File:Chaka_Khan_(cropped).jpg · Wikimedia Commons · See Wikimedia Commons
OverviewAI-generated
Chaka Khan is an American singer, singer-songwriter, composer, and jazz musician. Born Yvette Marie Stevens Khan in Chicago in 1953, she is a contralto who speaks English. Her musical career began in 1973, and she has worked within the genres of pop music, soul, rhythm and blues, and jazz. She is also associated with contemporary R&B and disco.
Khan has been a member of the groups Rufus and the Black Panther Party, and she is affiliated with the Democratic Party. She was educated at Berklee College of Music and has recorded for ABC Records. Her lifestyle includes veganism.
She has received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. These honors are recognized in their respective collections.
Synthesized by Vinony from 34 facts across 5 sources: Wikidata, MusicBrainz, Last.fm, TMDb, Vinony collections. Generated from structured data (not the Wikipedia text) and checked against those facts — may still contain errors.
Film & TV
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
Discography
- Chaka1978
- I’m Every Woman1978
- Life Is a Dance1978
- Clouds1980
- Get Ready, Get Set1980
- Naughty1980
- Papillon (aka Hot Butterfly)1980
- I Know You, I Live You1981
- We Can Work It Out1981
- What Cha’ Gonna Do for Me1981
via MusicBrainz · CC0
Listeners · Last.fm
- Listeners
- 1,309,427
- Total plays
- 12,852,308
Tags
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
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
Wikidata facts
- Instance of
- human
- Given name
- Marie
- Family name
- Khan
- Gender
- female
- Citizenship
- United States
- Place of birth
- Chicago
- Occupation
- recording artist
- Political party
- Democratic Party (United States)
- Languages spoken
- English language
- Field of work
- music composing
- Genre
- jazz
- Instrument
- voice
- Record label
- ABC Records
- Discography
- Chaka Khan discography
- Official website
- chakakhan.com
- Image
- Chaka Kahn during inaugural activities on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. on January 20, 1997.jpg
- Voice type
- contralto
Show 9 more facts
- Commons category
- Chaka Khan
- date of birth
- 1953-03-23
- member of
- Rufus
- start of work period
- 1973-00-00
- name in native language
- Chaka Khan
- social media followers
- 502000
- lifestyle
- veganism
- ethnic group
- African Americans
- birth name
- Yvette Marie Stevens
Sources (7)
via Wikidata · CC0
~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.