Does Gladys Knight Have Cancer? No, “She is fine,” according to her publicist. The legendary singer said she suffered from the same disease as Aretha Franklin. During an interview with WDIV on the day of Franklin’s funeral, Knight, 74, said, “The last time I talked to her, we were at the same hotel and we didn’t know it… We got to talking and everything and at the time we shared the fact that we had the same disease.” Aretha Franklin’s funeral was held in Detroit on August 31.
Multiple outlets immediately jumped on the story that Gladys Knight has pancreatic cancer. The same disease that Franklin died from on August 16. Speaking to the Detroit News, Knight’s publicist, Jay Schwartz said that Knight was not suffering from pancreatic cancer that, “She is fine.” Schwartz went on to say that he didn’t know what Knight meant by the comment.
Aretha, your music set a standard for every single lady in this industry to rise to. You have touched minds, hearts and spirits, including my own. I pray you have a smooth journey Ree Ree and hopefully I’ll get to sing with you in the Heavenly choir. Love you #QueenOfSoul
At the time of Franklin’s passing, Knight paid tribute to her friend on Twitter:
Aretha, your music set a standard for every single lady in this industry to rise to. You have touched minds, hearts and spirits, including my own. I pray you have a smooth journey Ree Ree and hopefully I’ll get to sing with you in the Heavenly choir. Love you #QueenOfSoul
Knight was among the performers, along with Ariana Grande, at Franklin’s funeral where she performed the standard, “You’ll Never Walk Alone,” from the 1945 musical, Carousel.
Before her performance, Knight told the congregation, “It’s been a great journey and he knows our every need, everywhere we are, and he gives us the remedies to everything, one way or another. Cause he loves us like that, even in our music. He sends us messages. And the little pain we feel right now, we can put it forward (this).”
When asked about her feelings on Franklin’s passing by US Weekly, Knight said, “I miss her, but I didn’t want her to suffer. I really didn’t. And, you know, people could see it. She just kept driving and driving, and she knew it was a disease that would take her out, and she just kept on doing what she does best. So Aretha, safe journey.”
