The ‘Queen of Soul’, Aretha Franklin is gravely ill and is reportedly saying her last goodbyes to loved ones at her home in Detroit after an eight-year battle with cancer.
She is considered one of the greatest voices ever, and has a dazzling music career which includes classic songs like (You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman and I Say A Little Prayer.
The mum-of-four who Rolling Stone magazine named the greatest singer of all time, is surrounded by loved ones in the town where she was born.
Reports say her family has asked for “prayers and privacy” for the singing legend.
Aretha Franklin who last performed in November 2017 for the Elton John’s AIDs Foundation concert in New York, battled exhaustion and dehydration to thrill crowds.
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.
The children’s father was school friend Donald Burk. 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.
