You'd be hard pressed to find a period in the last 50 years when Chaka Khan wasn't the reigning queen of funk. The 10-time GRAMMY winner and 22-time nominee is almost synonymous with the genre through her work as a solo act and with Rufus, which together span six decades of soulful music.
But Khan hates to be put in a box.
"I can sing anything, and I have sung some of everything except for Chinese music," the singer tells GRAMMY.com from her home in Georgia. "But I can do that too if somebody gave me the proper pronunciation."
At this point in her career, Chaka Khan is less interested in revisiting her catalog of R&B classics — though she certainly will, and has, for NPR's Tiny Desk and at recent Hollywood Bowl performances and this summer's Fool In Love festival — and more focused on new sounds, interesting collaborations, and finding new meaning in her lesser-known works. Earlier this year, she featured on two singles from Sia (including the fitting "Immortal Queen") and on amillionsons' "Misti Blu Two"; in June, she curated London's Meltdown Festival, and, shortly, she'll release another fragrance.
That Chaka Khan has the drive and stamina to continue creating should be unsurprising to anyone who has heard the high-range wallop of her voice. Over 22 albums, the singer has given the world indelible earworms and empowering anthems — from the wah-wah goodness of "Tell Me Something Good" with Rufus, to the stake-in-the-ground cry of "I'm Every Woman" and the burning "Ain't Nobody." Along the way, she earned praise from Prince, Miles Davis, Quincy Jones and others; in 2023, she was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall Of Fame.
Adding to her list of bonafides, Khan is a memorist and ordained minister. Her story, told through song, is a ministry to an audience of Chaka-Khangregants.
"Even I don't have all the answers, but if I just give my honest truth, my honest opinion, with love, people can tell if you're lying or flying. They can tell if you're loving," she says. "When I'm singing, I am giving love. That's my pulpit."
Chaka Khan spoke with GRAMMY.com about keeping things fresh, her favorite releases that weren't radio hits, and the superstars she hopes to collaborate with.
I'd love to take it all the way back to Chicago. How did growing up in Chicago influence your musical appetite and interest?
It had a huge effect on me. Chicago has a very rich culture; I met and jammed with, and got to really get an understanding of people from all over the world. Meeting people that I think I ordinarily would not have met in Boise, Idaho.
Were there any artists in particular that you recall meeting or listening to that really lit a fire in your belly?
Well, I grew up listening to what my parents played. My mother loved opera, my dad was a jazz aficionado, and they both loved both things as well. I wouldn't get to hear a lot of Top 10 songs unless we were going to a family gathering or something and there were teenagers there. That's when I got to hear a lot of Aretha Franklin or Gladys Knight and the Pips, people like that.
I took dance — modern, and jazz and ballet — growing up, and my mother was an instructor in that area. They also were great artists; they painted murals on all the walls in the house, and it made us feel like we were in a castle the whole time. We never knew that we didn't have a lot of money. It looked like we were in a castle. It was a very rich experience, my growing up.
[My mom] knew that I loved to sing. She used to love to sing. We'd all sing together in my house on Saturday mornings when we were cleaning up. It was not that novel a thing for us as a family. We're very driven by music.
Is there a song that you put out either with Rufus or as a solo artist that you remember being particularly excited about? One that you felt represented your life growing up?
Peggy Lee covered a song called "Is That All There Is?" I covered that about 10 years ago on one of my jazz-type offerings. I was always honored to be able to sing that, and my dad especially was very proud. He was the proudest of what I was doing when I would sing songs that he introduced to me, and most of that was jazz.
He bore witness to a great many things. When I did my first jazz album, Echoes of an Era, with all those great musicians that I grew up listening to, I didn't really know them like he did. It was his love, and he got to hear me with these great musicians. He often asked me, "Do you know who that is you're with?" I said, "Yeah, I know who it is." [Chuckles.]
Your catalog is so massive and you have so many songs that are now classics, it's a little hard to pick a place to start. Off the top of your mind, do you have a memory that makes you smile? Something that you reflect on from time to time and you're like, Damn, that was a really good song.
When Miles Davis and I became friends and we did some stuff together, that is a high point in my career for real.
He was just the greatest trumpeter that there was for me. I loved him. I loved his playing when I was young, and even more as I grew up listening to him. I did finally meet him, when I moved to New York — I lived there for 20 years — and we became really tight friends. He's one of the couple of men that I truly, truly miss. He and Prince, I miss a great deal.
