Chaka Khan Tickets

Chicago-born Yvette Marie Stevens grew up in South Side housing projects surrounded by music. Her grandmother introduced her to jazz at an early age and a young Stevens formed her first all-girl singing group, The Crystalettes, at the age of 11. Joining the Black Panthers in the late 60s and changing her name to Chaka Karifi, brief stints in various bands (and a short marriage to singer Hassan Khan) followed, before Chaka Khan joined Kevin Murphy and André Fischer in fledgling funk group Rufus in 1973.  

For the next decade, Khan helped Rufus become one of the most successful funk groups of the 70s – boasting six gold and platinum albums and three top 10 pop hits including the Grammy-winning Tell Me Something Good, written by Stevie Wonder. 

Even when Rufus were at their peak, it was clear that Khan was too bright to share the spotlight. Side projects and guest spots slowly started to eclipse the band, and in 1978 Khan’s first solo album, Chaka, opened with one of the biggest R&B chart toppers of her career in I’m Every Woman. The disco anthem was later covered by Whitney Houston, but Khan first hired the (then unknown) singer to back her on her second solo album, Naughty, released in 1980. 

The singer continued to perform with Rufus throughout this period, but the band officially split in 1983 after an unstoppable run of solo records (Camouflage, What Cha’ Gonna Do For Me, Chaka Khan and the straight-up jazz LP, Echoes Of An Era) turned Khan into a global superstar and earned her an armful of Grammys.

By the end of the 80s, Khan was on top of the world. Her electro-funk cover of Prince’s I Feel For You in 1983 had scored her the biggest hit single of her career to date, and another run of chart-topping albums (I Feel For You, Destiny and CK) carried her through the decade on a wave of sell-out shows, platinum records and multiple award wins.

The 1992 release of The Woman I Am saw Khan struggling with her bosses at Warner Bros, and a shelved follow-up saw the singer parting ways to sign with Prince’s indie NPG label for the underrated collaborative album Come 2 My House. A few years spent working on an autobiography followed, as did a stellar second jazz record (ClassiKhan) before the pace slowed enough for critics to call her 2007 LP “a comeback album”. Funk This earned Khan her 10th Grammy win, and her duet with Mary J. Blige on lead single Disrespectful went straight to No.1 on the US dance charts. 

Khan’s superstar legacy was sealed in 2011 when she was inaugurated into the Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame with former band Rufus, right before the city of Chicago named a school and a celebration day after her. After a long hiatus, Khan’s 12th studio album was released in 2019, with Hello Happiness featuring collaborations with Major Lazer’s Switch and the new funk classic, Like Sugar. In 2023, Khan was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame again, this time as an individual in the Musical Excellence category.