Final Years!

Aretha Franklin Ordered To Drop Pounds To Survive

Soul diva faces new health crisis as she retires!

aretha franklin weight loss crisis
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Cancer-ravaged Aretha Franklin has shed an amazing 103 pounds in just months — but The National ENQUIRER can now reveal the horrific, soul-crushing siege she had to endure in order to lose so much weight so quickly.

In a bombshell world exclusive that will shock the music community — and fans of the legendary “Respect” singer — a source told The ENQUIRER: “Aretha’s had a cancer relapse. She was due to have radical chemotherapy treatments, and was told by doctors she needed to lose weight if she wanted to survive.”

In a dramatic bid for life, the 75-year-old R&B icon then opted to have life-saving, stomach-stapling surgery that would allow her body to survive the horror of chemotherapy.

The combination of the debilitating treatments and weight-loss surgery had a massive impact on the Queen of Soul — who’d ballooned to a whopping 310 pounds last June!


Aretha Franklin Health Crisis: Calling It Quits


But at 5-foot-5, Aretha — who still smashes the scales at a gigantic 207 pounds — is far from out of the woods, according to both medical experts and close friends.

“She needs to lose more weight and keep it off — or she’ll be singing her way to the grave,” one insider confessed. “She’s still overweight by more than 85 pounds and she’s feeling the strain.”

Aretha’s health issues date back to 2010 when she reportedly went under the knife for drastic surgery linked to pancreatic cancer.

As The ENQUIRER has revealed, doctors reportedly removed half of her stomach, the head of her pancreas, part of her bile duct, along with her gallbladder and duodenum.