LOS ANGELES, California (Reuters) -- American music icon Ray Charles, whose voice gave birth to soul music, has been reduced to a whisper, and cannot stand without support.
The 73-year-old singer/songwriter turned up late in a motorized wheelchair to his own party Friday, when the City of Los Angeles conferred historic building status on his longtime recording complex in a rundown part of the city.
Propped up at the podium by handlers, the frail entertainer, who recently had hip replacement surgery, could barely be heard as he spoke into the microphone.
"I'm a little weak now, but I'm gonna get stronger," he said, before posing briefly for photos with luminaries including Clint Eastwood, and then being whisked away.
His demeanor was a far cry from the wildly enthusiastic Charles known to millions of fans for more than half a century.
A prolific performer, Charles has been off the road for almost a year so that he could undergo a hip replacement. Unspecified complications forced him to scrap plans to resume touring with a performance in New York last month.
A recent tabloid report claimed Charles was dying of liver cancer and that funeral arrangements were being made. But Joe Adams, Charles's business associate for 46 years, told Reuters, "I can't give any credence to the story. ... They seem to know more than I do."
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