Aretha Franklin Excited About Her Super Bowl Gig

But now all is forgiven.

Aretha Franklin -- who is set to perform the national anthem at Sunday's Super Bowl in her hometown of Detroit -- said she was initially disappointed by the National Football League's choice of musical entertainment.

Like some other Detroiters, Franklin felt that her city's musical legacy was being snubbed with the choice of the Rolling Stones as the halftime entertainment.

"I didn't think there was enough (Detroit musical representation) by any means. And it was my feeling: 'How dare you come to Detroit, a city of legends -- musical legends plural -- and not ask one or two of them to participate,"' Franklin said Tuesday in an interview with The Associated Press. "That's not the way it should be. Of course, they made that correction with no sweat."

The league later announced that Motown legend Stevie Wonder would play before the game, and Franklin would team on the anthem with singer Aaron Neville, keyboardist Dr. John and a 150-member choir.

"People are happier with everything. I think probably they just, kind of, were not thinking Detroit being the musical city that it is," Franklin said. "I think the focus was probably more on the game at that time than the artists that the city could offer."

NFL spokesman Brian McCarthy said the league from the beginning wanted to pay tribute to Detroit's musical legacy in some fashion and also pointed out that the length of the pre-game and halftime shows is the same -- 12 minutes.

"It was always our intention to celebrate the contributions of Motown at the Super Bowl," he said.

McCarthy also said Tuesday that singer India.Arie has been added to the list of pre-game performers and will join with John Legend, Joss Stone and Wonder in performing Wonder's hits as well as other Motown hits. In addition, the Four Tops will also perform prior to kickoff, but they will not be carried live on the ABC broadcast.

Franklin said she has been approached by the NFL in the past to sing at the Super Bowl, "but unfortunately at the times they were calling, I was not flying and not driving as far as the areas where they were."

Now that the big game is in Detroit -- and she only has to drive a short distance from her suburban home -- Franklin is excited to take part, calling it "an ultra-special honor."

She said she has never before sung with Neville, but "I very much am looking forward to it."

"He has a very, very unique style," she said. "I can't think of anyone else who quite sounds like Aaron Neville."