Aretha Franklin's estate has been urged by PETA to donate her fur coats to the organisation.

The music icon died at her home on August 16, aged 76, and the animal rights' organisation has subsequently written a letter to Franklin's niece Sabrina Garrett Owens, who is the representative of the singer's estate.

PETA has called on Owens to donate the late singer's collection to its fur donation campaign, which sends furs to people in refugee camps and homeless shelters.

PETA executive president Tracy Reiman told ET Canada: ''By donating Aretha Franklin's fur coats to PETA, her family could expand her legacy of social justice to animals.

''While we can't bring back the animals who suffered and died for them, these coats can help others by providing some much-needed warmth to orphaned animals and humans in desperate need.''

A number of high-profile celebrities - including the likes of Mariah Carey and Kim Cattrall - have previously donated their fur to the scheme.

Meanwhile, it was recently announced that Gladys Knight is set to perform at Franklin's upcoming memorial.

The Queen of Soul - who battled pancreatic cancer for several years before her death - will be honoured with a memorial service at Chene Park Amphitheatre in Detroit on August 30.

And TMZ recently obtained the full list of performers, which includes 74-year-old Gladys, who is known as the Empress of Soul.

Following Franklin's passing, she took to Twitter to pay tribute to the star, saying she ''set a standard'' for female musicians to follow.

She wrote at the time: ''Aretha, your music set a standard for every single lady in this industry to rise to. You have touched minds, hearts and spirits, including my own. I pray you have a smooth journey Ree Ree and hopefully I'll get to sing with you in the Heavenly choir. Love you #QueenOfSoul (sic)''