Aretha Franklin

Aretha Franklin

Aretha Franklin wowed fans in her hometown on Thursday night (25Aug11) when she performed her first show since battling a mystery illness last year (10).

The Queen of Soul was forced to cancel a string of shows at the end of 2010 after she was diagnosed with a serious illness she has refused to divulge.

The medical drama passed and Franklin rescheduled all the shows she was forced to scrap, announcing her live concert comeback would be in her native Detroit, Michigan on 25 August (11) - and she didn't disappoint.

Franklin, 69, performed to a sell out crowd at the DTE Energy Music Theater for almost two hours on Thursday and looked vibrant, fit and healthy.

Highlights included the spiritual One Night With the King, hits like Respect and Chain of Fools and a gospel-tinged rendition of Simon & Garfunkel's Bridge Over Troubled Water.

She also covered Curtis Mayfield and Jackie Wilson and paid tribute to late pal Luther Vandross by performing Get It Right, a track he wrote for her.


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