Theo Wargo/Getty Images for Tribeca Film FestivalAretha Franklin is reportedly “gravely ill” and surrounded by family and friends in Detroit.
The website Showbiz 411 is the originator of the report about the 76-year-old music legend, which news outlets worldwide are citing. ABC News has been unable to confirm the report as of Monday morning.
Franklin’s health has been a concern for the past few years, causing a spate of concert cancellations. In 2017, she appeared alarmingly thin but claimed it was a side effect of an unspecified medication. After announcing she was retiring from the road in 2017, Franklin still scheduled shows for 2018 but in March, she was ordered by her doctors to cancel all shows and rest for two months.
Franklin’s classic recordings include the songs “Respect,” “Chain of Fools,” “(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman,” and “I Never Loved a Man (The Way I Love You),” which helped her cross over to the pop charts. She won her first Grammy in 1968, the same year she appeared on the cover of TIME magazine. She’d eventually go on to win a total of 20 Grammys, including special Grammys awarded outside of competition, and chart more than 73 songs on the Billboard Hot 100.
Despite rumors of serious health problems, Franklin has never publicly spoken about her ailments.
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