After more than half a century and one of the most illustrious careers in music, Aretha Franklin, the Queen of Soul, has announced she'll retire after releasing her new album this year.
"I must tell you, I am retiring this year," Franklin told a Detroit TV station. "This will be my last year... I will be recording, but this will be my last year in concert. This is it."
She said it won't be a complete retirement—she'll do a brief tour of her new album after it's out in September, but this will only consist of one show a month for six months. At 74, Franklin said she wants to spend more time with her grandkids, who are leaving for college soon. And, as she says, the decision is bittersweet because "it's what I've done all of my life."
"I feel very, very enriched and satisfied with respect to where my career came from and where it is now," Franklin said. "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 includes production from Stevie Wonder and is comprised of original tracks recorded in Detroit.
