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Chaka Khan

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Best known for Soul/Funk tracks like

Tell Me Something Good and Sweet Thing as lead singer of the band Rufus. She later had solo success in the 80s, like with her 1984 cover of Prince’s I Feel for You R&B singer Chaka Khan enjoyed solo success as well as popularity as a member of the group Rufus.

Born Yvette Marie Stevens in Great Lakes, IL, on March 23, 1953, she was raised on Chicago’s South Side and at the age of 11 formed her first group - The Crystalettes. While still in high school, she joined the Afro-Arts Theater, a group which toured with Motown great Mary Wells; a few years later, she adopted the African name Chaka Khan while working on the Black Panthers’ breakfast program. After quitting high school in 1969, Khan joined the group Lyfe, soon exiting to join another dance band, the Babysitters; neither was on the fast track to success, but her fortunes changed when she teamed with Kevin Murphy (formerly of The American Breed) and André Fisher to form Rufus.

Debuting in 1973 with a self-titled effort on the ABC label, Rufus was among the pre-eminent funk groups of the decade; distinguished by Khan’s dynamic vocals, the group earned half a dozen gold or platinum albums before she went solo in 1978. Produced by Arif Mardin, Chaka proved to be a significant hit on the strength of the single “I’m Every Woman” (a hit over a decade later for Whitney Houston); however, Khan’s success was somewhat tempered by her public rivalry with the remaining members of Rufus, to whom she was still contractually bound for two more LPs.

Tagged as:

soul, funk, female vocalists, 80s, rnb
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Epiphany: The Best of Chaka Khan
Chaka Khan
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Funk This
Chaka Khan
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Dance Classics Of Chaka Khan
Chaka Khan
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I Feel For You
Chaka Khan
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Top Tracks

1	I Feel for You full track	1,274
2	Ain't Nobody full track	955
3	I'm Every Woman full track	915
4	Through the Fire full track	398
5	What Cha' Gonna Do For Me	236
6	Fate	214
7	Angel full track	165
8	Papillon (aka Hot Butterfly)	125
9	Sweet Thing full track	114
10	Love Me Still full track	113
11	One For All Time full track	105
12	Back In The Day full track	101
13	Foolish Fool full track	92
14	Castles Made Of Sand full track	91
15	Lullaby Of Birdland full track	88

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corazonmani wrote:
yesterday evening

all that and more!

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earlyou wrote:
October 2009

QUEEN !

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factorylashes wrote:
October 2009

Just bought this brilliant album '12" Dance- The Definitive Collection' and I don't buy albums anymore! http://hmv.com/hmvweb/displayProductDetails.do?ctx=-1;1;-1;-1;202&sku=249769 Thought you guys might appreciate it ('I'm Every Woman' is on CD2) and rattles through many of the greatest 12" Dance singles of our time. Ah the memories!

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amiracle87 wrote:
October 2009

Through the Fire has been playing in my head for the past 2 days...

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Leonstan wrote:
September 2009

What a voice !!!!

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Madukwu wrote:
August 2009

Love of my life;)

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ashame wrote:
August 2009

Still sexy.

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Sal-El wrote:
August 2009

YO Chaka Khan! IS BOMB! AIN'T NOBODY!

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daviesr7 wrote:
July 2009

I love this cover of Joni Mitchell's Hejira. Wonder why it wasn't officially released? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EYF6T6bfCw4

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musiclikeabomb wrote:
July 2009

Through the Fire <333

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BluesRok wrote:
July 2009

Like movies? Please check out The Movie Group, where the Discussions are a feast of fun!

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SR4N0K wrote:
June 2009

CHAKA KHAN-KHAN!

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SR4N0K wrote:
June 2009

chaka khan

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katakomba555 wrote:
May 2009

www.jackyjazz.blogspot.com free dvd,rar download grate....

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LaMusicLovr wrote:
May 2009

Chaka is indeed fire! Hot, hot, hot -- much love!

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aykutalp wrote:
May 2009

"Chaka" is a Turkish name and "Khan" is a Turkic title. I guess it is related to Turkish producers of Atlantic Records.

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trueiopian wrote:
May 2009

I LOVE HER!!!!! <333333333333333333 x2

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Rodrigochaka wrote:
March 2009

Olá querida Chaka kan, sou do Brasil e gostaria de dizer que sou louco pelo seu trabalho, muitos beijos e continue assim linda...

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edwom wrote:
March 2009

yes...and thank you, CHAKA !!!

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vyntage1 wrote:
February 2009

Besides Aretha Franklin or Diana Ross, Chaka Khan opened the airwaves for the 'Belting Ballad' vocalists. And yes, some of her best stuff is from the Rufus featuring C.Khan days. Although the 'I'm Every Woman' release blasted her off like she should be featured. Free to collaborate with any and everyone. And that, she did. Thanks to Arif Mardin, her key producer, who died a little recently, she gave us a big wave of 'monster hits'; 'Clouds', 'Everlasting Love', 'Stop on By'(a Bobby Womack remake),'Through The Fire', 'Ain't Nobody', and many more. Including her collaboration with Prince. My favorite is 'Ask Rufus'. Just hunt em' down and own em'. Anything with Chaka's voice on it, I want it. Nuff'' said.

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Videos

Events

Dec 8 Here Come The Girls: Lulu, Chaka Khan, Anastacia Royal Concert Hall, Nottingham, United Kingdom
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Dec 10 Here Come The Girls Glasgow Royal Concert Hall, Glasgow, United Kingdom
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Dec 12 Here Come The Girls: Lulu, Chaka Khan, Anastacia Bournemouth Int'nl Centre, Bournemouth, United Kingdom
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Recent Activity

COCOA4FIFTH, svonrobinson32, pardylikah and 3 other people added Chaka Khan to their libraries. 3 hours ago
newsub tagged Chaka Khan with 80s, funk and soul. Thursday afternoon
newsub, jamesjuszczyk, lastingmelody and 22 other people added Chaka Khan to their libraries. Thursday afternoon
Yazi69 tagged Chaka Khan with ‘female vocalists’. Monday evening
Yazi69, skfletcher, Dlv5551981 and 31 other people added Chaka Khan to their libraries. Monday evening
Hewlett123 tagged Chaka Khan with ‘seligalex’. Saturday evening
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scullygirl tagged Chaka Khan with pop and 80s. last week
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npaulsen created the wiki page for Echoes of An Era. October 2009