In short
Shaka Khan discusses her life and career, framing music as a “calling,” her self-belief and honesty, stage fear and how she manages it, funk as a spirit, and how music heals. She also reflects on collaborations and relationships with major artists, including Stevie Wonder and Prince, and explains why she canceled a tour after Prince’s death and chose well-being.
Guest backgrounds
Shaka Khan (born Yvette Marie Stevens, 1953), Chicago-raised singer-songwriter and “queen of funk,” known for Rufus hits like “Ain’t Nobody,” then solo hits “I’m Every Woman” and “I Feel for You,” multiple Grammys, and Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction.
Key claims
confidence is innate; “music truly heals”; she stays honest and avoids “fakey stuff”; she focuses on one audience member to overcome stage terror; labels like “funk” are limiting.
Notable examples
advice from Carlos Santana (“touch the ocean”); Stevie Wonder asking her birth sign (Aries) before playing “Tell Me Something Good”; Prince treating her “like a queen,” paying her in gold nuggets/bars, and her shock at his private struggles.
Written by AI. May contain mistakes. Listen to the episode to check what was said.
Chapters
Tap a time to open that second in VOIntroducing Shaka Khan
1:26 to 3:43
Discover Shaka Khan's early life, musical journey, and career milestones.
“Being born in America, feeling American, having people treat me like I'm not.”
Reflections on Life and Self-Worth
3:43 to 5:44
Shaka discusses watching her life story unfold in a musical and her sense of self-worth.
“Welcome to the interview from the BBC World Service with Shaka Khan.”
Leaving Home and Finding Her Calling
5:44 to 7:40
Shaka shares her experiences of leaving home at a young age and discovering her musical path.
“Either it's the way you are or it's not.”
Stage Presence and Overcoming Fear
7:40 to 9:32
Shaka talks about her relationship with performing and how she overcame stage fright.
“My father, who is a philosopher of sorts.”
Understanding Funk and Identity
9:32 to 11:34
Shaka discusses the meaning of funk and her identity beyond labels.
“So at what point does the fear turn into enjoyment?”
The Joy of Singing Professionally
11:34 to 13:33
Shaka reflects on the joy of making a living through music and its significance to her.
“Let's talk about funk because a lot of people call you the queen of funk.”
Tribute to Stevie Wonder
13:33 to 14:03
Shaka shares her thoughts on Stevie Wonder and his dedication to music.
“And I feel honored and so lucky to be able to do something for a living that brings me and gives me joy.”
Finding Your Calling Through Music
14:03 to 17:00
Chaka Khan discusses the importance of music as a calling and personal fulfillment.
“Yeah, I wasn't ready for how funny the humor was.”
The Connection with Great Artists
17:01 to 18:52
Exploration of Chaka's relationships with fellow musicians like Prince and Stevie Wonder.
“Watch for the free trial at BritBox.com.”
Grief and Reflection After Prince's Death
18:53 to 21:48
Chaka reflects on the impact of Prince's death and her relationship with him.
“Maybe that's why we fall in love with them as musicians, because they have this openness and ability to be magnetic.”
Show all 12 chapters
Memorable Experiences with Prince
21:49 to 24:12
Chaka shares personal anecdotes highlighting her time working with Prince.
“I don't know where some of them are from moving, but they'll come up.”
Lessons Learned from Prince
24:13 to 27:41
Chaka reflects on the lessons and qualities she admired in Prince.
“I learned lots of stuff and he learned a lot from me we learned a lot from each other So what's the enduring thing that you learned from him?”
Transcript
Automatic transcript. May contain errors.0:00Chaka Khan:This BBC podcast is supported by ads outside the UK.
0:30Chaka Khan:at Menards.
0:32Nick Grimshaw:Save big money at Menards.
0:35Chaka Khan:Spring has sprung and big savings are in full bloom at Menards. Visit Menards Garden Center for everything you need to get your garden growing. Choose from hundreds of beautiful, colorful flowers, lush trees and shrubs, and everything in between. Menards Garden Center is back in bloom. Stop in today to get your garden on. Check out fresh deals happening now at Menards.
1:07Chaka Khan:Hello, I am Nick Grimshaw from the BBC and this is the interview from the BBC World Service. The best conversations coming out of the BBC, people shaping our world from all over the world. If you're not a little bit afraid,
1:25Nick Grimshaw:then you're not paying attention. We have never seen a people so united. Do not make that boat crossing.
