SAY A LITTLE PRAYER FOR LEGEND ARETHA

Franklin’s family told ‘prepare to face the worst’

SOUL legend Aretha Franklin is “gravely ill” in her Detroit home.

And the star’s loved ones have rushed to her bedside to say their final goodbyes.

A source revealed that the I Say A Little Prayer singer, 76, is battling advanced cancer and friends and family are braced for the worst. The pal warned: “Prepare yourself, she’s dying.”

It has been reported that the frail star’s weight has plummeted to just over six stone and her inner circle has been told “she could go any time”.

Secret

Another lifelong friend of the Queen of Soul admitted that the star has been locked in a secret battle with aggressive cancer which she kept hidden from the world. Aretha’s family confirmed reports of the superstar’s failing health and asked for fans to pray for her. The icon’s last performance was in November last year when she sang for the Elton John Aids Foundation in New York. Aretha had revealed earlier in 2017 that it would be her final year performing after releasing her 42nd studio album A Brand New Me.

“I will be recording, but this will be my last year in concert,” she revealed ahead of the release of that album.

“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.”

The soul legend shot to fame in the 1960s with a string of soul hits including Respect, (You Make Me Feel) Like A Natural Woman and Spanish

Harlem.

She has 112 entries on the

US Billboard chart, 18

Grammy awards and became the first woman to be inducted into the

Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1987.