1. Chaka Khan has worked with Whitney Houston, Ry Cooder, Robert Palmer, Ray Charles, Quincy Jones, Guru, Chicago, Joni Mitchell, Gladys Knight, De La Soul, Mary J Blige, Ariana Grande, and Sia.
59 Facts About Chaka Khan
1. 2.
In 2023, Chaka Khan was picked as an inductee in the Musical Excellence category.
3.
Chaka Khan's parents separated when she was 10 and both remarried.
4.
Chaka Khan's sister Yvonne later became a successful musician in her own right, under the name Taka Boom, while her brother Mark formed the funk group Jamaica Boys and was a member of soul group Aurra.
5.
Chaka Khan has two half-sisters, Zaheva Knowles and Tammy McCrary.
6.
Chaka Khan was raised as a Catholic and attended the elementary school of St Thomas the Apostle Church in Hyde Park.
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Chaka Khan attributed her love of music to her grandmother, who introduced her to jazz as a child.
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Chaka Khan became a fan of rhythm and blues music as a preteen and when she was 11 years old she formed a girl group, the Crystalettes, which included her sister Taka.
9.
Chaka Khan joined the Black Panther Party after befriending a fellow member, activist and Chicago native Fred Hampton in 1967.
10.
Chaka Khan began to perform in small groups around the Chicago area, first performing with Cash McCall's group Lyfe, which included her then-boyfriend Hassan Khan.
11.
From 1974 to 1979, Rufus released six platinum-selling albums including Rufusized, Rufus Featuring Chaka Khan, Ask Rufus, Street Player and Masterjam.
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Chaka Khan has been noted for being an instrumentalist playing drums and bass; she provided percussion during her tenure with Rufus.
13.
In 1979, Chaka Khan reunited with Rufus to collaborate on the Jones-produced Masterjam, which featured their hit "Do You Love What You Feel", which Chaka Khan sang with Tony Maiden.
14.
In 1980, while Rufus released Party 'Til You're Broke, again without Chaka Khan, she released her second solo album, Naughty, which featured her on the cover with her six-year-old daughter Milini.
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Also in 1980, Chaka Khan had a cameo appearance as a church choir soloist in The Blues Brothers starring John Belushi and Dan Aykroyd.
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Chaka Khan released two albums in 1981, the Rufus release, Camouflage and the solo album What Cha' Gonna Do for Me.
17.
In 1984, Chaka Khan released her sixth studio album, I Feel for You.
18.
Chaka Khan's version featured a harmonica solo by Stevie Wonder and an introductory rap by Grandmaster Melle Mel.
19.
Chaka Khan was featured in Steve Winwood's 1986 number-one hit, "Higher Love".
20.
Chaka Khan was still credited for the vocal arrangements in the album's liner notes, and the song became an international hit.
21.
Chaka Khan followed up the success of the I Feel For You album with 1986's Destiny and 1988's CK.
22.
Chaka Khan found more success in the late 1980s with a remix album, Life Is a Dance: The Remix Project, which reached the top ten on the British albums chart.
23.
In 1986, Chaka Khan sang alongside Luther Vandross, Cissy Houston and others on David Bowie's single "Underground" from the movie Labyrinth.
24.
Around this time, Chaka Khan did a duet with Peter Cetera on the song "Feels Like Heaven", which was a minor success.
25.
Chaka Khan contributed to soundtracks and worked on a follow-up to The Woman I Am she titled Dare You to Love Me, which was eventually shelved.
26.
In 1998, Chaka Khan signed a contract with Prince's NPG Records label and issued Come 2 My House, followed by the single "Don't Talk 2 Strangers", a cover of a 1996 Prince song.
27.
Chaka Khan later went on a tour with Prince as a co-headlining act.
28.
Chaka Khan covered "Little Wing" with Kenny Olson on the album Power of Soul: A Tribute to Jimi Hendrix.
29.
