Aretha Franklin cancels Canadian shows

Aretha Franklin is extending her current break and has cancelled performances for the month of June.

Spokesperson David Brokaw says the iconic singer will reschedule two shows and resume her touring schedule in July. No other details were provided.

The June dates included headlining concerts at the Ottawa and Montreal jazz festivals as well as an appearance in Clarkston, Mich.

The Queen of Soul, who turned 71 in March, announced last week that she wascancelling May shows in Chicago and Connecticut, citing doctors' orders for an unspecified medical treatment.

She did, however, appear via satellite on the season finale of American Idol to perform a medley of her hits with the young female contenders.

In recent years, Franklin has been reluctant to discuss her health. In November 2010, she announced she was cancelling all engagements until the following May, later revealing that she underwent surgery for an undisclosed medical issue in Detroit.

She later revealed in a magazine interview that she had first been alerted to her health issues after feeling "a very hard pain in my side" during a concert in Toronto in November 2009.