Aretha Franklin gets engaged

Aretha Franklin, the Queen of Soul, is getting married for the third time.

"No, I'm not pregnant," the music legend joked Monday in a statement announcing that she and longtime beau William "Willie" Wilkerson became engaged over the holidays.

Franklin, 69, ranked No. 1 on Rolling Stone magazine's "100 Greatest Singers of All Time" list, said she and Wilkerson are considering a summer wedding, possibly in Miami Beach, Fla., with a yacht reception to follow, according to The Associated Press.

"Ms. Franklin is considering Donna Karan, Valentino and the queen of wedding dresses, Vera Wang, to design her gown," her representative told People magazine.

The singer met Wilkerson in 1985, when he was a Detroit firefighter who asked her to autograph the cast on his leg, which he broke in the line of duty. Two years later Franklin introduced him to the press in a Jet magazine cover story, which described him as 39 and, in addition to being a firefighter, as "a well-known businessman in the area."

Franklin told the magazine, "I'm glad that he could make the distinction between the lady and the artist, because a lot of men can't."

Franklin -- the first woman inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame -- was married to Ted White, her manager at the time, from 1961 to 1969, and to actor Glynn Turman from 1978 to 1984. She has four sons: Clarence and Eddie, born before her first marriage; Ted White Jr.; and Kecalf, with former boyfriend Ken E. Cunningham.