Aretha cancels shows d/t illness

**blueskies** · 11-04-2010, 05:48 PM

http://www.comcast.net/articles/musi...anklin.Health/

**jobeterob** · 11-04-2010, 06:36 PM

That's a long break they are making her take ~ 6 months. Hope she's OK.

**reese** · 11-04-2010, 08:45 PM

A friend of mine called with this news as we were due to see Aretha in a couple of weeks. Also, we were going to see her at Radio City in February. Needless to say, we are both very disappointed. But I hope Aretha gets well soon. She's had a bad run lately, with the broken ribs and the attack on her son.

**midnightman** · 11-06-2010, 01:15 AM

Aretha Franklin takes six-month medical leave from all performances
November 05, 2010 04:38 AM EDT [[Updated: November 05, 2010 04:39 AM EDT)
views: 336 | comments: 1

Aretha Franklin has been ordered by her doctor to cancel all concerts and appearances between now and May, 2011. According to the NBC Nightly News video below, she has taken that advice. Frankly, it's amazing that the 68-year-old musical Diva is still performing in the first place, but her publicist is reporting that Aretha Franklin is “seriously ill.”

What is the condition Aretha Franklin is suffering from?

Apparently, the star is keeping that information under wraps. But, being only human, it could likely be anything. Let's hope it's nothing fatal. Losing her would be a sad day in music history for us all, and that day comes much too soon for we mortals anyway. For her fans who have purchased tickets, refunds will be available through the original point of purchase. Let's all wish Aretha Franklin a speedy recovery, and hope she gets back to belting out the music again, soon. She seems so happy on stage.

----
That can't be good.

Here's the link: http://celebs.gather.com/viewArticle...81474978665568

Not only did her ribs broke and her son was attacked but also she has been having problems releasing her new album independently. It was supposed to have been out ages ago. I think the son that was attacked was helping her with it. Or was it another son?

**midnightman** · 11-06-2010, 01:22 AM

Concern rises about Aretha's health
Adam Graham / Detroit News Pop Music Writer

Aretha Franklin's decision to postpone all professional activity for the next six months has some worried about the state of the Queen of Soul's health.

Among the casualties of Franklin's announcement, which was spurred by doctor's orders, was a planned Dec. 9 Christmas concert at Detroit's Fox Theatre. The concert, which was to feature former Temptations lead singer Dennis Edwards, was announced just last week.

"I'm not upset about the cancellation; I'm more concerned about her health," Edwards said Friday. He said he had tried to get in touch with Franklin but couldn't because she had recently changed her phone numbers, which he said she does often.

"We go back 40-50 years, from the early Motown days and growing up in Detroit," he said. "She's a personal friend of mine, and her health is more important to me than the show."

Up in the air is Franklin's involvement in the Thanksgiving activities at Detroit's New Bethel Missionary Baptist Church, once pastored by her father, the late Rev. C.L. Franklin. The church is hosting a Thanksgiving dinner billed as "Aretha's Thanksgiving Gospel Feast," but the Rev. Robert Smith, the current pastor, said by e-mail Friday that he wasn't sure whether Franklin would attend. There has been "no word from her," Smith said.

The Fox Theatre concert is among a rash of recent concert cancellations from Franklin. The Fox show was announced the same day Franklin, 68, canceled a concert appearance in Charlottesville, Va., "for health reasons," according to her representative. The next day, Franklin pulled out of an Oct. 30 concert at Drury University in Springfield, Mo., also citing health concerns.

The Charlottesville concert had originally been set for Oct. 1 but was postponed after Franklin's son, Eddie, was beaten at a Detroit gas station. The fallout from that Sept. 21 attack pushed Franklin to release a statement blasting "gross inaccuracies" by both the media and the police regarding the incident.

Earlier in August, Franklin was forced to cancel her first-ever Brooklyn concerts, scheduled for Aug. 9 and 12, as well as an appearance at a birthday party for U.S. Rep. Charles Rangel, D-N.Y., after she fell and suffered two fractured ribs.

"I was very much looking forward to being in Brooklyn and having a foot-long hot dog at Coney Island," Franklin said in a statement at the time, adding she was hoping to reschedule the concerts for later that month. She never did.

In April, Franklin backed out of an appearance at the New Orleans Jazz Fest, just 10 hours before she was due to perform. It was the second year in a row she pulled out of a scheduled performance at the festival.

Franklin did appear at a concert in Philadelphia in July, where she performed with former U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. The benefit concert raised more than half a million dollars for Philadelphia's Mann Center, the summer home of the Philadelphia Orchestra. She also performed at a concert in Vienna, Va., that same month and in October at Caesars in Atlantic City.

On Tuesday, it was announced, through her representative, that Franklin had been released from Sinai Grace Hospital in Detroit "following a brief stay." The statement said she was resting comfortably at home but was anxious to get back on the road.

Meanwhile, Edwards, who had just returned from a performance overseas when he was informed of the Fox show's cancellation, said he was in the dark about her condition. "I am just deeply concerned at this point," he said.

agraham@detnews.com

[[313) 222-2284

From The Detroit News: http://detnews.com/article/20101106/...#ixzz14Tcjp7T1

From The Detroit News: http://detnews.com/article/20101106/...#ixzz14TccYMQy