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The late Aretha Franklin will be honored at the upcoming 2018 American Music Awards.

ABC has announced that the Queen of Soul’s friends, Gladys Knight, Ledisi, Mary Mary, Donnie McClurkin and CeCe Winans, will take the AMAs stage for a moving tribute honoring her gospel roots and iconic gospel album, Amazing Grace.

“We would like to express our sincere gratitude to the American Music Awards, dick clark productions and American Music Awards’ producer, Larry Klein, for honoring Aretha Franklin with a musical tribute for this year’s broadcast,” Sabrina Owens, Aretha’s niece and executor of the Aretha Franklin Estate, said in a statement. “Throughout its 46-year history, the American Music Awards has continued to stand by the music and honor the best in talent and the greatest in popular music culture. When I heard some of the initial ideas for the tribute, I knew without a doubt that this tribute will go down as one of the best in American music.”

Sabrina added, “We still remember when Aretha won her first American Music Award in 1976 for Favorite Female Artist – Soul/R&B, and throughout the years, she went on to win five more awards and we will never forget when she hosted the show; as well as her memorable performances. Dick Clark helped to revolutionize American music, and along the way, Aretha Franklin was part of that revolution.”

The show will air on Tuesday, October 9th at 8:00 p.m. ET on ABC.

Mike Colter is issuing an apology.

The 42-year-old Luke Cage actor is apologizing for a tweet he wrote about Bishop Charles H. Ellis III inappropriately touching Ariana Grande at Aretha Franklin‘s funeral on Friday (August 31).

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“Now THIS is how you shoot your shot! Zero F***!” he originally wrote in a tweet that has since been deleted.

“Hello all. I apologize about my tweet earlier. In no way do I condone any such behavior. It was intended to point out the absurdity of the act itself. Complete and biting sarcasm. I realized quickly that it was not taken as such,” he reportedly wrote, adding “I was at an event all day. Sorry for the delay.” Those tweets have also been deleted.

Ariana has not yet commented on the situation.

Bishop Charles H. Ellis III has issued an apology for the way that he touched Ariana Grande while on stage together at Aretha Franklin‘s funeral.

The bishop greeted Ariana after her performance of “Natural Woman” and wrapped his arm around the singer, with his hand touching the side of her breast.

“It would never be my intention to touch any woman’s breast. … I don’t know I guess I put my arm around her,” Ellis told USA Today. “Maybe I crossed the border, maybe I was too friendly or familiar but again, I apologize. The last thing I want to do is to be a distraction to this day. This is all about Aretha Franklin.”

Ellis also apologized for joking that he thought Ariana‘s name was an item on the menu at Taco Bell.

“I personally and sincerely apologize to Ariana and to her fans and to the whole Hispanic community,” he 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.”

Stevie Wonder helped pay tribute to Aretha Franklin with one of the final performances of the evening.

The 68-year-old musician took to the stage during the service on Friday (August 31) held at Greater Grace Temple in Detroit, Michigan.

Stevie performed an instrumental version of “The Lord’s Prayer” on harmonica before delivering a short prayer.

“Without God’s goodness and greatness, we would have never known the Queen of Soul. We would have never known the joy that she brought to us, we’d have never known someone who could express in song the pain that we felt. And yes, the reason that we are here today is because of love, because of how much we love this woman,” Stevie said in part of his speech.

He followed up by singing his song “As.”

Check out Stevie‘s entire performance below…

Jennifer Hudson just gave a touching tribute to Aretha Franklin.

The 36-year-old entertainer took to the stage to perform at the funeral service on Friday (August 31) held at Greater Grace Temple in Detroit, Michigan.

Jennifer sang “Amazing Grace” in front of the crowd of Aretha‘s friends and family.

Earlier in the week, Jennifer paid tribute to Aretha by sharing a video of her song “Let It Be.”

“I have no words , so I will let the Queen say it ! But I will Say while teaching me about your life , u taught me so much about life and schooled me in mine . I will never forget those teachings #riparethafranklin,” Jennifer wrote.

Check out Jennifer‘s performance below…

Fantasia Barrino just gave a powerful performance during Aretha Franklin‘s funeral.

The 34-year-old singer took to the stage during the funeral service on Friday (August 31) held at Greater Grace Temple in Detroit, Michigan.

Fantasia honored Aretha with a performance of her songs “Precious Lord” and “You’ve Got a Friend” and even kicked her shoes off before singing!

“Rest Well My Queen and know that we will never forget you #ArethaFranklin #Queen #SoulSinger #Love #Respect @andreas_dsigns Thank You for helping me bring my vision together,” Fantasia wrote on her Instagram.

Check out Fantasia‘s entire performance below…

Cicely Tyson is saying goodbye to her longtime friend Aretha Franklin at her funeral.

The 93-year-old actress and model took to the stage in a giant black hat during the funeral service on Friday (August 31) held at Greater Grace Temple in Detroit, Michigan.

During her speech, Cicely told animated stories about Aretha‘s life.

“Aretha was the sum total of her life’s experience and she shared that with us through the soul songs she sung. She spoke to us through her soul and everything she experienced and that’s why no matter what she was singing, she moved every single person,” Cicely said.

Hear all that Cicely had to say in the video below…