Who is Chaka Khan? Exploring the Queen of Funks’ life and career as she ends feud with Kanye West – PINKVILLA
Chaka Khan reportedly had second thoughts about Kanye West’s usage of her iconic song Through the Fire, which the rapper sampled years ago for his breakthrough hit Through the Wire. Since then, the R&B singer has maintained that she never heard from him regarding his plans to use the song for his tune.
Her son persuaded her to consent to the clearance of the sample. However, she acknowledged in a recent interview that she no longer holds a grudge at West and that she now realizes that sampling music for other purposes is just a common practice in hip-hop culture that she was unaware of. Khan is one of the biggest and most popular R&B singers of the last few decades. In this article, we take a closer look at her life and career!
Chaka Khan’s life and music career
Early life
On March 23, 1953, in Chicago, Illinois, Yvette Marie Stevens aka Chaka Khan was born into a creative, free-spirited family. Khan grew up in a Catholic home. She went to Saint Thomas the Apostle Church’s Hyde Park elementary school. She credited her grandmother, who exposed her to jazz when she was a young girl, for inspiring her love of music. As a preteen, Khan developed an interest in rhythm and blues music.
At the age of eleven, she founded the Crystalettes, a girl group that featured her sister Taka. She has stated that her name, Chaka Adunne Aduffe Hodarhi Karifi, was given to her by a Yoruba Babalawo when she was 13 years old, despite the popular belief that she received the moniker while playing for the Panthers. She attended Calumet High School and Kenwood High School before quitting the Panthers and dropping out of high school in 1969.
She started out performing in local Chicago small groups, initially with Cash McCall’s Lyfe ensemble, which featured her then-boyfriend Hassan Khan. In 1970, Chaka and Hassan tied the knot. Following Baby Huey’s passing in 1970, Khan was requested to take over Baby Huey & the Babysitters.
A year later, the group broke up. In 1972, while playing in neighborhood bands, Khan caught the attention of two musicians from a brand-new group named Rufus. She quickly gained a berth in the group, taking Paulette McWilliams’ place—a close friend who had just quit—her place. Ike Turner, a musician, took notice of the trio and arranged for them to fly to Los Angeles to record at his studio, Bolic Sound, located in Inglewood, California.
Beginning of Solo career to massive success
Singers-songwriters Ashford & Simpson wrote the crossover disco smash I’m Every Woman for Khan, who released her solo first album on Warner Bros. Records in 1978. With over a million copies sold, the album became platinum thanks to the single’s success. Khan released her new single Woman Like Me on July 29, 2022. Khan was placed 29th in Rolling Stone’s list of the 200 Greatest Singers of All Time in 2023.
Awards and accolades
Music icon Chaka Khan (born Yvette Marie Stevens) was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in January 2023. She has won a staggering 10 Grammy Awards between 1975 and 2008, out of 22 nominations, making this accomplishment part of a historic career. She was bestowed with the Lena Horne Career Achievement Award in 1998 during the Soul Train Awards, and she was awarded the Legends Career Achievement Award in 2009, which was an equivalent accolade.
