Aretha is a woman of her word and is now ready to show and prove just that. Some of y’all may recall when the ‘Queen of Soul’ yet again let her diva-tude surface in January of last year (2016), during her interview with Detroit’s Local 4 News. She was asked if she’d tasted Patti Labelle’s pies and she said no, “but Ms. Patti’s gonna have to move that pie to the side!” Why so? Because she had just announced that she too was stepping into the food arena, except she’s taking things up a notch by expanding her’s outside of just desserts.

Aretha & Krispy Kreme

Fast forward to today though, and it appears that Re-Re’s had a change of heart regarding her food line. She revealed to Billboard that she is not only ready to finally present her food line to the world, that she’s doing so with Krispy Kreme. So since Krispy Kreme is only known for having a desert menu, I’m assuming Aretha’s changed her mind about the expanded food line and will focus on just her deserts for now…much like Patti has:

Via Billboard: Franklin says she’s developing a food line with Krispy Kreme. “We’re going to be doing some kitchen testing over the summer, testing recipes and perfecting them,” [Aretha] says.

Aretha’s Other Bombshell Announcements- Retirement & New Album?

Another whopper Ms. Franklin dropped in her interview was that she is finally retiring, but not before she releases this mega superstar album she’s about to release. Aretha’s new album will be released some time at the top of next year (208) and it will feature Stevie Wonder, Lionel Richie, Elton John, and probably a few more music heavyweights:
On her plans to retire soon…

Via Billboard: “After 54 years of traveling and flying and all of that can be very tiring, and even the tour bus takes a lot out of you,” Franklin explains. “I’m not happy; I’ll put it like that. I’m not happy, exactly, about not doing something that you’ve been doing for 54 years that you really, really love. But there’s a warranty on everything. Nothing lasts forever.” Franklin has not set an actual retirement date yet, but says it will become obvious that she’s slowing things down.

“I just won’t be traveling the way I used to or doing anything like I used to in terms of concerts.” she says. “It used to be five or six; I’ll only be doing one, maybe two — and maybe none. But I have other things I want to do. There’s a lot going on.”

On her new album…

“Lionel’s working on his piece, Stevie’s working on his piece; they’re both originals,” Franklin, who’s co-executive-producing the album, tells Billboard. “I’m working on a couple of things. I think there will be about 10 [songs] on it, maybe 11, but I’m thinking 10.” No title has been determined yet for the album. – Billboard

I’m willing to bet there’s one music legend who will be the last person Aretha would ever call on- Dionne Warwick…yeah Aretha’s still highly pissed over that hiccup 5 years ago…but I digress…moving on…

As a soul music lover, I personally can’t wait to hear Stevie and Lionel on a record with the sounds of Aretha. And although I’m not a big Elton John music fan, I respect his artistry for what it is, so it’ll be pretty interesting to hear that collabo’ as well. As far as her pending retirement, job well done ReRe, it’s a retirement well earned and well deserved.