Aretha Franklin retiring after a final album with Stevie Wonder

Soul legend Aretha Franklin has told a Detroit TV station she plans to retire this year to spend more time with her grandchildren.

The 74-year-old singer plans to record a final album with Stevie Wonder and then retire, according to the BBC.

Franklin told the TV station she felt “exuberant” about her plans.

“This will be my last year,” Franklin said. “I will be recording, but this will be my last year in concert. This is it.”

It’s more of a partial retirement. Franklin said she will do “some select things, many one a month, for six months out of the year.” But her grandchildren are leaving for college soon and she said she wants to spend more time with them.

“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.”

The album produced with Wonder is expected to be released in September.

Franklin is known for being the first woman to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Her most famous hits include “Respect” and “Natural Woman.” She sang “My Country Tis of Thee” at former President Barack Obama’s first inauguration and her performance of “Natural Woman” at the Kennedy Center in 2015 had Obama wiping away tears.

She won the Grammy for best R&B vocal performance for eight consecutive years – between 1968 and 1975. President George W. Bush awarded her the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian honor, in 2005.

This story was originally published February 9, 2017 at 7:41 AM with the headline "Aretha Franklin retiring after a final album with Stevie Wonder."