Singer Aretha Franklin gravely ill

Multiple Grammy award-winning singer Aretha Franklin, known among the fans as the original queen of soul, is reportedly "gravely ill".

Franklin, 76, is surrounded by her family and close friends in Michigan, said Roger Friedman, a friend of Franklin's. He first broke the news about her health on entertainment website, Showbiz411.

"Aretha is surrounded by family and people close to her. She will be so missed as a mother, sister, friend, cousin. But her legacy is larger than life. It's not just that Rolling Stone called her the number 1 singer of all time, or that she is the Queen of Soul. Long live the Queen," he wrote on the website.

Franklin had to cancel two performances in March when the doctors ordered her to rest.

She last performed in November 2017 at the Elton John AIDS Foundation gala in New York.

Poor health has affected Franklin's performing career in the last decade. She had to cancel shows in 2013 reportedly due to cancer, but she never spoke up clearly about the nature of her disease.

Franklin won 18 Grammy awards in an illustrious career that saw her becoming the first woman to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1987.

An influential cultural figure, she was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2005, and performed at Barack Obama's inauguration in 2009.