Chaka Khan
Chaka Khan
Yvette Marie Stevens, better known by her stage name Chaka Khan, is an American singer whose career has spanned four decades, beginning in the 1970s as the frontwoman and focal point of the funk band Rufus. Widely known as the Queen of Funk, Khan has won ten Grammys and has sold an estimated 70 million records worldwide. Khan was ranked at number 17 in VH1's original list of the 100 Greatest Women of Rock & Roll. In 2015, she was...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionR&B Singer
Date of Birth23 March 1953
CityNaval Station, IL
CountryUnited States of America
Well. I'm probably not loving myself like I should, but I'm really trying.
In my thirties, I felt I had hold of one of the reins some of the time.
My mom took me to see Goldfinger. My mom took me to see To Sir, With Love.
I've been collaborating with Ira Schickman on some songs, and there will be many other, great musicians involved.
I have a lot of charity work I'm into right now, and selling my Chakalates - supporting that whole effort.
Your moment of clarity comes when you face your fears. Sobriety gave me back me - my life. Self-medication kills you slowly. You can never get a handle on that. It's a highly destructive force that has to be dealt with on a spiritual level as much as a physical one.
I like to work spontaneously.
My philosophy is familiarity breeds contempt.
I can only give what I have. And when I receive, I give it back.
I have some scars... lots of internal ones. But they're all scabbed over.
America breeds ambition and while that can be a good thing, sometimes it's not. Ambition also breeds competition and that can be a very bad thing. People become chronically preoccupied with competing and don't know when to stop. It can become unhealthy.
I'm an extremely determined person. I'm very serious about what I do.
Every personal experience of my life impacts my music.
I was born and raised in the University of Chicago area and had an uneventful middle-class Catholic childhood. I had a heavy Catholic upbringing and Catholicism is terrible - it's the reason there were slaves. Mass every morning at seven o'clock during Lent. It's a totally negative, man-made religion.