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BY SUSAN WHITALLThe Detroit News@ Associated Press 0

Published: February 8, 2011

Aretha Franklin to be honored during Grammys

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By Susan Whitall

Detroit News Music Writer

Aretha Franklin's survival after a tough year will be celebrated in the opening number of Sunday night's Grammy telecast.

Traditionally the Grammys, which air at 8 p.m. Sunday on CBS, open up with a boffo, show-stopping number, and this year the Queen of Soul will be honored when a group of singers across many musical genres - Jennifer Hudson, Christina Aguilera, Martina McBride, Yolanda Adams and Florence Welch - perform many of her most iconic hits. Show producers describe the segment as a sort of musical valentine to the singer.

Asked by CNN in a phone interview if she would be present at the awards ceremony in Los Angeles, Franklin answered somewhat cryptically: "I will be at home, I won't be there but I will be in the middle of the telecast." That seemed to affirm reports around Detroit that she had taped a segment to be aired during the awards show.

The singer has had many memorable Grammy moments, winning 18 Grammys as well as the Academy's Lifetime Achievement Award and Living Legend award. She might take home more brass Sunday; she is up for an award with Ron Isley for best R&B performance by a duo/group for their collaboration on "You've Got a Friend."

Franklin's return to the national spotlight on the Grammys, even in a taped segment, would be an emotional moment after the events of the last few months. In November, the singer announced that she was taking six months off by order of her doctors, and underwent a procedure in early December that was reportedly for pancreatic cancer, although she has not confirmed that. Franklin said that her medical issue was "resolved," that she would not be giving any more details about her illness and that she expected to be back onstage by spring.

"I'm feeling super, absolutely super," Franklin told CNN Tuesday. "I'm doing very well, and I can't wait to get back out there."

Franklin also said that she wasn't going to try to twist actress Halle Berry's arm to play her in a biographical film about her life that Franklin has been working on pulling together. Berry recently said she didn't think she was right for the role. "She was not the only person I had in mind," Franklin said. "Maybe it could be Fantasia, it could be Jennifer (Hudson), I don't know."

As for Aguilera's performance of the national anthem on Super Bowl Sunday, Franklin was gracious. "She did a beautiful job. It was just one line (blown). Clearly the crowd still enjoyed it."