NEW YORK, Sept. 9 (UPI) -- Aretha Franklin will sing at the Dream Concert in New York to raise money for the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.’s monument on the National Mall in Washington.
Franklin, 65, will take the stage at Radio City Music Hall next week to help finish raising $100 million for the memorial, The New York Daily News reported Sunday.
"Dr. King absolutely deserves to be on the Mall," Franklin told the newspaper. "I am honored to perform for such a great man. He was a family friend and Dr. King believed in things that were right ... justice and equality for all."
Franklin joined King’s civil rights movement when she was 16-years-old.
"I was very young when I joined the movement and I enjoyed what we were doing," she said. "I think Dr. King's dream is still alive and there has been a lot of progress because of him."
The lineup for the Sept. 18 concert includes Stevie Wonder, Garth Brooks, Carlos Santana and Queen Latifah.
