“Queen of Soul” Aretha Franklin said on Saturday that she would like to join "American Idol" as a judge, CNN reported.
The announcement came just days after judges Steven Tyler and Jennifer Lopez declared they would not be returning to the hit Fox show next season.
Franklin, an 18-time Grammy Award winner who Rolling Stone hailed as the greatest female singer of all time, told CNN in an email that she is interested in judging the singing competition.
Franklin, 70, who performed at the Essence Music Festival last week in New Orleans and is now performing in Las Vegas, said she has long been a fan of the show and is ready to help choose the next “American Idol,” according to CNN.
Fox declined to comment on Saturday night.
The departure of Lopez and Tyler leaves a major void to fill in the three-judge panel on “Idol,” which remains the most-watched television show in the U.S., despite its ratings slump in recent years, Reuters reported.
Randy Jackson, who has been with the program since its first season in 2002 alongside Simon Cowell and Paula Abdul, remains the only judge on the panel. It is unclear whether he will stay on “Idol,” Reuters reported.
