Ten-time grammy-award winning singer-songwriter-activist Chaka Khan has returned to Chicago for a celebratory weekend. A section of Blackstone Avenue, near Hyde Park Boulevard, has a new honorary name: “Chaka Khan Way,” and the sign was unveiled Saturday. Khan is overjoyed with the new sign on and expressed her thanks by giving a free concert in Chicago's Millennium Park on Sunday, the first of a yearly event.
Meanwhile the diva has joined Stevie Wonder, who penned her first hit, “Tell Me Something Good,” which she performed as the front woman for the Rufus band, and other like-minded artists in boycotting Florida's “Stand Your Ground” laws, by canceling a Miami concert.
The legendary Khan, along with dozens of celebrities, recorded a tribute song for the late Trayvon Martin, the unarmed teenager, killed by George Zimmerman, who was later acquitted. The song, "Super Life: Fear Kills, Love Heals," served as a PSA, informing the public of the shooting and encouraging a positive, life-changing response.
Per a UPI report, Khan said, "I can't believe my name is hanging there under Blackstone [Avenue]. She added the free concert is “a way of saying thank you for the city naming a street after me," although she says she doesn't feel like she deserves it.
Her birth name was Yvette Marie Stevens, and she changed it to Chaka, which according to Khan, has the connotation of “fire, war, and the color red,” when she was a combat-boot wearing activist. Her then husband's last name was “Khan,” hence Chaka Khan.
She attended Kenwood Academy, not far from the honorary street, and her mother worked as a research analyst at The University of Chicago. Unlike many other African American female singers, Khan did not hone her singing skills in the "black" church, as she was Roman Catholic, but attributes her love of music to her grandmother who introduced her to jazz.
In reference to the violence in Chicago and the debate over guns, she reportedly told the Chicago Sun-Times, violence in the city, “has been going on forever,” but didn't comment on the increase in recent years.
“Queen of Funk” is one of the titles given to Khan who refers to her style of singing as “whaling;” early in her career, she was also known as “Little Aretha,” and is a favorite of Aretha Franklin. Khan has often given command performances at the “Queen of Soul's” private parties.
Although dubbed the “Queen of Funk," Khan is a highly versatile singer who also sings gospel; soul; pop; rhythm and blues; and jazz, delivering songs with emotion and a voice that spans a three and a half octave range.
She is well known for a Prince cover “I Feel for You,” which, as a consummate song stylist, she made her own. Other familiar tunes are “Will You Love Me?;” “A Night in Tunisia;” “Ain't Nobody;” and “Sweet Thing.”
Chaka Khan celebrated her 60th birthday this year as well as 40 years in the music business. She has survived drug abuse, still has a strong voice, and for many years has helped women and children through the Chaka Khan Foundation. The Foundation now has a partnership with Dress for Success, a Chicago organization that assists low-income women who are returning to the work force.
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