"Queen of Soul" singer Aretha Franklinhas become the latest celebrity to announce an engagement over the holidays, joining a list including "Aerosmith" frontman Steven Tylerand basketball superstar LeBron James.
Franklin, 69, and her friend William 'Willie' Wilkerson hope to marry later this year on a sandy Miami beach with a private party to celebrate afterward aboard a yacht, a spokeswoman for Franklin confirmed on Monday.
"We're looking at June or July for our date, and no I'm not pregnant, LOL!," Franklin said in a statement.
Franklin, 69, was sidelined by a mysterious ailment at about this time last year, but overcame her health scare in January and shed 85 pounds on the road to better health. The legendary singer of 1960s hits like "Chain of Fools" and "Baby I Love You" sang at her own 69th birthday party in March.
Tyler, 63, rocked longtime girlfriend Erin Brady, 38, with a proposal, too, his representative confirmed to celebrity media, but no details were given.
In recent days ahead of New Year's Eve, the two have been photographed in Hawaii with Brady showing off a new diamond engagement ring wrapped around her finger. Tyler and Brady have been together since 2006. It will be his third marriage.
James and his longtime girlfriend Savannah Brinson also became engaged over the New Year holiday weekend.
Reports have the title for the new Paul McCartney album of mostly standards called Kisses on the Bottom. The Sun made the initial report which has been echoed with some skepticism through the rest of the U.K. media.
The album, which is yet to have the title blessed officially and doesn't have an announced track list, is due on February 6, just in time for Valentine's Day to reflect the collection of romantic standards (and two originals).
McCartney recently said on his choice of standards "When I kind of got into songwriting, I realized how well structured these songs were and I think I took a lot of my lessons from them. I always thought artists like Fred Astaire were very cool. Writers like Harold Arlen, Cole Porter, all of those guys. I just thought the songs were magical and then, as I got to be a songwriter I thought it's beautiful, the way they made those songs."