1:33Chaka Khan:Do not make that journey. Being born in America, feeling American, having people treat me like I'm not. We're more popular than populism. For this interview, Annie McManus and I met the legendary American singer-songwriter and queen of funk, Shaka Khan, here at the BBC in London. Born Yvette Marie Stevens in 1953, she endured a troubled childhood growing up in the US city of Chicago, Illinois. And after being introduced to jazz by her grandmother at a young age, music soon became her escape. Shaka's big break came at the age of just 20 when her band Rufus signed its first record deal. With her powerful vocals and incredible striking stage presence, she quickly caught the public's attention.
2:23Chaka Khan:The band, whose hits include Ain't Nobody, enjoyed commercial and critical success in the years that followed, winning a Grammy Award, seeing six albums go platinum and working with Stevie Wonder. Despite this, the band and their lead singer gradually drifted apart, with Shaka deciding to go it alone around a decade later, a decision which transformed her life and career. She went on to have huge worldwide hits such as I'm Every Woman and I Feel For You, as well as collaborations with more legends like Whitney Houston and Prince, not to mention a further nine Grammys and an induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
3:05Chaka Khan:Her musical journey provides a lot for the 73 year old to reflect on.
3:11Annie Macmanus:How many people get to make a living on doing something that brings over? I mean, just crazy, mad love and enjoyment to you. They just are everything for you. I'm so lucky and blessed to have that aspect in my life that I ain't saying much. I just say thank you.
3:43Chaka Khan:Welcome to the interview from the BBC World Service with Shaka Khan.
3:48Nick Grimshaw:We have so much to discuss, Shaka, but let's start with why you are here in London. There's a musical happening, which is all about your life story. Yeah. How is it watching a musical of your life? Not many people can say they've done something like that.
4:05Annie Macmanus:it's not something that you can never prepare yourself for. When I see all these beautiful young people who are doing a great job actually of capturing me, capturing what I was going through and what life was like 50 years ago up till now, it's interesting. It's an honor unlike any other.
4:33Nick Grimshaw:There's so much to discuss, But when you look back at your life, right, and this must you've obviously had to do this with the musical. I can imagine looking at all the kind of key points in your life that then can become a story on stage. But so many of them speak to the fact that you have a very like strong sense of worth and self-belief and conviction in doing things for you. Would that be correct to say? Does it feel? Yeah. I'm honest to a fault, which is so needed.
5:04Annie Macmanus:No fakey stuff. You know, I'm really about, you know, making, improving things, making things better, making people flip into something good. Yes.
5:19Chaka Khan:Yeah, because, you know, that sense of self and as you say, that honesty is apparent in your music. I wanted to know when I was. That's too short. Yeah, I just wanted to know, like, where did that come from, that sort of confidence in knowing yourself? And was it always something that you were born with? Or was it something that you were born with?
5:37Annie Macmanus:It's something you have to be born with. You can't acquire that. You can't put it on. You can't practice that. It just is. Either it's the way you are or it's not.
5:49Nick Grimshaw:There's a part of your life which I was always very interested in, which is when you decided to leave home. What were you, 16?
5:55Annie Macmanus:Yeah.
5:56Nick Grimshaw:And you brought your dog with you?
5:57Annie Macmanus:Yes, Mimi.
5:58Nick Grimshaw:Can you tell us about that? Well, my mother and I, we were in class.
6:03Annie Macmanus:We classed yes. And she's a very strict, kind of strict mom. Okay. She loved her kids. And she, you know, she thought it was tough then. Now is what's happening. It was, you know, but she was a single mom at the time, you know. And so she had to do a lot on her own. And there was four of you? I watched her when I was young. Just the first time my dad had left, they broke up. I watched her in Chicago in the wintertime, snow, and I watched her pregnant riding a bike to work. I stood in the window. I could almost cry just telling you. Yeah. And I cried and I said to myself out loud, and I talked to her through the window.
6:54Annie Macmanus:She couldn't hear me, of course, but I watched her try to get it together with that big belly and getting on the bike and riding a bike to work in the snow. I said, Mommy, one day you'll never have to do this again. I'm going to buy you a house and you're going to be happy and you'll never have to do this again. And that's exactly what I did several years later. Wow. Yeah.
