'Queen of Soul' Aretha Franklin gravely ill

Singer Aretha Franklin, a multiple Grammy award-winner star whose legacy stretches back decades, is gravely ill and surrounded by relatives, a reporter and family friend wrote on his website Monday.

The 76 year-old "Queen of Soul" Franklin, known for hits such as "Respect" (1967) and "I Say a Little Prayer" (1968), "is gravely ill in Detroit. The family is asking for prayers and privacy," wrote Roger Friedman on the Showbiz 411 website. Franklin, who was diagnosed with cancer in 2010, last performed in November 2017 for the Elton John AIDS Foundation in New York. Her final public performance was in Philadelphia in August 2017. "It was a miraculous show as Aretha was already then fighting exhaustion and dehydration," Friedman wrote, describing the Philadelphia performance. Throughout her lengthy career Franklin accumulated 18 Grammy awards, including one for Lifetime Achievement.



Rev. Jesse Jackson asks the public to pray for Aretha Franklin.