Aretha Franklin announces plan to retire, collaboration with Stevie Wonder

Detroit native Aretha Franklin sings the national anthem prior to the start of the Detroit Lions and the Minnesota Vikings game at Ford Field on Nov, 24, 2016.
Detroit native Aretha Franklin sings the national anthem prior to the start of the Detroit Lions and the Minnesota Vikings game at Ford Field on Nov, 24, 2016.
Gregory Shamus

In an interview with Detroit's NBC affiliate Local 4 news on Tuesday, Aretha Franklin said she is planning to retire... kind of.

The revered singer said she is working on a new album of originals, with Stevie Wonder producing a handful, and expects it to be released around September. She also told Local 4 that she will perform once a month, for six months, in support of it.

On the topic of retirement, the 74-year-old legend told the station that she is "pretty much satisfied, but I'm not going to go anywhere and just sit down and do nothing. That wouldn't be good, either." Copyright 2019 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

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