Aretha Franklin's Post Surgery Update: 'I Feel Great'

Aretha Franklin is home for the holidays. And she's glad about it.

Fans have been sending up well wishes to The Queen of Soul since hearing that she is suffering from what could be pancreatic cancer.

The 20-time Grammy Award winning music legend granted an exclusive phone interview with her longtime friend, Clarence Waldron of Jet magazine—the first she's granted since falling ill. 

"I feel great," Franklin said. "The doctors say I can do whatever I feel like I am up to do. Of course, that doesn't mean any concerts or anything like that, but I can do things around the house and today I am just piddling around the house."Though she stayed mum on the specifics of her surgery and what ailment she is suffering from, the Memphis native revealed that doctors want her to recuperate for about eight weeks. Franklin promised the black-owned weekly newsmagazine that she would soon reveal what is ailing her, but is working on resting – something that over the span of her career she's done little of.

Props: Black Voices