"Queen of Soul" Aretha Franklin sang two songs on "The View" on Thursday in her first national TV performance since a mysterious ailment that sidelined her last year.
Franklin, 69, who says she has lost 85 pounds since last year, performed a new single "How Long I've Been Waiting" and, with the studio audience standing and clapping, she also sang her classic hit "Respect."
Last November, the soul singer canceled all her concert appearances for six months on doctors' orders and later underwent major surgery. She has never made public the nature of surgery, or the reason for it.
Franklin however has a new album called "Aretha: A Woman Falling Out of Love" out on May 3 and a number of concerts scheduled for this summer.
"I'm feeling wonderful, fabulous," she said on Thursday. "I have got more energy. I have changed my diet"
Franklin sang at her own 69th birthday party in March at a lavish gathering of friends and fellow musicians in New York.
The legendary singer of 1960s hits like "Chain of Fools" and "Baby I Love You" sang at the inauguration of President Barack Obama in January 2009.