Family gather around ‘gravely ill’ soul great Franklin
SHOCK and concern have spread around the music world following reports that soul singing great Aretha Franklin is “gravely ill”.
Franklin (76) is reportedly surrounded by her family and close friends in Detroit in the US. The family is asking for prayers and privacy.
A source who has known Franklin since the start of her career said that her absence from the spotlight since the end of last year was “uncharacteristic”.
The news was broken by Roger Friedman, a friend of Franklin’s, on the entertainment website Showbiz411.
“Something’s been happening with her health,” a source said. “She’s missed several high-profile public engagements in recent months, including the funeral of Dennis Edwards, who was one of her lovers. It’s uncharacteristic of her.”
Edwards, who was a member of The Temptations, inspired Franklin’s song ‘Day Dreaming’.
In February, reports said she was unable to attend the memorial due to illness but sent her condolences to be read to the family.
She then cancelled a show in March, scheduled on her 76th birthday, another in April and a festival performance in June on doctor’s orders. A statement on Franklin’s website said she “has been ordered not to perform in the coming months”.
“Aretha was working on an album with Stevie Wonder, and had a project on the go with Lionel Richie,” the source says. “By virtue of her not performing publicly since last year, she’s been unwell since then.”
Franklin’s most recent performance was last November, for the Elton John Aids Foundation in New York, and she gave her last public performance a year ago in Philadelphia.
A review described her: “Regardless of advancing years and medical setbacks, Franklin seemed largely undiminished in voice or spirit, even if her exclamations sometimes soared past the limits of her breath.”
Her performance in November came before rumours that Franklin was on her deathbed, sparked in part by drastic weight loss.
The singer responded with an interview in ‘US Weekly’, saying: “I’m doing well generally, all tests have come back good. I’ve lost a lot of weight due to side-effects of medicine, it affects your weight.”
The singer, best known for hits such as ‘Respect’ and ‘I Say a Little Prayer’, cancelled concerts in 2010 while recovering from a surgery that removed an unspecified tumour.
Illness has affected her performing career over the past decade, with shows cancelled in 2013. Franklin said in August of that year that she had undergone a “miraculous” recovery, but continued to drop out of shows. (© Daily Telegraph London)