Aretha Franklin is "seriously ill" Update> Died This Morning
Aretha Franklin is "seriously ill", according to a person close to the veteran soul singer.
The source, who spoke on condition of anonymity, confirmed to the Associated Press that Franklin was gravely unwell.
The 76-year-old cancelled planned concerts earlier this year due to health concerns and was ordered by doctors to rest for two months.
Last year Franklin indicated her plans to retire from touring following the release of a new album.
Separately, celebrity website TMZ has also reported that a "long-time friend was told a week ago 'prepare yourself, she's dying.'"
Franklin, whose career spans seven decades, is best known for songs including Respect and (You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman.
The 18-time Grammy winner is one of the best-selling artists of all time and was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1987.
In 2017, Franklin told a local Detroit news station that she would be retiring after collaborating on a new album with Stevie Wonder.
"I will be recording, but this will be my last year in concert," she told WDIV Local 4. "This is it."
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Last year (2017):
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| Childhood home behind her |
The mayor of Memphis, Tennessee, has dedicated a plaque marking the childhood home of soul singer Aretha Franklin.
Mayor Jim Strickland unveiled the plaque at the small wooden home on Wednesday morning.
Franklin, known as the “Queen of Soul,” was born in the house in 1942. Her family moved away from Memphis about two years later.
The dilapidated house has been vacant for years, and there has been no historical marker indicating its significance until now.
Lawyers, community leaders and Shelby County Environmental Court Judge Larry Potter have been trying to find ways to preserve the house, which sits empty with its windows boarded up. Potter had ordered the house demolished, but he put that order on hold last year after volunteers stabilized the crumbling structure.
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