7:19Nick Grimshaw:That's incredible.
7:21Chaka Khan:I want to know about this because I'm always intrigued when we get to speak to a guest about, you know, how it began and what that drive was. So maybe that was part of it, seeing your mom like that and wanting to achieve like that. Absolutely.
7:32Nick Grimshaw:Along with having that conviction, the courage to leave home and bring your dog and just know you needed to go and do something for yourself. I knew my calling.
7:40Annie Macmanus:I recognized the fact. Yeah. My father, who is a philosopher of sorts. Right. Who was my favorite guy in the world. Yeah. I mean, he's very liberal and cool. Yeah. You know, a beatnik, they called him back in those days. Yeah. Yeah, yeah. He would take me to see his favorite jazz, you know, artist. Yeah. We grew up in an area in Chicago called Hyde Park, which is surrounded with the University of Chicago, which means that a lot of interesting people came into my life. Okay. From a very early age. You know, and we were like right in the middle. We were an island in the middle of a ghetto. And so it was very interesting.
8:18Annie Macmanus:Yeah.
8:19Chaka Khan:And when you were going to all those gigs or, you know, your dad was introducing to this music, Did you think it was something that you wanted to do or something you could do?
8:27Annie Macmanus:Well, that's what I found out what my calling was. I was involved in this theater called the Afro Arts Theater. Right. And it was just right on the brink between the ghetto and Hyde Park. So I got a lot of African culture going on there. There were like dancers. We would put on a show every Saturday to raise money for the community and to keep the place open.
8:48Nick Grimshaw:Wow.
8:49Annie Macmanus:And we wore nothing but we wore garb. It was a way of life. I never wore regular clothes. We weighed our own clothes. We were just really serious. Serious. Yeah. Wow.
8:58Chaka Khan:Same to Annie before with this. I said, you're so fantastic on stage as a vocalist and a performer, but you're so sort of in yourself and cool on the stage and just so at ease on the stage. And as an audience member, it's always great to see someone on the stage that you're not nervous for or worried for. You're like, oh, I'm being safe hands in Shaka Khan's on the stage. But what was your relationship with being on stage? Do you remember the first time you stepped foot on the stage? I've always been terrified. Really? I still am.
9:29Annie Macmanus:Wow.
9:29Chaka Khan:Oh, I bet Shekhan does not get scared. Oh, hell yeah. Oh, you do. Okay.
9:33Annie Macmanus:But I find it a good thing. So at what point does the fear turn into enjoyment? Once you get up there, here's the deal. I was doing a lot of gigs and I was like, I was petrified for a long time. And I found a way to not appear that way. I never talked to the audience. I just said, at most, what the next song was. It wasn't like sharing. I wished I could, but I just... It was too much. Yeah. So we were doing a show with Santana, Carlos Santana. And I was talking to him, and I said, Carlos said, I took the hardest time communicating with the audience. He says, what are you doing? When you sing, I said, yeah, but I don't feel it's an honest and true communication.
10:22Annie Macmanus:Right. You know, it doesn't feel uncomfortable. He said, here's the deal. He said, when you touch the ocean, you touch the whole ocean.
10:33Nick Grimshaw:Wow.
10:34Annie Macmanus:When you put your foot in the ocean, your entire foot is touching the entire ocean.
Read the full transcript
10:40Nick Grimshaw:Yeah.
10:41Annie Macmanus:He said, you got to think of it that way. Wow. So when you get on stage, focus on one person. If you touch them, they'll touch everyone.
10:51Nick Grimshaw:Wow.
10:52Annie Macmanus:And that freed me up.
10:54Nick Grimshaw:Yeah.
10:54Annie Macmanus:That freed me up. Wow, that's an incredible piece of advice. It made sense, yes.
10:57Nick Grimshaw:Yeah.
10:58Annie Macmanus:And so that's what I did, and that's what I still do. Yes, we still do. That one person.
11:03Nick Grimshaw:Was there a point in your career when you did actually realize your power? Do you know what I mean? No, I still probably don't. When you're young and you're surrounded by mostly men who are kind of taking control of a situation, and you are the singer, the talent. I've got a lot of resentment from a lot of guys on that.
