Wed 3/29
Chaka Khan’s career began in 1973 when she was just 20 and a member of the funk/R&B band Rufus who had a top ten hit in 1974 with “Tell Me Something Good,” and six platinum albums. By the end of the decade, she was launching a successful solo career with a huge disco hit, “I’m Every Woman.” She had more top ten R&B hits with “I Feel for You,” “What Cha’ Gonna Do For Me,” and “Got to Be There,” and sang on Stevie Wonder’s 1986 #1 hit “Higher Love.” She’s won 10 Grammys and the intersection of 51st Street and Blackstone Avenue in Chicago’s Hyde Park neighborhood, two blocks from where I lived when I was born, is named “Chaka Khan Way” in her honor.
She’s also been nominated for induction into the Rock Hall three times, four of you count nominations with Rufus.
She’s never make the cut, but the Rock Hall is honoring her anyway, with a new exhibit opening on Wednesday March 29, just a week after her 70th birthday. The exhibit will include such artifacts as Khan’s own artwork, a gown she wore to the 1985 Grammy Awards, and an outfit she wore in the video for “I Feel for You. The Rock Hall shop will expand its selection of Chaka Khan records and other merchandise.