Aretha Franklin breaks toe in accident

Aretha Franklin has broken her toe after tripping over a shoe.

The 69-year-old singer stumbled over a Jimmy Choo spiked heel in a hotel room and after the pain had eased off, she decided not to receive medical attention initially ' only to learn she had fractured the digit after having X-rays at Community North Hospital in Indianapolis a few days later.

She said through her spokesperson: "It hurt like heck for a minute, but seemed to subside.

"I'm so grateful it wasn't my right piano peddle foot, I have a gig on July 27 at the Jones Beach Theatre in New York!"

While Aretha knows the injury could have been worse, she is now left with another problem after her foot was heavily strapped up.

She joked: "How am I supposed to match my new Marc Jacobs gown with this wooden blue hospital shoe?"

This is not the first health problem Aretha has experienced in recent months.

The 'Respect' singer underwent surgery in December for an undisclosed complaint ' which was rumoured to be pancreatic cancer -and recently revealed the pain she felt was so severe she could barely stand and immediately pulled out of her concert tour in order to receive treatment.

She said "That [pain in my side] was my first inkling that something was wrong, that something wasn't what it should be.

"The pain was so hard it nearly brought me to my knees. So I said, 'The concerts are over. I have to go find out what is wrong.' '