11:22Annie Macmanus:But I don't even hear that. I'm not trying to hear that. I'm not trying to see it. I'm not trying to give it recognition or power or any energy.
11:29Nick Grimshaw:Yeah.
11:29Annie Macmanus:You know what I'm saying? The thing is about the end result, how we come together and how we can make it happen. And that's it and that's all.
11:35Nick Grimshaw:Let's talk about funk because a lot of people call you the queen of funk. How do you feel about that, Toys?
11:41Annie Macmanus:I think they're cutting me too short there. I think they are too. You know how to say that you just put funk on me? It's just not fair.
11:48Nick Grimshaw:But like, it's interesting to think of funk, because there is a genre, I suppose, you can call it funk, but it's also like a spirit. Yeah, it's like a mood. Funk is a way of being, would you say?
11:57Annie Macmanus:Yeah, it's like saying, I only know one word to keep in the gate.
12:03Chaka Khan:Yeah.
12:04Annie Macmanus:Got you. Too narrow for you.
12:06Chaka Khan:Yeah. That's not fair. Yeah, it's not fair.
12:09Annie Macmanus:It's like, but look, I had to just sit down with it and just say, you know what? I don't care what they think or what they're feeling. I know what I am. Most people know what I am. It doesn't matter the label that they put on, that some people feel. And I know it's out of love. It is not anything malicious. I'm not tripping that hard.
12:30Chaka Khan:I also think people like to categorize things, don't they? They look to say, they sound like that, or she's a bit like that.
12:37Annie Macmanus:It's like they're folding all their socks and put them in a sock drawer. I don't do that.
12:41Chaka Khan:No.
12:42Annie Macmanus:I don't live like that. I don't do that either.
12:45Chaka Khan:So it's for their comfort. Yeah, it's for their comfort. How do you feel about that side of it when people are writing about you or talking about you or maybe reviewing you? Because this is, I presume, not the reason you got into music was to win an award or get a review. No, I did not. Never. So how do you deal with that side of the business? I guess the business side. I just don't. I just don't. I just say if they give me whatever, I say thank you.
13:09Nick Grimshaw:I give it to my mother. My mother has all my stuff. She keeps all your awards? All my stuff. Why, she must have a big old shelf. She does.
13:16Annie Macmanus:She's got a big old thing with all my stuff in it.
13:19Chaka Khan:Wait, so you have no Grammys? They've all gone to your books? She's got all them. Wow.
13:23Annie Macmanus:But I don't need that. That's not why I'm doing it. I'm not doing it for a Grammy. You've got your drum kit. That's all you need. Yeah, I'm not doing it for anything, but just because I love it. I'm doing what I do because I love it. And I feel honored and so lucky to be able to do something for a living that brings me and gives me joy.
13:45Nick Grimshaw:Well, so like the nature of singing for a living, like singing for a job, I can't imagine what that must feel like. Because it's your whole body. You're giving every like it's.
13:54Annie Macmanus:How many people get to make a living on doing something that brings over? I mean just crazy mad love and joy and enjoyment to you they just are everything for you I'm so lucky and blessed to have that that aspect in my life that I feel I ain't saying much I just say thank you we should talk about Stevie
14:23Chaka Khan:because Annie got to go and meet Stevie Wonder and did an amazing interview with Stevie
14:28Nick Grimshaw:isn't he wonderful he was amazing he brought his heart he's a lovely spirit he played music all the way through. Beautiful spirit. He was so funny. That's all he wants? Him and his piano and his jokes? Yeah, I wasn't ready for how funny the humor was. It was side-splittingly funny. Yes, girl, he's got it. But he was amazing. But he said that he would be playing music until he couldn't breathe anymore. That's it. That was his thing. That's it? Yeah. Because I stupidly asked him about retirement and he was like, retire who? Retire who? What do you mean retirement? Exactly. I get it.
14:59Annie Macmanus:Yeah.
15:00Nick Grimshaw:You're the same? You feel that?
15:02Annie Macmanus:I don't see, I don't know what you mean by retarded. This is a calling. It's bigger than anything in your life as an individual. If you found the thing that you were put on this planet to do, a lot of people are put on this planet and they don't know. Oh, they don't know. They're not sure of it. It's such a gift to find it. Or something. To know it. Yeah. I mean, it's there. But some people actually fear that. Yeah. Because it's total.
