Aretha Franklin ‘gravely ill’ at her home in Detroit

August 13, 2018
| Report Focus News

Detroit singer Aretha Franklin, also known as the Queen of Soul, is seriously ill, a person close to the singer confirmed.

A source close to the Queen of Soul says Monday that the 76-year-old star is “seriously ill,” but declined to provide further details.

A rep for the singer did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Reps for Franklin were forced to refute rumours in November that the Respect singer had passed away after a single bogus tweet had the news trending on Twitter.

Still, the star’s health has made news in recent years, as she’s been forced to cancel multiple concerts on doctors’ orders.

Franklin cancelled a trio of concerts in August 2016, and backed out of a June 2017 show in Toronto.

She also nixed a pair of performances in March in order to get some rest.

“She is extremely disappointed she cannot perform … as she had expected and hoped to,” her management said in a statement.

The 18-time Grammy winner said in a February 2017 interview that she would be retiring from live shows that year, and hoped to open a small nightclub in Detroit in her down time.