In addition to being feted with flowers from President and Mrs. Obama, and Oprah Winfrey, Aretha's birthday dinner guests at a swank Manhattan restaurant on Monday, March 25th also included Chaka Khan, Cissy Houston and more. Later she, Cissy and Tony Bennet, Debra Lee, Congressman John Lewis, Rev. Al Sharpton and more partied at the Ritz Carlton.

Franklin hinted that Cissy may join her on stage in Newark, New Jersey on Saturday night at the Prudential Center.

So I guess the messy press can put it to rest that there is a beef between Aretha and Cissy because the former did not attend Whitney's funeral.

Aretha returns to the East Coast in May for a special event May 8th at the Ritz Carlton in Washington DC for the BE BEAUTIFUL BE YOURSELF Gala that will feature congressional leaders, velebs and sports figures and May 11th for McDonald's Gospel Fest in Newark, NJ.

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On Whitney

Franklin has been including "I Will Always Love You" — Whitney’s signature song — on recent set lists.

"I’ve always loved that song. I loved that song when Dolly Parton did it," says Franklin, who was planning to sing "I Will Always Love You" at Houston’s funeral last year at New Hope Baptist Church in Newark, but could not attend due to leg spasms. "You try to get through it when you’re singing the song, but of course, you’re going to think about it.

"I just want to acknowledge Nippy in the most positive way possible. She was my Christian sister, and she did far too many good things just to focus on one thing that wasn’t good."

It'll be a trip if Cissy did show up and sing her part in "Ain't No Way". Hope she still has the pipes to do it.

If I were Cissy I would no longer associate with Aretha. The reason being blowing off Whitney's funeral.

Fuck her.

Actually Cissy is Dionne's aunt, it was Whitney that was her cousin.

MotorBootyAffair said:

I bet Ms. Dionne texted cousin Cissy like, "would you bring me a plate?"

Maybe Cissy decided to forgive ReRe

Glad they buried the hachet. Too many divas don't like eachother already......

I am glad to hear that Cissy was there and she may be on stage with her..we are never going to know what actually went on about Whitney's funeral, who knows, Cissy may have already known that she wasnt going to be able to attend and it didn't cross her mind when she gotten to the funeral...the media and public have a way of getting things mixed up...we cannot always take things to heart!!

fred12 said:

I am glad to hear that Cissy was there and she may be on stage with her..we are never going to know what actually went on about Whitney's funeral, who knows, Cissy may have already known that she wasnt going to be able to attend and it didn't cross her mind when she gotten to the funeral...the media and public have a way of getting things mixed up...we cannot always take things to heart!!

True.