15:33Nick Grimshaw:Yes. It is totality. Can I ask, Shaka, about your voice and your relationship to your voice? Like, it's so unique. It's given you an entire career. Is there times that you... Resent it? Yeah. Yeah. Or the other, or just like...
15:49Annie Macmanus:Well, there are times, let me tell you, when I, you know, it's bigger than me. Right. So I just have to surrender. But that's easier said than doing it. And what a nice thing to surrender to. It's not the worst thing. I mean, there are people whose calling are to save lives.
16:07Nick Grimshaw:Right.
16:07Annie Macmanus:I mean, physically give air, supply blood, something. You know, there are other callings that I think are important, extremely important. And they have to do it. I don't know any people like that. I haven't met many people like that. Healers, true healers. I do some healing myself. I lay hands. I know that music is a form of healing. It is very important and underestimated and not well-known, but it is truly. Music truly heals. So when I'm on stage, that's what I'm doing. There's nothing like being in line and having alignment with your reason for being on this planet.
17:00Chaka Khan:You're listening to The Interview from the BBC World Service.
17:32Chaka Khan:The End Now streaming only on BritBox. Watch for the free trial at BritBox.com. Spring has sprung and big savings are in full bloom at Menards. Visit Menards Garden Center for everything you need to get your garden growing. Choose from hundreds of beautiful, colorful flowers, lush trees and shrubs, and everything in between. Menards Garden Center is back in bloom. Stop in today to get your garden on. Check out fresh deals happening now at Menards.
18:13Chaka Khan:When we get to interview someone like Shaka Khan, it's a really funny thing to do because Shaka Khan has been truly foundational in the music industry and the music that we know and love. She is a really, really special artist, someone that is the real deal, someone that has really lived, that is pure talent, but also manages to be just really approachable, really easy to talk to. And sometimes you think these people are going to be hard to talk to because of who they are. But actually, I think quite the opposite. The reason that they are stars is that they are so human. They're so able to connect with.
18:54Chaka Khan:Maybe that's why we fall in love with them as musicians, because they have this openness and ability to be magnetic. she was a real remarkable person to get to spend time with so let's get back into our conversation
19:09Nick Grimshaw:with the one and only Shekha Khan we need to talk about Prince if that's okay we have lots of questions about Prince but we'll work backwards so when he died 2016 10 years ago now you cancelled the tour and you said that his death made you realize something and you and your sister took yourself off and put your well-being first what what happened then what was the change in your
19:35Annie Macmanus:thinking well for one i could tell is somebody's using and we were close enough around you know before his death we were um and we were close enough throughout when we became you and prince loved so we loved each other and we knew that we were family and kindred and i swear he was the best of anyone ever knew. I did not see it. You didn't see him? I didn't see. You didn't get any hints? He was so good at it. Wow. And he was a very private person. And he really relished that. Yes. That was the most important thing to him to his privacy. So I said, okay, he's going to be private. That's okay. But I never once thought, not a thought man.
20:23Annie Macmanus:We were eating right. We were fasting. We were doing all kinds of great stuff. He's not an eater. Food was not his number one sustenance. Music was. He had a lot of lacks in his life, lack of love from family and stuff like that. So we became like family. And it was a beautiful thing. And I was just, it shocked me. It was a shock. I'm really usually good at getting to know people's spirit. I get to know people, you know, and I heal. I do. Yeah. It came as a complete shock to me. And I'm still shocked. I knew what his problems were and his pains were with his family or lack thereof, and I became family, you know.
21:14Annie Macmanus:My family became his family, you know. And sometimes that's the way it is. Sometimes you are born into situations that just don't fit and are right for you. You've got to find your own family. And you've got to find it. Yeah. I'm hip to that. He was hip to that. And he did. So I was shocked. It took me quite a while just to say, well, I could have helped. Right. Of course.
21:38Nick Grimshaw:Yeah.
21:38Annie Macmanus:But it wasn't my job. No, it wasn't.
21:41Nick Grimshaw:No.