I can imagine that both of them were each forces of nature.
Yes, they were.
How did you meet Miles Davis?
A girlfriend of mine knew him as a friend, so at a barbecue in his backyard on the Upper West Side. She brought me along and he was as stoked to see me as I was to see him. It was really beautiful. He played on some stuff on CK.
Prince and I did some songs together, things together too. I don't remember exactly what the titles were, but I know that he did one CD with me when Arif Mardin was my producer. We asked him to please come on and play on a couple of numbers, and he wanted to play on every number. It got to be so deep that I said, "Arif, look, just let him play on everything." And so we let him play on everything. We ended up using more stuff than we had anticipated.
He really enjoyed himself doing that, and I really enjoyed having him work with me as well. It was one of the biggest things that could ever happen to me. He definitely put something unique on everything he touched. The fact that he chose to sprinkle some of the magic with me just validated my whole existence in a way. It really did.
Read more: Watch Chaka Khan Win A GRAMMY in 1985 For "I Feel For You" | GRAMMY Rewind
I can't even imagine what a sign-off that would be. But to get back to your early work: When you were recording classics with Rufus like "Tell Me Something Good," did you know that they would be so lasting? What was the vibe like when you were putting them together?
I don't think I would've had anything to do with that one, but whoever the producer was always knew what was going to be a hit or what wasn't. I sang quite a few songs that I didn't really like that much, but when they said, "Oh you got to sing, this is going to be a hit," I did them. Even though I didn't care for some of the stuff as much as they did, I saw something in it worth giving it a go. Anyway, that happens in this business. Not so much anymore.
You feel like there's more autonomy today?
Absolutely. You don't even have to go into a studio to record an album anymore, so you don't need all those hangers-on, producers.
Do you feel like today at this stage in your career, you have more freedom to do what you want, and more authentic output?
Absolutely. I made it so. I've just insisted upon a lot of things in my career, what songs I will sing and what songs I absolutely will not sing. I'm not with a label anymore that tells me, "You have to put this on the album. It's going to really be a big hit." I don't hear that crap anymore. I sing what I love to sing; that's what makes it magic.
Yeah, no doubt. I've interviewed a lot of stars and legends who have sung the same songs for 50 years, 60 years. Some people love to sing these songs forever, some people are tired of it. Where do you fall on that spectrum? I imagine it might be different for different projects.
A little further back in the day when I was a little more vocal about it on stage, I used to say, "If you want to hear so-and-so, go home and put on the CD please." I actually said that. And I'm sure I made a lot of people pissed off. Some people do understand, but most don't. They don't get it. That 50 years of repetition, it's like working at the post office, so it's stamping all day long.
With that in mind, how do you keep things feeling fresh for yourself? How do you stay inspired, both when it comes to performing your legendary catalog and creating new music?
Well, I just really try as hard as I possibly can, and I do, and I put in songs that I love to sing. I've just actually begun doing that. Not too long ago, just saying, I'm just not going to sing certain songs that do not bring me joy. And it seems to be working.
Well, you have a lot to choose from! You recently performed "I'm Every Woman" with Sheila E at the American Music Awards 50th Anniversary Special and the single was certified gold in 2024. I'm curious if the meaning and the feeling of performing that song has changed or evolved for you at all over 45 years.
Well, that song has a lot of meaningful stuff, and I do celebrate women, and so the meaningfulness of that song is awesome. What the song is about and the fact that I get all the women to sing that, they sing along with me, it gives this song its magic and it keeps it rather fresh.
What was it like performing with Sheila E? Have you performed with her before? Are you friendly?
Yeah. We tried to work on a project together years ago. We never did finish. [Chuckles.] She's really a beautiful person.
You are a 10-time GRAMMY winner and 22-time nominee. Do any of those accolades mean anything special to you? Was there any award that you recall winning that was particularly meaningful?
I'm sorry, I can't say that there actually was. I had not too long ago just looked at what the GRAMMYs were for, and they were all about R&B.
And did you feel that that was limiting to your artistry?
Yes. I can sing anything, and I have sung some of everything except for Chinese music, but I can do that too if somebody gave me the proper pronunciation. I've sung almost every kind of song. If I'm going to get credit for something, I'd like to get credit for something unique and something that's not done by everyone.
