Few souls are as long-lasting as Aretha Franklin. The Queen of Soul herself has announced that this year will be her final concert. She also revealed that she’s working on a new studio album with Stevie Wonder (!!!), an ode to Detroit, marking her first album of original material in six years.
In a recent interview with Detroit WDIV Local 4, she expresses, “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.” She specifies that she remains open to “some select things, many one a month, for six months out of the year,” but is unwilling to commit to anything else.
She continues, “I feel very, very enriched and satisfied with respect to where my career came from, and where it is now… 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.”
Aretha Franklin still has some shows ahead of her, including performances in Chicago, Grand Rapids, and Chautauqua through June.
[via Billboard]