Charles Sykes/Associated Press Aretha Franklin sings at her 69th birthday party in New York last month.Coming soon to Wal-Mart: soul.
Wal-Mart’s stores and Web sites will be the exclusive retailer for Aretha Franklin’s next album, “Aretha: A Woman Falling Out of Love,” for a month beginning May 3, the singer announced. (After June 3, the album will also be available digitally through iTunes, Amazon and other stores.)
“Aretha” is Ms. Franklin’s 38th studio album and the first to be released on her own label, Aretha Records. She produced most of the album, which includes modern standards like “Theme From a Summer Place” and “The Way We Were,” as well as the classic gospel hymn “His Eye Is on the Sparrow” and a version of B.B. King’s “Sweet Sixteen.” The bonus track: her live performance of “My Country, ’Tis of Thee” from the inauguration of President Obama in 2009.
Ms. Franklin, 69, canceled a number of concert dates last year because of an illness that she has not identified, although in January she said that “the problem has been resolved.” The album announcement made no mention of her illness, but it did include a little advice for Ms. Franklin’s female fans:
“O.K. ladies, take a good look at the photo of me on this album; this is how you’re supposed to look when you’re a woman falling out of love. Don’t sit by the phone waiting for him to call you, girlfriend; I want you to listen very closely to the lyrics of the songs on this album and you’ll hear a few good tips. Go out and have a ball!” Love always, Ree Ree
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