Aretha Franklin Announces She Will Be Retiring This Year

The soul singer told WDIV Local 4, a Detroit TV Station, "I must tell you, I am retiring this year, This will be my last year... I will be recording, but this will be my last year in concert. This is it"
But worry not Franklin fans, this is not the last you will be seeing of the 74 year old soul singer. She will do a small tour in support of her new album after it will be released in September. The tour will consist of one show a month for six months.

Franklin has said her decision to retire from her career that she has built up for over half a century is bitter-sweet, as "it's what I've done all of my life." She has decided she wants to spend more time with her grand kids, who will be going off to college soon.

Franklin has said she feels "very enriched and satisfied" as to where her career came from and where it is now. She then added "I'll be pretty much satisfied, but I'm not going to go anywhere and just sit down and do nothing. That wouldn't be good either."

Her new album will consist of original tracks, as well as production by Stevie Wonder. She has described the new album as "kind of multi-directional" and that she wasn't "pigeonholed to any one thing."