Aretha Franklin to Perform for Queen

LOS ANGELES (AP) - The Queen of Soul will perform for the Queen of England at the monarch's 50th Jubilee.

Aretha Franklin will perform four or five songs for 15,000 invited guests in the gardens of Buckingham Palace on June 3, 2002, the 50th anniversary of Queen Elizabeth II's ascension to the throne.
"This is such a wonderful invitation, a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity,'' Franklin said in a statement released Thursday by Sanford Brokaw, her Los Angeles-based publicist. "You just don't get that many invitations to sing for the Queen of England. I'm going to go the extra mile to be there.''

The event will air on BBC television and radio, and will be broadcast in the United States later.

The 60-year-old Franklin, the first female performer inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, has won 15 Grammy Awards, the Grammy Legend Award and the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award. She performed at former President Clinton's inauguration in 1993, and has given at least one Royal Command Performance for Elizabeth II. Her voice has been designated a natural resource of the State of Michigan.