The “Queen of Soul” is asking for our prayers.
Legendary singer Aretha Franklin is in serious medical condition and surrounded by her family in a Detroit hospital, according to reports.
“My good friend Aretha Franklin is gravely ill,” tweeted WDIV anchor Evrod Cassimy on Monday morning. “She is asking for your prayers at this time.”
Added NBC reporter Harry Hairston: “Spoke with close friend of Aretha Franklin and family. Iconic singer not doing well.”
The 76-year-old singer, who was diagnosed with cancer in 2010, was performing as recently as last year — until she announced she’d be stepping down from the stage, according to Showbiz 411, which first reported Franklin was sick.
“I must tell you, I am retiring this year,” Franklin said in an interview with Detroit Local 4 in February 2017. “I feel very enriched and satisfied with respect to where my career came from, and where it is now.”
Her last performance was on Nov. 2, 2017, for the Elton John AIDS Foundation in New York, while her final public performance was at Philadelphia’s Mann Center in August 2017.
Still the songstress of 56 years kept recording music — her most recent album is the 2016 critically acclaimed “Divas,” which featured several tracks produced by Stevie Wonder and a 34-song survey chronicling her early years called “The Atlantic Singles Collection 1967-1970” is due out in September, according to the Chicago Sun Times.
Born in Memphis, Tenn., in 1942 to a pastor and civil right activist, the “Respect” singer was 2 years old when her family moved to Detroit and her legend grew out of the Motor City.
The 18-time Grammy winner’s career has helped shape American history. She performed “Precious Lord” at Martin Luther King Jr.’s funeral in 1968 and she was the first woman ever inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1987.
Known for her powerful pipes and her numerous hits like “Chain of Fools,” “(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman,” “Think,” and “I Say a Little Prayer for You,” Franklin was also named the No. 1 singer of all time by Rolling Stone Magazine in 2011.
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