Aretha Franklin’s Mystery Illness Was Not Pancreatic Cancer

We still don’t know what was wrong with her, but the Queen of Soul herself says it definitely wasn’t pancreatic cancer.

Today was clearly “do interviews day” for Ms. Franklin. And what she told Access Hollywood about her illness might be more interesting than the fact that she thinks Halle Berry looks like her.

“Well, there was just so many wild things out there and just so many things being said that weren’t true,” Aretha told Shaun in a phone interview on Thursday. “I just felt I needed to address it a little.”

Aretha, 68, admits there was indeed a health scare, but she isn’t ready to divulge specifics just yet.

“I went through a number of procedures before I knew what was wrong,” Aretha told Shaun.

“I know that you revealed to Jet magazine that you initially sought treatment because of a pain in your side,” Shaun replied. “Did the pain get so severe that you said, ‘Hey, there’s got to be something wrong here?’”

“Yeah, the pain was so hard it almost brought me to my knees,” Aretha revealed. “I was in Birmingham and then Boston and after that concert the same pain hit me again.

“I really just began to not feel good and I said, ‘Oh, no this is it, I can’t do any more concerts till I know what the problem is,’” she added.

The “Freedom” chanteuse shot down rampart reports that she had been stricken with pancreatic cancer, saying, “I don’t know where ‘pancreatic cancer’ came from.

“I was sitting there reading the newspaper and it was saying someone in my family said that,” Aretha continued. “No one in my family ever said that to anybody.”

The beloved artist received an overwhelming outpouring of “Respect” from high-profile well-wishers during her recovery – including the Commander In Chief.

“I got a wonderful and beautiful letter from the President,” Aretha told Shaun. “And nobody does it like him!”

Access is thrilled to report that Aretha is expected to continuing blessing us with her phenomenal voice and fashion-forward hats for the foreseeable future.

“So, it’s safe to say to your fans that we will be seeing Aretha Franklin for many years to come, right?” Shaun asked Aretha.

“That’s what my doctor said,” Aretha replied. “He said, ‘The surgery that you just had is going to add 15 to 20 more years to your life.’”

And y’all said we were mean when we tweeted that she probably had gastric bypass or a breast reduction.

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