The Detroit Free Press reports that, although “Twitter and Facebook were abuzz Monday night with rumors and confusion about whether Aretha Franklin, 68, had died, […] a Free Press source says Aretha Franklin is alive and resting at home.”

Here are some tweets from the CRAZY Twitter storm of rumors about Aretha's death that started on Dec. 26 and reached a peak on the evening of the 27:

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From the Detroit Free Press report:

False celebrity death reports pop up frequently on Twitter, with celebrities such as Morgan Freeman and Bill Cosby among the recent claims.
In Franklin's case, Monday's chatter may have been a mixup spawned by reports of the death of Motown singer Teena Marie, who frequently was described as the Ivory Queen of Soul.
Aretha is known as the Queen of Soul.
Franklin has been in and out of Detroit hospitals several times since the late summer, canceling all concert appearances and staying out of the public eye. She has offered minimal comment since news of the pancreatic cancer emerged in early December.

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