Bobby Womack Diagnosed With Colon Cancer, Bootsy Collins Reveals

Soul singer Bobby Womack has been hard at work on a new comeback album (out at the beginning of June), but friend of the artist Bootsy Collins says Womack has also recently been diagnosed with colon cancer.

On Facebook, Collins implored his 151,000 fans to pray for the ailing Womack, updating his official page yesterday to say:

“We Pray for Bobby Womack Right Now, TO BE HEALED FROM PNEUMONIA AND ANY OTHER AILMENT HE IS FIGHTING AT THIS TIME. THIS SONG GOES OUT TO MY FRIEND BOBBY WE DID ON MY LATEST ALBUM.”

Apparently fans and well-wishers responded to the message, because on Twitter, Collins followed up after speaking with Womack. Collins reported that Womack was grateful many had stepped up to send messages of concern and support:

“I just spoke to our friend Bobby Womack. He wanted you all to know that he loves you and thanks for the prayers. Doctor says he is in the first stage of colon cancer, he is very upbeat about his future, we laughed & joked before we hung up. Thanks funkateers, we will get him back on the one!”

Womack was a fixture of the soul scene through the 70s and the early 80s, but had slowed down by the 90s, doing a collaboration here and there, but not releasing any full-length albums. The trend continued, and Womack remained relatively inactive through the first decade of the 00s, before collaborating with the crossover group Gorillaz on the track “Stylo.”

At the time, Womack said that he’d never heard of Gorillaz, but agreed to do the song because his granddaughter was a fan. The band- including Blur’s Damon Albarn, who produced Womack’s upcoming effort- asked the singer to riff freely. Womack later said he “was in there for an hour going crazy about love and politics, getting it off [his] chest.” Due to diabetes, he began to pass out at that point, but was revived by eating a banana.

Bobby Womack’s new album is titled “The Bravest Man In The Universe.”