Legendary singer Aretha Franklin is believed to be ‘gravely ill’, with the music icon’s family gathering at her bedside in Detroit. Her family is asking for prayers and privacy.
The 76-year-old Queen of Soul is said to be “surrounded” by her closest friends and family, after battling extensive health problems in recent years, according to a report by entertainment writer Roger Friedman of Showbiz411. AP also confirmed with a source, who spoke on condition of anonymity, that the singer is seriously ill.
Franklin has been battling numerous health problems over the years and doctor ordered her to cancel concerts last summer. The singer was diagnosed with cancer in 2010, and performed her most recent show at the Elton John AIDS Foundation party in New York last November.
Franklin is the most-charted female artist in Billboard history, having notched up 112 charting singles. She has won 18 Grammy Awards and sold more than 75 million records worldwide. She is the first female to have been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, entering in 1987. Announcing her retirement last year, she said: “I feel very, very enriched and satisfied with respect to where my career came from and where it is now. I’ll be pretty much satisfied, but I’m not going to go anywhere and just sit down and do nothing. That wouldn’t be good either.” She released her 42nd album, A Brand New Me, last November.
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