Aretha Franklin responds to her death rumours

Aretha Franklin

Singer Aretha Franklin reassured fans that she is alive and well following rumours of her death. After the hashtag #RipArethaFranklin began trending on Twitter, Tuesday morning, the singer, 75, said, "I'm doing well generally, all tests have come back good."

Aretha Franklin

"I've lost a lot of weight due to side effects of medicine, it affects your weight … Thanks for your concern," she added in an emailed statement. The false report, which was initially started by a fake Aretha Franklin Twitter account, gained more than 15,000 mentions. The post read, "It is with sad news that we announce the passing of the Queen Of Soul, Aretha Franklin 1942-2017." Fans immediately reacted, assuming the tweet was true.