Aretha Respectfully bows out

ARETHA FRANKLIN has announced she will retire this year — but not before recording one last album with Stevie Wonder.

The 74-year-old soul singer revealed the news to a Detroit TV station, saying: ‘I must tell you, I am retiring this year.

‘I will be recording, but this will be my last year in concert. This is it.’

But the Respect singer said she was feeling ‘exuberant’ about working with the legendary Wonder, adding: ‘There’s only one Stevie, right?’

And this might not be the absolute last we see of Aretha as she still plans to do some ‘select things’, she said.

Aretha has sold more than 75 million records, was the first woman to be inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall of Fame and, on her most recent album, she covered Adele’s Rolling In The Deep.

Author: Anna Thomson