Chaka Khan, born Yvette Marie Stevens in 1953, is an American singer, songwriter, and musician known for her powerful voice and dynamic stage presence. Rising to fame as the lead vocalist of the funk band Rufus in the 1970s, Khan achieved success with hits like “Tell Me Something Good” and “Ain’t Nobody.” In the 1980s, she embarked on a successful solo career, releasing chart-topping singles such as “I Feel for You” and “Through the Fire.” Khan’s versatile voice spans multiple genres, including funk, R&B, soul, jazz, and dance music, earning her critical acclaim and multiple Grammy Awards. Throughout her career, she has remained a prominent figure in the music industry, admired for her timeless hits, electrifying performances, and lasting influence on subsequent generations of artists.

Chaka Khan Quotes

1. “You’ve just got to follow your own path. You have to trust your heart and you have to listen to the warnings.”
— Chaka Khan

2. “I’m an extremely determined person. I’m very serious about what I do.”
— Chaka Khan

3. “My philosophy is familiarity breeds contempt.”
— Chaka Khan

4. “It’s time for those of us who have a voice to speak out for life, for love and for justice using the same media we’ve used throughout our careers.”
— Chaka Khan

5. “I control my life and I have never let success run away with me – I’ve taken it and ran. And the only thing that could threaten my stability is me – I’m my only threat and my own worst enemy. Beyond that, I don’t feel successful. I’m nowhere near where I plan to be as far as my goals.”
— Chaka Khan

6. “The bickering and fighting and hating that women do with each other – it’s going to kill us as a race of people.”
— Chaka Khan

7. “If I wanted to fight to make a better world racially, I wouldn’t be in the music business. You dig, if I were going to be a freedom fighter music is the wrong field.”
— Chaka Khan

8. “There is no perfect love – that’s something I’m very realistic about.”
— Chaka Khan

9. “Every personal experience of my life impacts my music.”
— Chaka Khan

10. “I love to sing. It’s the easiest thing for me to do.”
— Chaka Khan

11. “If I love a song, I make it mine.”
— Chaka Khan

12. “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.”
— Chaka Khan

13. “I want to give some positive messages and to empower some people.”
— Chaka Khan

14. “Painted faces, sun burnt skin, fixed expressions, smiles worn thin.”
— Chaka Khan

15. “I’d been in a vicious cycle and circle of people and couldn’t see my way out. So I picked myself up one day about 15 years ago and moved where I didn’t know anyone.”
— Chaka Khan

16. “I’ve been collaborating with Ira Schickman on some songs, and there will be many other, great musicians involved.”
— Chaka Khan

17. “As you get older, though, you realize there are fire extinguishers. You do have an ability to control the flames.”
— Chaka Khan

18. “It sacrifices people’s lives and their essences at the drop of a dimeI had a manager once say to me, You know you’re worth more money dead than alive.”
— Chaka Khan

19. “Walking through this life really is walking through fire.”
— Chaka Khan

20. “Every personal experience of my life impacts my music. I can only give what I have. And when I receive, I give it back. I often fix it or color it differently or give it in my way, but thats what its about.”
— Chaka Khan

21. “Spirituality has played an amazing part. Its been paramount in my life.”
— Chaka Khan

22. “When I was in my twenties, it felt like I was riding wild horses, and I was hoping I didnt go over a cliff.”
— Chaka Khan

23. “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.”
— Chaka Khan

24. “But really, we also need to learn how to love one another as women. How to appreciate and respect each other.”
— Chaka Khan

25. “I like to work spontaneously.”
— Chaka Khan

26. “One of the album’s songs features Mary J. Blige, but I don’t want to talk too much about it yet. I think you will hear the music that’s been playing in my head when it comes out.”
— Chaka Khan

27. “My mother was into opera and my father was into jazz, so there was a lot of jazz in the house where I grew up.”
— Chaka Khan

28. “If we could just see how related we all are, how we’re really all in the same place.”
— Chaka Khan

29. “But me and my sister knew all the Doris Day and Frank Sinatra songs, too.”
— Chaka Khan

30. “I’d like to work on putting art programs back in schools.”
— Chaka Khan

31. “Well. I’m probably not loving myself like I should, but I’m really trying.”
— Chaka Khan

32. “I’ve always struggled so much just to appreciate myself.”
— Chaka Khan

33. “If I pop everyone who calls me a diva then I’m going to spend the rest of my life in prison.”
— Chaka Khan

34. “I won’t become a household word, or achieve the fame I deserve in my lifetime because of the way I look.”
— Chaka Khan

35. “I can only give what I have. And when I receive, I give it back.”
— Chaka Khan

36. “In my thirties, I felt I had hold of one of the reins some of the time.”
— Chaka Khan

37. “There are a lot of people I would have liked to have collaborated with, and would still like to.”
— Chaka Khan

38. “My mom took me to see Goldfinger. My mom took me to see To Sir, With Love.”
— Chaka Khan

39. “I have a lot of charity work I’m into right now, and selling my Chakalates – supporting that whole effort.”
— Chaka Khan

40. “I mean, I’m not unhappy, but there’s still so much I want to do.”
— Chaka Khan

41. “Being a singer is a way for me to get to a platform to do more.”
— Chaka Khan