Aretha Franklin Joins Twitter Following Broken Engagement

Days before she announced she would not be taking one relationship to the next level, the Queen of Soul quietly began another.  

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On Jan. 20, an account belonging to singer Aretha Franklin announced her entrance into the Twittersphere with a simple message:  “Hello from the official Twitter page for the Undisputed Queen of Soul Ms. Aretha Franklin!”

She also expressed her admiration for legendary singer Etta James, who had died that day. On Jan. 23, the day she and longtime friend William 'Willie' Wilkerson announced they had called off the wedding they had planned for next summer, @ArethaFranklin tweeted a link to the statement the couple had posted on her Facebook page.

Franklin has tweeted just seven times, and her account has a little under 3,000 followers. It’s nowhere near the splash Charlie Sheen made last March, when his account attracted two  million followers in its first week.

Even so, the 69-year-old Franklin has received praise for embracing a new platform. @Side note commented on the white hat Franklin wears in her profile picture: “judging by @ArethaFranklin's icon, she has a pretty badass collection of hats.”

And @TwitterMusic tweeted Wednesday: “R-E-S-P-E-C-T! Please join us in welcoming the Queen of Soul, @arethafranklin to Twitter!”