Aretha Franklin

Aretha Franklin is a legend in the world of soul music. Her career soared in the 60s, and she won her degree as the Queen of Soul after she released a series of iconic songs like Respect and I Say a Little Prayer. Franklin was never able to rest on her laurels. She spent the next three decades performing and recording regularly until her demise in 2018.

Aretha struggled with her weight her whole life, and in 2010 she underwent surgery for an unspecified ailment. Franklin lost 85 pounds in the months after the operation, leading others to believe she had undergone weight loss surgery. Franklin did claim, however, that the unnamed process was the cause of her weight loss. She also changed her diet after and avoided sugar and fried food. She also incorporated exercise into her diet, in addition to calorie counting.