “cross-country investigation” stretching from as far as South Carolina to California.

As we previously reported, TMZ shared on September 14 that law enforcement officials believe Hayden’s “long time drug dealer” may have been the person responsible for supplying her with an oxycodone pill laced with fentanyl which she took the morning of her death.

Panettiere “had been temporarily staying” at the apartment in Greenville, the coroner’s office said in August. Authorities did not say whose apartment it was but it was said to later be an Airbnb. It was Hayden’s on-again off-again boyfriend, Brian Hickerson, and his brother Zach who called 911 the afternoon of August 16 to say Panettiere was unresponsive, according to police reports.

Hayden Panettiere, Charles Esten, Nashville

Photo: ABC

HAYDEN PANETTIERE IMPRESSED IN EVERY ROLE SHE PLAYED

Soap opera fans still remember Hayden’s as a very young Sarah Roberts on One Life to Live from 1994 until 1997, and then her signature daytime role as Lizzie Spaulding on Guiding Light from 1996-2000.

She later went on to star on the Music City primetime soap opera, Nashville from 2012-2018 on ABC and CMT where she played country and western singer, Juliette Barnes opposite General Hospital alum, Jonathan Jackson (ex-Lucky Spencer), who played her love interest, Avery Barclay.

Over this past weekend, Jackson, Charles Esten (pictured above), Connie Britton, and others from the cast of Nashville gathered for a memorial service in Hayden’s honor to pay their respects for their beloved co-star.

So, what do you think about the ruling in the death of actress Hayden Panettiere that it was an accident involving toxic effects of fentanyl combined with other drugs and medications she was taking at the time? Share your reactions via the comment section below.

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Soap Alums Remembered During In Memoriam Segment at 78th Emmy Awards; Patrick Muldoon Omitted

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In Memoriam Emmys 2026

During last night’s 78th annual Primetime Emmy Awards ceremony, as it does every year, the television academy paid tribute to those in the industry that they’ve lost over the last year; since the previous Emmys held each year in September.

Starting with an emotional tribute to the late Catherine O’Hara by three of her co-stars, Schitt’s Creek’s Annie Murphy and Dan Levy and Home Alone’s Macaulay Culkin, the segment then dovetailed into Noah Kahan performing “Bridge over Troubled Water” as the faces and the names of those being remembered were shown on the screen.

Daytime soap alums, who either stayed in the genre for the majority of their career, or went on to primetime success as well, were honored including: Anthony Geary (Luke, GH), Hayden Panettiere (Sarah, OLTL, Lizzie, GL, Juliette, Nashville), James Van Der Beek, (Dawson, Dawson’s Creek, and Stephen, ATWT), Gil Gerard (Alan, The Doctors), June Lockhart (Mariah, GH), Patricia Crowley (Mary, Port Charles and GH), Randolph Mantooth (Clay/Alex, Loving and The City, and Richard, GH) and Jon Cypher (Alex, ATWT and Arthur, Santa Barbara).

Photo: TVAcademy

THOSE HONORED AND THOSE WHO WERE NOT

However, in a glaring omission, the producers of the In Memoriam failed to include Days of our Lives beloved star, Patrick Muldoon who played the OG Austin Reed and also Richard Hart on Melrose Place. Muldoon passed away in April of this year at 57.

After Kahan concluded his performance, a special tribute to Rob Reiner began with Jamie Lee Curtis taking to the stage to share some warm words about her late friend.

In a ironic and sad twist, Curtis shared ,“Last week, Robbie won an Emmy for guest actor in a comedy series for his beautiful work on The Bear, and he now holds the record of 48 years for the longest gap between acting Emmys, which was previously held by his father Carl Reiner, at 37 years.”

Reiner, who along with his wife, Michele Reiner were killed by their son, Nick Reiner, is currently awaiting a decision if he will stand trial. Prosecutors on Tuesday, shared they will not seek the death penalty if he is convicted at trial, but instead life in prison. Curtis said of Rob, “He was generous and kind and funny as hell, and a friend to all. We all miss Rob and Michele and all those we lost this year.” The Emmys then faded to black and went to commercial break.

So, were you happy to see those who you know from their work in soap operas included in the 2026 In Memoriam tribute at the Primetime Emmys? Share your thoughts in the comment section. But first, in case you missed it, you can watch it below.

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