Aretha Franklin, 69, prepares for third marriage

At 69-years-old, Aretha Franklin is ready to tie the knot.

She told PEOPLE that she and long-time friend William ‘Willie’ Wilkerson are looking to get married in June or July, and she laughingly denied that there was a pregnancy involved. Plans for the wedding have been abound already, but only recently was it announced.

Franklin has already been married twice, and is the mother of four children. According to contactmusic.com two of those children were born when she was a teenager, one came as a result of her marriage to former manager Ted White, and the fourth came during her relationship with her road manager at the time, Ken Cunningham.

Franklin recently lost 85 pounds in response to a health problem which caused her to cancel her tour at the time. She told People that she now feels “fabulous."

Franklin adds herself to the growing list of celebrities to get engaged this holiday season. Miami Heat star LeBron James and his fiancé got engaged on December 31, and Aerosmith frontman Steven Tyler proposed to his girlfriend of five years recently as well.
People also reports that Franklin has a very narrow pool from which she will be selecting her wedding dress, saying she will be looking at dresses by Donna Karan, Valentino, and Vera Wang.