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Aretha Franklin recovers from Pancreatic Cancer

Posted By asghar555 on Dec 09, 2010 FROM: news.yahoo.com report abuse

68-year-old American singer, Aretha Franklin (also known as The Queen of Soul) is battling pancreatic cancer and "recovering very well" from surgery in a Detroit, Mich. Hospital, according to her longtime friend, the Rev. Jesse Jackson told on Wednesday, Dec. 8. Aretha Franklin provided very little details to the media after an anonymous illness prompted her to cancel all her appearances till May 2011 on the orders of her doctor and undergo surgery last week.

Photo courtesy - by puamelia, flickr

On Dec. 2, a statement was released by Franklin after the surgery that she had undergone "highly successful surgery" however not disclosed the nature of her sickness. In an interview with The Associated Press, Jackson told that recently he visited the legendary singer four or five times and Franklin's "spirits are high, and her faith is strong."

In September at a Detroit gas station the son of Franklin, Eddie was beaten by three men. Franklin broke ribs in a fall a month before that, due to which she had to miss two free concerts in New York.

Tweets about Franklin poured in and "pancreatic" became one of the top search topics in the U.S as soon as the news about her disease spread across Twitter. Also Queen of Soul's fans posted messages by sending their prayers and wishing her a speedy recovery on her Facebook page. A prayer vigil for Franklin was organized by Detroit City Councilwoman JoAnn Watson on Wednesday, Dec. 1. Watson said to Billboard, “We are not prying into the circumstances, the details of the surgery,” further added, “We just wanted her to know that we stand with her in prayer and love and support.”

Franklin is one of the most victorious singers in the American history of admired music, who born in Memphis, Tenn. and grew up in Detroit. She released her first album in 1961 and has won plentiful Grammys, the National Medal of Arts and the Presidential Medal of Freedom (America's highest civilian honor). In Jan. 2009, she also sang at the inauguration of Barack Obama in Washington.