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Chaka Khan

File:Chaka_Khan_(cropped).jpg · Wikimedia Commons · See Wikimedia Commons

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Chaka Khan

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Also known as Rufus & Chaka Khan

American singer (born 1953)

Person · Open Library

Works
3

Top works

  • C K
  • I feel for you
  • Life is a dance

via Open Library + Wikidata

Film & TV

Acting · Chicago, Illinois, USA

Yvette Marie Stevens (born March 23, 1953), better known by her stage name Chaka Khan (/ˈʃɑːkə ˈkɑːn/ SHAH-kə KAHN), is an American singer and songwriter. Known as the "Queen of Funk", her career has spanned more than five decades beginning in the early 1970s as the lead vocalist of the funk band Rufus. With the band she recorded the notable hits "Tell Me Something Good," "Sweet Thing," "Do You…

Known for

  • Hodgepodge — Self (archive footage)2025
  • SLY LIVES! (aka The Burden of Black Genius) — Self2025
  • Hollywood Squares — Self2025
  • Mr. Nelson on the North Side — Self2024
  • Prince and His Songs at the BBC — Self (archive footage)2024
  • LOUDER: The Soundtrack of Change — Self2024
  • American Music Awards 50th Anniversary Special — Self2024
  • Chaka Khan at the BBC — Self2023
  • The Jennifer Hudson Show — Self2022
  • Women Who Rock — Self2022

via TMDB

Music · MusicBrainz

Type
Person
Gender
Female
Origin
United States
Active from
1953
1970s1980s2008 universal fire victimcontemporary r&bdiscofunk

via MusicBrainz · CC0

Listeners · Last.fm

Listeners
1,309,427
Total plays
12,852,308

Tags

soulfunkfemale vocalists80srnb

Yvette Marie Stevens (born March 23, 1953), known professionally as Chaka Khan, is an American singer and songwriter. She began her career in the early 1970s as the lead vocalist of the funk band Rufus. With Rufus, she recorded the singles "Tell Me Something Good", "Sweet Thing", "Do You Love What You Feel", and "Ain't Nobody". Her debut solo album included the number-one R&B single "I'm Every Woman". She also achieved success on the R&B charts with "What Cha' Gonna Do for Me" and her 1984 cover

via Last.fm · Chaka Khan

Key facts

Also known as
Chaka Adunne Aduffe Yemoja Hodarhi Karifi Khan
Born
Yvette Marie Stevens , ( 1953-03-23 ) March 23, 1953 (age 73) , Chicago, Illinois , U.S.
Genres
R&B funk pop disco
Occupations
Singer songwriter
Works
Chaka Khan discography
Years active
1970–present
Labels
ABC Warner Bros. Reprise MCA NPG Burgundy
Formerly of
Rufus
Website
chakakhan .com

via Wikipedia infobox

~26 min read

Encyclopedic overview

Yvette Marie Stevens (born March 23, 1953), better known by her stage name Chaka Khan (/ˈʃɑːkə ˈkɑːn/ SHAH-kə KAHN), is an American singer and songwriter. Known as the "Queen of Funk", her career has spanned more than five decades beginning in the early 1970s as the lead vocalist of the funk band Rufus. With the band she recorded the hits "Tell Me Something Good", "Sweet Thing", "Do You Love What You Feel", and the platinum-certified "Ain't Nobody". Her debut solo album featured the number-one R&B hit "I'm Every Woman" (which became a pop hit for Whitney Houston). Khan scored another R&B charts hit with "What Cha' Gonna Do for Me" before becoming the first R&B artist to have a crossover hit featuring a rapper, with her 1984 cover of Prince's "I Feel for You". More of Khan's hits include "Through the Fire" and a 1986 collaboration with Steve Winwood that produced a number-one hit on the Billboard Hot 100, "Higher Love".

Khan has won eleven Grammy Awards, including the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award. With Rufus, she achieved three gold singles, one platinum single, four gold albums, and two platinum albums. In the course of her solo career, Khan achieved three gold singles, three gold albums, and one platinum album with I Feel for You. She has also worked with Whitney Houston, Ry Cooder, Robert Palmer, Ray Charles, Quincy Jones, Miles Davis, Chick Corea, Guru, Chicago, Joni Mitchell, Gladys Knight, De La Soul, Mary J. Blige, Ariana Grande, and Sia. In December 2016, Billboard magazine ranked her as the 65th most successful dance club artist of all time. She was ranked at No. 17 in VH1's original list of the 100 Greatest Women of Rock & Roll. Khan has been nominated for induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame three times as a solo artist and four times as a member of Rufus featuring Chaka Khan, the first time in 2012 as a member of Rufus. In 2023, Khan was picked as an inductee in the Musical Excellence category.

Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Chaka Khan” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.

Gallery (6)