What have you yet to do that you want to do? I hear you're working on new music…
I am! I've sung every kind of music that there is. I've sung country music with Rufus, and I've sung country music almost up until recently. It just was no big deal to me until it became such a big deal that Black people were singing country music. It's ridiculous. [Laughs.] I was a bit miffed about that, that there was not a recognition there for that. That would've been nice, especially with the climate as it is. There's so many artists that have done country music.
I just hate being boxed in one category.
So is your new music going to have country on it, and other genres?
Well, right now, Sia and I are doing work together, and what a genius that girl is. My god. I just couldn't understand how she was singing my heart with her vocals. She just knows me in a way, and I said, "Why do you know so much about my innards?" She said, "Well, I grew up listening to you. You were my titty milk."
And it became clear: You can get to really know a person, or certain aspects about a person, if you've listened to them enough. I feel that way about Billie Holiday. I know her in an intimate way and have an understanding of where she was at and why she felt the way she did and what happened with her life. I understand, too, because I've been where she is.
The songs you heard are the ones that are on her CD. Now my stuff that we're still working on and it's soon to be out. Real soon, we have a single coming out.
I got to say, I wouldn't have necessarily thought to put you all together, but I love to hear a cool collaboration. Who would you love to collaborate with in the future?
Justin Timberlake; I think we'd do a fine duet. [And] Bruno Mars. I'm looking forward to doing a duet now with a guy where he and I could make real, true magic together.
At my new upcoming shows, I'm going to incorporate younger people. Like Hiatus Kaiyote — [singer/guitarist Nai Palm] is playing a Flying V, singing her ass off, and two or three other guys, one on keyboard, one on bass and the other on drums…. If you just listen to her music, that's all you really need to know. She's an amazing artist.
Back to your own work, are there any songs, albums or collabs that you are really proud of and you don't get to speak about much?
When I did "Be Bop Medley" [on 1982's Chaka Khan with] Dizzy Gillespie, Chick Corea. I did an album of Chick Corea. People don't know this stuff.
And the classic stuff I did with Jeremy Lubbock. There's one song called "How Many Lives To Go" that I just became able to sing. The words are so intense and honest, I cried during rehearsals; I couldn't get through it. And rarely do I come across something that powerful. [It's on Lubbock's 2006 album] Awakening.
Please listen to the words. It was the first time I ever sang without a drummer or a click track. It was freestyle. I just followed his baton with the whole orchestra in this old church in England. It was just magically musical. It was probably one of the most amazing things that I've accomplished.
[Singing the song for the first time] was unique, difficult and beautiful. It was so real that I could hardly say the words. [Lubbock] was a genius. Right now, that song, this world, this universe needs to hear. It says, "When darkness falls and only madness reigns/ Will no one hear the voice that cries in vain?/ How many lives to go before it's over?" There's another line that says, "No light, no hope, nothing but dark despair/ and empty words are not enough to wear." It's just singing a prayer so love will show the heart of man which way to go.
We are certainly in very fraught times, and I think that music — it sounds so cheesy, but music is an enormous unifier and can kind of cross lines in a positive way, right?
Yes. The problem is there are people who will profit and who will make sure certain messages are not being heard by the masses. I'm going to have to do it. I finally got it down, I can now sing it on stage without crying.
When you hear it on the record, on the CD, you'll hear it. You'll hear the pain. And when I get on stage, I'm looking forward to singing it. I truly, truly, truly am. I sang it at the Hollywood Bowl.
I read in the L.A. Times that your recent musical output is more introspective, and some of it's about having more confidence to go for your dreams and for your goals. I'd love to know a little bit more about what has led you to this particular point and if there's a song that reflects that feeling.
Well, I'm growing up. Every day, more and more I'm growing up and I'm becoming stronger and give less of an F about a lot of things.
But I care more about stuff than I don't. And I have to do this. I have to get this off of me. There's a message I'm communicating. [Sia and I] also have some pretty amazing messages in the song that we're doing. They're not tearjerkers, they're different types of songs, but they are just as beautiful. And the words, they're very telling and honest and just clever.
Your voice has such radiant power. Is there anything specific that you do to maintain your voice? How do you take care of yourself?
Sleep and more sleep. As much sleep as is humanly possible. [I also like to do] as much of nothing as possible. I have two wonderful dogs who keep me plenty busy as well, but the good kind of busy. I do some fishing in my lake.