In 2006, Chaka Khan was a featured vocalist on Arif Mardin's All My Friends Are Here album of his life's work, appearing in the companion documentary The Greatest Ears In Town.
30.
Chaka Khan performed a jazz vocal for "So Blue", composed by Mardin in the '60s with lyrics written for the project by Roxanne Seeman.
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The album was notable for Chaka Khan's covers of Dee Dee Warwick's "Foolish Fool" and Prince's "Sign o' the Times".
32.
In 2008, Chaka Khan participated in the Broadway adaptation of The Color Purple playing Ms.
33.
In 2002, Chaka Khan provided backing vocals for her sister Taka Boom's rendition of "Misti Blu," a collaboration with the British electronic music group amillionsons.
34.
In December 2004, Khan was awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Music from Berklee College of Music during the inauguration of its president, Roger H Brown.
35.
In 2009, Chaka Khan was guest singer on the song "Alive" on jazz drummer Billy Cobham's album Drum ' n voice 3.
36.
Chaka Khan continues to perform to packed audiences both in her native United States and overseas.
37.
On May 19,2011, Chaka Khan was given the 2,440th Hollywood Walk of Fame star plaque on a section of Hollywood Boulevard in Los Angeles.
38.
Chaka Khan's family was present when the singer accepted the honor, as was Stevie Wonder, who had written her breakout hit "Tell Me Something Good".
39.
Recently, Chaka Khan rerecorded her song "Super Life" under the title "Super Life: Fear Kills, Love Heals" with Eric Benet, Kelly Price, and Luke James in tribute to Trayvon Martin, a teenager who was killed on February 26,2012.
40.
On December 6,2012, Chaka Khan performed at a benefit for the Israeli Defense Forces.
41.
Chaka Khan performed at Millennium Park's Pritzker Pavilion on the 28th.
42.
Chaka Khan later went on to promote the single on the Ellen show.
43.
Chaka Khan served as Grand Marshal in the 2019 Pasadena Tournament of Roses Parade on January 1,2019, in Pasadena, California.
44.
In October 2019, Chaka Khan was an honoree at Variety's "Power of Women" luncheon for supporting Little Kids Rock.
45.
In November 2019, Chaka Khan collaborated with Ariana Grande on the song "Nobody" from the soundtrack Charlie's Angels.
46.
Chaka Khan was invited to sing the National Anthem at the 2020 NBA All-Star Game.
47.
Chaka Khan's rendition was heavily criticized on Twitter, drawing comparisons to Fergie's rendition in 2018.
48.
In May 2021, Chaka Khan appeared at the season 19 American Idol finale, where she performed a medley of her hits alongside the contestants.
49.
In June 2021, Chaka Khan joined YouTuber and performer Todrick Hall on his album Femuline for the song "Fabulosity".
50.
In November 2021, Chaka Khan participated in a Verzuz battle with singer Stephanie Mills, at which both singers performed hits from their discography.
51.
In July 2022, Chaka Khan announced her new single "Woman Like Me", which was released on July 29.
52.
Chaka Khan has been married twice and has two children, daughter Indira Milini and son Damien Holland.
53.
Chaka Khan lived in Germany for a while "in a little village in the Rhine Valley" and in Mannheim.
54.
Chaka Khan is vegan, saying she adopted the diet to lose weight and combat high blood pressure and Type-2 diabetes.
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Chaka Khan had an on-and-off struggle with alcoholism until 2005, declaring herself sober.
56.
Chaka Khan was acquitted in the criminal trial and found liable in the civil suit.
57.
Chaka Khan was featured in a 2013 episode of Celebrity Ghost Stories, in which she told the story of a shadow man who followed her on tour for years, until she met a guardian angel who admonished her to change her life or die.
58.
Chaka Khan was inducted as an honorary member of Zeta Phi Beta sorority in November 2020.
59.
Chaka Khan has received 22 Grammy Award nominations, including three as a member of Rufus.