Aretha Franklin talks return to stage, diet change

NEW YORK (AP) — Aretha Franklin, who says she's back at "150 percent," is planning to return to the stage in May for her first post-surgery performance.

The Grammy Award-winning singer will also release an album that month with Wal-Mart Stores Inc. More personally, she's working on losing more weight from her frame, which is noticeably slimmer since her December surgery.

"I want to not only maintain the weight I am at now, but better it, by one dress size," the Queen of Soul said Wednesday in a phone interview with The Associated Press.

The 68-year-old Franklin underwent surgery for an undisclosed ailment in December. She calls it "more than minor surgery."

At the …