21:41Annie Macmanus:I had to come to that conclusion. And so now, you know, he's still here. He's still with me. He's still with us. I feel him oh yes
21:52Chaka Khan:he's still around could you take us back to the first time that you jowled with him when did it become magic between you and Prince
21:58Annie Macmanus:oh when we were in the studio we were working together
22:00Nick Grimshaw:can you remember the first thing you made together
22:02Annie Macmanus:no I can't remember the first thing the first time I do remember though that he was just so he just held me up on such a high pedestal and I was not comfortable with that yeah with my self imposed humility but he He lifted me up And He treated me like a queen Wow He really really really did He used to pay me In gold nuggets Actually Excuse me Yep When we worked When we worked in the studio He didn't have to pay me We were both going to make money together We were both doing You know Doing a thing together To make To get some shit Whenever I worked in the studio with him He had gold bars Little gold bars he'd give me Love
22:49Chaka Khan:and where the gold bar's now?
22:51Annie Macmanus:I have most of them. Oh, yeah. I don't know where some of them are from moving, but they'll come up. They'll pop up. They'll pop up somewhere. Because I need them. When you have a gold bar,
22:59Nick Grimshaw:how do you even convert that to money these days? Like, do you go walk into a bank and say, like, I guess you do. You can sell them.
23:06Annie Macmanus:Yeah. You can sell them online. You go online and say, I have two for sale, blah, blah, blah. Yeah, yeah. Yeah, you can do that too. Don't worry about that. But I'm not thinking that's like fantastic. Yeah, yeah. I like gold. I'm wearing my money. Beautiful. It's important to say that Shaka is wearing the most beautiful gold jewelry today. If anything happens and I have to use the barter system, I'm ready.
23:25Chaka Khan:Could I ask what it's like to be on a stage with someone like Prince?
23:29Annie Macmanus:He adored me. That was hard to be around. And is it hard to be adored like that?
23:34Chaka Khan:Yes. Did you find that quite hard to do?
23:35Annie Macmanus:Yeah, I found it.
23:36Nick Grimshaw:For me, it was like... You're too humble for that.
23:38Annie Macmanus:Yeah. I am. I am.
23:42Nick Grimshaw:But on stage, how did that feel?
23:45Annie Macmanus:I still was too humble for that, whatever I was. Yeah, okay. He was on and on. He really put me up there. I guess I could use some of it, because maybe I was a little too humble in some areas, but he was a good guy. He was a good man.
24:03Chaka Khan:What's your lasting memory of Prince, like your personal, I guess, legacy of him? Of just his love.
24:12Annie Macmanus:I felt loved, and I loved him. you know in a 365 degree way did you learn never touched him he never touched me I wouldn't have it anybody shorter than me it's not gonna happen here I got that straight you know what I'm saying people always you know they just assume you know they were screwing but ain't it uh uh did you learn anything
24:40Nick Grimshaw:off him?
24:41Annie Macmanus:I learned lots of stuff and he learned a lot from me we learned a lot from each other So what's the enduring thing that you learned from him? God, child, please. I never thought about that. I have no idea. There's so much. We had such deep, beautiful conversations. You know? That's what I really loved about him. Yeah. He's a man. Yeah, he's a revolutionary. He was more of a man than almost every man I've met. Right. He had a bigger man and all of us. He got bigger cojones than anybody I've met. He had no fear. And I was fearless, too. We were both fearless. I was a Black Panther. Yeah. You know, we came to the same place.
25:13Annie Macmanus:and we knew what was going on.
25:16Chaka Khan:And were you guys honest with each other in the studio? You know, if you do something to you, you'd be like, that's not working.
25:21Annie Macmanus:Absolutely. And do you think you've got to just do that?
25:25Chaka Khan:Because I imagine sometimes there's people are like, oh yeah, I like it. Or they're pressured to be polite. But do you think just be straight up?
25:32Nick Grimshaw:I'll tell her if I didn't like it. I didn't like it. There's that famous, very famous now, infamous story with Stevie, right? When Stevie wanted to come and play something. Oh yeah, we came and told her something good.
25:40Annie Macmanus:I was like, what? So what do you want me to do with this? What did he say? What was the song? Tell me something good? Yeah. But he played you something first and you were like... Yeah, the song before that. I didn't like it. I said, what else you got?
25:50Nick Grimshaw:What else you got? What else you got? Did Stevie want that?
25:53Chaka Khan:What else you got, Stevie?
25:54Nick Grimshaw:Yeah. Come on, what else you got? And then didn't he ask you your star sign?
