The “Queen of Soul,” Aretha Franklin, said that after the release of an album produced by Stevie Wonder in September, she would no longer perform live, ending a 56-year career as one of the most influential artists in the United States.

“I must tell you, I am retiring this year,” the 74-year-old Franklin said in an interview with Detroit’s WDIV television. “This will be my last year. I will be recording, but this will be my last year in concert. This is it.”

Franklin, winner of 18 Grammy awards and famous for songs like “Respect,” “Chain of Fools,” “Baby, I Love You,” “Spanish Harlem” and “Angel,” was the first woman inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

The singer said it was a bittersweet announcement because “music is what I’ve done all my life.”

“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 artist said her grandchildren would soon be leaving for college and she wanted to spend more time with them.

Franklin said she felt “exuberant” about her upcoming album, the 42nd in her career, with Wonder as producer of a number of tracks.

“I can’t wait to get in the studio,” Franklin said.

The album, which Franklin described as “multidirectional” and not boxed in by a particular style, will be recorded in Detroit, where she lives, and will include only original songs. EFE