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Source: The Washington Post / Getty

UPDATE: A source very close to Aretha and a longtime dear friend tells TMZ he was told a week ago, “Prepare yourself, she’s dying.” The source adds Aretha was down to 86 pounds and her health was failing. The source says 2 weeks ago everyone in Aretha’s circle was told “she could go any time.”

Another source — someone who has been close to Aretha for decades — tells TMZ she has been battling cancer. 

The Queen of Soul Aretha Franklin is reportedly “gravelly ill,” according to Showbiz411. The singer is currently in her native Detroit surrounded by family and friends.

An 18-time Grammy winner, numerous reports about Franklin’s health in the past months have had her either seriously ill or completely fine. Last year, the 76-year-old Franklin revealed her stunning weight loss, which again brought rumors that the weight loss was cancer related.

She told JET earlier this year, “I am not one to do a lot of talking about my personal health or business,” she said at the time. “Not too much, not too much. There are a lot of people who will talk about anything, as long as there is somebody listening. But I am not one of those people. That’s not Aretha.”

She added, “I am not going to even deal with that. “I don’t have to talk about my health with anybody other than my doctors. The problem has been resolved.”

UPDATE: Aretha Franklin Is Reportedly “Gravely” Ill And Near Her Death with Cancer  was originally published on myhoustonmajic.com