25:58Annie Macmanus:He said, what's your birth sign? I said, Aries. He said, I knew it. I got the song for you. And he did. He said, what? I said, okay, that's how I got it. Yeah, this is good. Why are you holding out? I love Stevie asking
26:09Chaka Khan:what star sign of you and be like, I got a song for you. I got a song for you.
26:13Annie Macmanus:Oh, yeah. I think that was just another way of saying, well, try this. You know what I'm saying? You know, sometimes you do the kiddie stuff, you know?
26:23Nick Grimshaw:But that's why you have such a long career. Maybe this is... Because you're good at saying no. Yeah. You know what's right for you. You always say it. You know what suits you. Yeah, it's a freaking good underused word. Right. Yeah.
26:35Chaka Khan:Don't you think audience can tell when someone's not telling the truth?
26:37Annie Macmanus:Hell yeah.
26:38Chaka Khan:Yeah.
26:39Annie Macmanus:People are not stupid. We under, you know, people are not stupid
26:42Nick Grimshaw:And do you think you can tell when someone's not singing the truth? No, pretty much
26:46Annie Macmanus:If I don't want to go that far If it's worth it I mean, if they're singing their ass off And I think that there's something missing Or there's something, yeah I do it, I have talked to people Yeah, say what's the matter? What's going on With this song? And they tell, there's something going on A lot of times
27:07Chaka Khan:With the musical being out and you're reflecting on your life and you're looking back at your career, what would you think you'd give advice to yourself like the younger chakra? Anybody coming up, be true to yourself.
27:21Annie Macmanus:First, be true to yourself. Then you can be true to everybody else, be honest. Honesty is the best and the most important quality that there is in life. And getting along with people and talking, just be real, be honest. Tell the truth. Tell your truth. Live your truth. Live it.
27:41Chaka Khan:Thank you for listening to The Interview You can find more in-depth conversations on The Interview wherever you get your BBC podcasts including episodes with Beatles drummer Ringo Starr Oscar-winning director Guillermo del Toro and artist Tracey Emin And you can hear more conversations on Sidetracked with Annie and Nick
28:06Chaka Khan:Until the next time, bye for now
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29:15Chaka Khan:No dropped leads, no missed follow-ups, just better communication that helps you close more business. Over 90 ,000 businesses, from solo operators to growing teams, rely on Quo to stay connected, professional, and consistently reachable even after hours. Try Quo for free, plus get 20 % off your first six months at Quo.com slash hello. That's Q-U-O dot com slash hello. When money's on the line, always say hello with Quo.
From the publisher
“This is a calling. It's bigger than anything in your life as an individual. If you found the thing that you were put on this planet to do, and a lot of people are put on this planet and they don't know, it's such a gift to find it.”
Nick Grimshaw and Annie Macmanus speak to global music icon Chaka Khan about her life and career.
Born Yvette Marie Stevens in the US city of Chicago in 1953, her big break came at the age of 20 when her band Rufus signed its first record deal. With her powerful vocals and striking stage presence, she quickly caught the public’s attention.
The band enjoyed commercial and critical success in the years that followed, before Chaka decided to go it alone around a decade later… a decision which transformed her life and career.
Worldwide hits such as I’m Every Woman and I Feel For You followed, as well as collaborations with legends like Whitney Houston and Prince, multiple Grammy Awards, and an induction into the Rock ‘n’ Roll Hall of Fame.
As a new musical telling her story begins its run, the 73-year-old has a lot to reflect on.
Thank you to the Sidetracked team for their help in making this programme. The Interview brings you conversations with people shaping our world, from all over the world. The best interviews from the BBC, including episodes with Beatles drummer Ringo Starr, Oscar-winning director Guillermo del Toro, and artist Tracey Emin. You can listen on the BBC World Service on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays at 0800 GMT. Or you can listen to The Interview as a podcast, out three times a week on BBC Sounds or wherever you get your podcasts.
Presenters: Nick Grimshaw and Annie Macmanus Producers: Ben Cooper, Gráinne Morrison and Christine Czerniec Editor: Damon Rose
Get in touch with us on email TheInterview@bbc.co.uk and use the hashtag #TheInterviewBBC on social media.
(Image: Chaka Khan. Credit: Getty)