Gladys Knight revealed some sad news today while attending services for Aretha Franklin at Greater Grace Temple in Detroit.
[FLASHBACK: New Face. Who Dis? Gladys Knights Reveals Fresh New Look… (PHOTOS)]
Knight, 74, made a comment to a reporter as she entered the church, stating that she suffers from “the same disease” as the late Aretha Franklin.
Details + video below…
While attending a memorial service for Franklin on Thursday, Gladys Knight said she and the Queen of Soul, who died of pancreatic cancer on August 16, bonded over their mutual illness.
“We shared the fact that we had the same disease.”
While Knight, who is known as the ‘Empress of Soul’ didn’t name the illness, many have assumed that she also is suffering with cancer.
Knight also spoke about her illness with Us Weekly earlier this week at the USTA Foundation Opening Night Gala, stating:
“We all have our days.”I mean, we have absolutely no control over that. The Lord tells us where we are going and tells us when we are coming.
So I?m not overly upset about it, and he knows how much each one of us can bear, and he calls us home with those things in mind. That?s the way I feel about it, because he loves us like that.
Aretha Franklin’s golden casket was officially closed on Friday morning as friends and family members gathered around to say their goodbyes and her homegoing service streamed live from several major news outets.
[WATCH: Aretha Franklin’s Homegoing Services (FULL LIVE STREAM VIDEO)]
Dignitaries and celebrities alike filled Detroit’s Greater Grace Temple Friday morning in a funeral that was fit for the “Queen of Soul.”
For the record, Knight?s publicist Javier Delgado denies reports that Knight’s statement meant she had cancer, stating to Rolling stone:
Gladys does not have Pancreatic Cancer,? Knight?s rep confirmed to Rolling Stone. ?She is fine! She?s healthy. Someone must have misinterpreted.”
When asked about Knight’s comments, Delgado attempted to clarify stating:
I?m not sure. Maybe she meant she feels her pain. But she does not have cancer,? and said the pancreatic cancer report was ?incorrect.?