Aretha hits back over Beyonce jibe

Aretha Franklin has launched a retaliatory swipe at Beyonce Knowles for introducing fellow pop diva Tina Turner as the “Queen of Soul” at Sunday’s Grammy Awards.

Franklin has long been known by that nickname in a singing career that, like Turner’s, began in the 1950s and she insists she has no plans to abdicate.

Franklin said: “I am not sure of whose toes I may have stepped on or whose ego I may have bruised between the Grammy writers and Beyonce.

“However, I dismissed it as a cheap shot for controversy.”