‘SHE COULD GO ANY TIME’
Aretha Franklin ‘gravely ill and is having ‘hospice care’ due to cancer as family pray for soul icon
SOUL legend Aretha Franklin 'could go anytime' as she is gravely ill in a hospice, according to reports.
The Respect singer is saying her last goodbyes to loved ones at her home in Detroit after an eight-year battle with cancer, according to .
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According to , a close friend of the singer was told: "Prepare yourself, she's dying."
The source added that friends and family were told two weeks ago that "she could go anytime".
The mum-of-four is surrounded by loved ones in the town where she was born.
It's reported that she has shrunk to 86 pounds and her "health is failing".
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Following the reports of the singer's illness former US President Bill Clinton posted on Twitter: "Like people all around the world, Hillary and I are thinking about Aretha Franklin tonight & listening to her music that has been such an important part of our lives the last 50 years.
"We hope you’ll lift her up by listening and sharing her songs that have meant the most to you."
Beyoncé also dedicated her concert with husband Jay-Z to Aretha in the veteran singer's hometown of Detroit, Michigan on Monday night.
The reported the moment came early in the show Monday night at Ford Field with Beyoncé saying, "We love you" and thanking the ailing 76-year-old for her "beautiful music."
Mariah Carey, who considers Franklin one of her biggest influences, wrote on Twitter that she is "praying for the Queen of Soul."
While rapper Missy Elliott said that the public has to celebrate iconic artists before they die.
"We must celebrate the living legends while they are here to see it.
";So many (of them) have given us decades of Timeless music," she said.
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Reports say her family have asked for "prayers and privacy"; for the the singing legend.
Dubbed the Queen of Soul and considered one of the greatest voices ever, Aretha’s dazzling music career includes classic songs (You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman and I Say A Little Prayer.
Rolling Stone magazine also named the 76-year-old the greatest singer of all time.
Aretha last performed in November 2017 for the Elton John's AIDs Foundation concert in New York, battling exhaustion and dehydration to thrill crowds.
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The Queen of Soul Aretha Franklin performs hit song 'Respect'
The music icon started singing in Baptist church as a little girl, where her father was minister.
Her powerful voice and soulful tone singled her out as something special.
She was just 12 years old when she first fell pregnant with son Clarence, and then again aged 14, with son Edward.
She later had two more sons, Ted White Jr in 1964 and Kecalf Cunningham in 1970.
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She launched a secular music career aged 18, but it was in 1967 when she signed with Atlantic Records that her star began to soar.
In 2005, Aretha was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom on November 9, 2005 by President George W. Bush.
The medal is presented to those who have made contributions to national security, world peace or culture.
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George Michael and Aretha Franklin sing I Knew You Were Waiting (For Me)
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Aretha Franklin performs Rolling in the Deep
Merging gospel, soul and pop, her powerful voice cemented her place in music history.
She performs other timeless classics such as Spanish Harlem, Chain of Fools, Think, Rocksteady and I Knew You Were Waiting, a 1987 duet with George Michael.
Aretha also makes memorable appearances in The Blues Brothers movies.
The singer has battled with her health and weight throughout her life.
Aretha was diagnosed with an ‘unspecified illness’, widely reported to be pancreatic cancer, in 2010, forcing her to cancel a string of live shows.
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She has married twice, first to Theodore "Ted" White aged 19.
The pair separated in 1969 amid claims of domestic abuse towards her.
She then wed Peyton Place actor in 1978 becoming step-mother to his three children.
They divorced in 1984.
Singer-actress Jennifer Hudson is set to play Aretha in an upcoming film of her rise to stardom.
Aretha Franklin brings Barack Obama to tears
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