Aretha Franklin Is Alive; Singer Responds To Death Rumors

Aretha Franklin is alive and doing well!

The soul singer recently trended on Twitter with the hashtag, “RIPArethaFranklin,” on Tuesday. But the 75-year-old singer released an exclusive statement to US Weekly confirming that she’s “doing generally well.”

“All tests have come back good. I’ve lost a lot of weight due to side effects of medicine, it affects your weight… Thanks for your concern,” she said via e-mail.

The fake news about the singer’s death all started with a fake Franklin Twitter account uploading a photo of her with the death announcement. The tweet received thousands of retweets and mentions within minutes. But Franklin’s rep, Shaun Robinson, immediately debunked the tweet. “Please don’t believe this news that was trending,” he said.

Meanwhile, this is not the first time that the “Respect” singer had to clarify rumors about herself. In 2011, Franklin underwent a procedure due to severe pain on the side of her body. Immediately after, reports started swirling that she was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer.

“I don’t know where pancreatic cancer came from. I was sitting there reading the newspaper and it was saying someone in my family said that. No one in my family ever said that to anybody,” she told Access Hollywood.

Earlier this year, Franklin also announced that she was officially retiring from the business. This led fans to think that there must be something wrong with her health.

While speaking with Detroit TV station WDIV Local 4 (via Rolling Stone), Franklin said, “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.”

One of Franklin’s biggest recognition throughout the span of her career included being inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1987. Some of her most famous songs are “I Saw A Little Prayer,” “Bridge Over Troubled Water,” “Son Of A Preacher Man” and more.