Kevin Mazur/WireImageIt's time to keep Etta James in your thoughts.
According to the "At Last" singer's live-in physician, the blues icon is terminally ill and has little time left after battling leukemia, dementia and kidney failure for several years now.
Dr. Elaine James—who's not related to the 73-year-old Grammy winner and Rock and Roll Hall of Famer but has been providing the singer with around-the-clock care at the latter's home—told SoCal's Riverside Press-Enterprise that medical experts informed the performer two weeks ago that her chronic leukemia, a cancer of the blood and bone marrow, was incurable.
"I am Southern and Christian and would just ask for the prayers of her fans and friends," the physician, who hails from South Carolina, told the newspaper following a court hearing regarding James' $1 million estate.
The doctor says she wanted to go public to let James' fans know the severity of her condition.
"They know she's been sick, but not how sick," she said.
James is barely able to communicate at this point, the physician added.
The probate proceeding in Riverside Superior Court was being held to determine whether legal authority over James' affairs should be transferred from husband Artis Mills to her son, Donto James, who's expressed concerns over his mother's treatment and care.
Another hearing is set for Monday, but a settlement is said to be close.