Beyoncé and Jay-Z dedicate On The Run II concert to 'gravely ill' Aretha Franklin: 'We love you and thank you'

The Lemonade singer paid tribute after her opening song
Respect: Beyoncé and Jay-Z dedicated their concert to Aretha Franklin
SplashNews.com
Natasha Sporn14 August 2018
The Weekender

Sign up to our free weekly newsletter for exclusive competitions, offers and theatre ticket deals

I would like to be emailed about offers, event and updates from Evening Standard. Read our privacy notice.

Beyoncé and Jay-Z dedicated their concert on Monday night to Aretha Franklin who is reportedly “gravely ill”.

The superstar couple took their On The Run II tour to Detroit – the same Michigan city in which Franklin is reportedly resident – just a day after it was claimed that the Queen of Soul was seriously unwell.

After performing their first song, Beyoncé told the crowd: “This show is dedicated to Aretha Franklin.

“We love you and thank you,” she added, according to several concert goers on social media as well as the Ford Field venue account.

DJ Khaled, who also performed at the concert, paid similar tributes to the 76-year-old as he asked fans to “send some love” before he played iconic song Respect.

Unwell: Aretha Franklin is reportedly 'gravely ill' 
Getty Images

Friedman wrote: “Aretha is surrounded by family and people close to her. She will be so missed as a mother, sister, friend, cousin. But her legacy is larger than life.

“It’s not just that Rolling Stone called her the number 1 singer of all time, or that she is the Queen of Soul. Long live the Queen.”

Standard Online has contacted representatives for Franklin for comment.

Aretha Franklin - In pictures

1/41

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in