The legendary Aretha Franklin is said to be “gravely ill” and surrounded by her loved ones, according to an unconfirmed report from the US.
According to Roger Friedman’s Showbiz 411, the singing icon’s family has asked for “prayers and privacy” as they gather around the superstar in Detroit.
Friedman is believed to be a friend of the Franklin family.
ED! has contacted Aretha’s rep for comment.
Representatives for Aretha, 76, have yet to speak out on the report, which surfaced overnight and has been picked up by outlets across the world.
Aretha’s incredible and lengthy career began in the 1950s and has produced a slew of iconic songs such as ‘I Say A Little Prayer’, ‘Respect’, and ‘(You Make Me Feel) Like A Natural Woman’.
Dubbed ‘The Queen of Soul’, she has won 18 Grammy Awards, sold more than 75 million records and was the first woman to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
Aretha announced plans to retire last year following one last album, in order to spend more time with her family.
She told Detroit’s WDIV Local 4 TV station: “This will be my last year. I will be recording, but this will be my last year in concert. This is it.
“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.”
Aretha has battled poor health in the past.
In 2010, she cancelled concerts and took a step back from the spotlight after abdominal surgery for an undisclosed illness.
She has never revealed what the surgery was for, saying: “I don’t have to talk about my health with anybody other than my doctors.”
Aretha was forced to cancel two concerts in March this year on doctors’ orders, including a concert that was scheduled to be held on her 76th birthday.
A statement released at the time said doctors had advised Aretha to rest for two months and she was “extremely disappointed” that she was unable to perform.
Aretha’s last public appearance was in November 2017, when she performed at a benefit in New York to mark the 25th anniversary of Elton John’s AIDS Foundation.
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