Her fans thought she would be walking down the aisle this summer. they wondered what she would wear, and where she would tie the knot.
But fans got some pretty upsetting news today when Aretha Franklin, 69, called off her engagement to Willie Wilkerson.
“Will and I have decided we were moving a little too fast, and there were a number of things that had not been thought through thoroughly. There will be no wedding at this time,” Franklin said. “We will not comment on it any further because of the very personal and sensitive nature of it. We appreciate all of the many well wishes from friends,” said the singer in a statement released b her rep.
The Queen of Soul announced in early January that she and longtime friend William “Willie” Wilkerson planned to tie the knot sometime over the summer.
In a statement to the Associated Press, the 69-year-old singer joked: “No, I’m not pregnant.”
According to the Huffington Post, she said she hoped for a summer wedding in either Miami or the Hamptons on Long Island. Franklin revealed she was considering Vera Wang, Valentino and Donna Karan to design her dress.
This would have been Franklin’s third wedding. She was previously married to Ted White and Glynn Turman. She has four children from the two relationships.
In 2010 the music legend dealt with an unidentified illness. She denied reports that she had been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, but underwent a surgery in December 2010 and cancelled concerts and personal appearances until May.
She did not state what the surgery was for, but said that her doctors think it “is going to add 15 to 20 more years” to her life.
Franklin was among a slew of celebrities that got engaged over the holidays including Matthew McConaughey and Camila Alves; LeBron James and Savannah Brinson; John Legend and Chrissy Teigen and Wynonna Judd and Cactus Moser.
