Celebrities are taking to social media to send their well wishes to Aretha Franklin, who is currently in hospice at her home in Detroit, Michigan.
Mariah Carey, who once performed with the “Respect” singer at a “VH1 Divas Live” concert in 1998, tweeted on Monday, August 13, “Praying for the Queen of Soul“ alongside praying hands emojis. R&B Singer Maxwell honored Franklin as his “Woman Crush” on Wednesday, August 15, writing on Twitter, “WCW #arethafranklin ‘lots of love right back’ love and prayers to the QUEEN OF SOUL.”
Bill Clinton, whose 1993 presidential inauguration featured a powerful performance by Franklin where she sang in front of the Lincoln Memorial, tweeted on Monday, “Like people all around the world, Hillary and I are thinking about Aretha Franklin tonight & listening to her music that has been such an important part of our lives the last 50 years. We hope you’ll lift her up by listening and sharing her songs that have meant the most to you.”
Like people all around the world, Hillary and I are thinking about Aretha Franklin tonight & listening to her music that has been such an important part of our lives the last 50 years. We hope you’ll lift her up by listening and sharing her songs that have meant the most to you.
— Bill Clinton (@BillClinton) August 14, 2018
Missy Elliott tweeted on Monday, “My prayers are with Aretha Franklin & her family during this difficult time,” telling her fans, “we MUST CELEBRATE the Living Legends while they are here to see it.” Hamilton star Lin-Manuel Miranda wrote on that same day, “Adding my prayer to the galaxy of prayers for Aretha today” while Chance the Rapper retweeted a clip of the “Natural Woman” songstress performing at the 2015 Kennedy Center Honors with a crying-face emoji. Many fans on Twitter are also sharing clips of her best performances in tribute of the singer.
My prayers are with Aretha Franklin & her family during this difficult time 🙏🏾 LOOK BELOW @ what I tweeted at the top of the year we MUST CELEBRATE the Living Legends while they are here to see it. So many have given us decades of Timeless music…❤️ https://t.co/VVacLxcMSI
— Missy Elliott (@MissyElliott) August 13, 2018
Celebrities aren’t just sending their well wishes via social media, however. On Tuesday, August 14, Franklin’s longtime publicist Gwendolyn Quinn confirmed exclusively to Us Weekly that Stevie Wonder had visited the Grammy Award winner amid her health battle. Beyoncé and Jay-Z also dedicated their Detroit show to Franklin on Monday.
The “I Say A Little Prayer” singer — who was once named the greatest singer of all time by Rolling Stone — has been dealing with undisclosed health issues since 2010. Franklin told Us Weekly exclusively in 2017 that she was “doing well generally.”
However, an insider confirmed to Us on Monday that the singer was “not doing well” and that she’s “hanging in there, but recovery is not looking likely.”
