Aretha Franklin Is Retiring, Y'all: A Diva Discography

Aretha Fanklin--diva par exemplar, national institution, generally not here for your shenanigans--says that she is retiring after her next album drops.

"I must tell you, I am retiring this year," the 74-year-old announced on her hometown of Detroit's Local 4 station, saying that she'll hang up her fur after the release of her latest album. "I will be recording, but this will be my last year in concert. This is it."

That album will be released in September and will feature production from fellow living legend Stevie Wonder. Franklin says she'll do a small tour for the album, and even post-retirement she'll still pop up here and there for the odd performance or shade-throw.

"I'll be pretty much satisfied, but I'm not going to go anywhere and just sit down and do nothing," she said. "That wouldn't be good either."

Well, in the face of this quasi-retirement news, what better time to go through the Queen's discography and discover the jewels in her crown:

Pre-"Respect"

"Today I Sing the Blues," "Won't Be Long," "Rock-a-Bye Your Baby with a Dixie Melody," "Try a Little Tenderness," "Skylark," "One Step Ahead," "It Ain't Necessarily So"

The Sixties

"I Never Loved a Man (The Way I Love You)," "Do Right Woman -- Do Right Man," "Respect," "(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman," "Chain of Fools," "(Sweet Sweet Baby) Since You've Been Gone," "Ain't No Way," "Think," "I Say a Little Prayer," "The Weight," "Share Your Love with Me"

The Seventies

"Call Me," "Don't Play That Song," "Spirit in the Dark," "Bridge Over Troubled Water," "Rock Steady," "Oh Me Oh My (I'm a Fool for You Baby)," "Day Dreaming," "Young, Gifted and Black," "Until You Come Back to Me (That's What I'm Gonna Do)," "Something He Can Feel," "Hooked on Your Love," "I Get High"

The Eighties

"Freeway of Love," "Who's Zoomin' Who," "Sisters Are Doin' It for Themselves," "Jumpin' Jack Flash," "I Knew You Were Waiting (For Me), ""It Isn't, It Wasn't, It Ain't Never Gonna Be"

The Nineties and Beyond

"A Deeper Love," "Jump to It," "It Hurts Like Hell," "A Rose Is Still a Rose,""Nessun Dorma (Live at the 1998 Grammys)," "Rolling in the Deep"

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