Aretha Franklin: "I Am Retiring" From Making Music

The Queen of Soul told a Detroit TV station that she planned to quit recording after the release of her new album and drastically cut back on performing.

Aretha Franklin will retire from recording music this year.

The 'Queen of Soul' told a Detroit TV station that she plans to quit making music after the release of her new album, produced by Stevie Wonder, later this year. She also said she would drastically cut back on performing in order to spend time with her grandchildren, who are leaving for college.

"I must tell you, I am retiring this year," Franklin told WDIV Local 4.

She added: "This will be my last year ... I will be recording, but this will be my last year in concert. This is it."

“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.”

Franklin, who turns 75 this year, has been performing for 56 years straight, although in recent years has been suffering from ill health. In 2010, she had to put her career on hold following abdominal surgery and has slowed down her once prolific tour and performance schedule in recent years.