Aretha Franklin cancels concerts, festival date due to doctor’s orders

NEW YORK — Aretha Franklin is canceling two upcoming concerts on doctor’s orders.

The Queen of Soul’s management team says in a statement Friday that Franklin will not perform March 25 at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center in Newark, New Jersey. That show would have taken place on her 76th birthday.

Franklin also won’t appear April 28 at the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival. Late Friday, it was announced that Rod Stewart will be performing in her place at the festival.

The statement says the singer “has been ordered by her doctor to stay off the road and rest completely for at least the next two months.” It adds that Franklin is “extremely disappointed she cannot perform as she had expected and hoped to.”

The singer postponed a performance last year at Ravinia per her doctor’s orders.

Last year, Franklin announced her plans to retire, saying she would perform at “some select things.”

Associated Press