Chaka Khan has been all in the headlines the past few days after a series of controversial comments she made regarding Rolling Stone’s recent “200 Greatest Singers of All Time” list.
During an interview with Los Angeles magazine’s “The Originals” podcast, the legendary singer took issue with some of the rankings on the list.
Prior to the interview, she had not seen the list but during the interview, they ran down the list for her and revealed that she ranked 29.
Ms. Khan was not pleased, especially that Mariah Carey landed at No. 5 which she remarked
“That must be payola or some s— like that” and when told Adele was 22, she replied, “OK, I quit.”
She went on to say “They are blind as a motherf—ing bat!” regarding whoever crafted the list.
She also went viral last week for another part of the interview where she seemingly threw shade at good friend Mary J. Blige. While discussing Blige’s 1992 cover of “Sweet Thing,” the 1975 hit song she wrote for her then-band, the funktastic Rufus, Khan went in on Mary’s vocals on the remake.
While denying saying that Mary “f—ed up” her song… in public, though she did say it to Blige’s face.
“Her vocals were flat,” Khan explained, adding that she asked Blige what time of the day she recorded the song. According to Khan, Blige admitted she was up all night and recorded at 8 in the morning, to which she responded, “Girl you don’t sing nothing at 8 o’clock in the motherf—ing morning.”
Now, days later Khan has issued an apology for her statements and says she was “pitted against other artists” and “took the bait.”
Get into her official statement below.
Recently, I was asked about a list of the ‘greatest singers of all time’ and instead of questioning the need for such a list, I was pitted against other artists and I took the bait.
As artists, we are unfairly put into ‘boxes’, ‘categories’ or on ‘lists.’ Being an artist or musician is not a competition. It’s a gift, for which I am truly grateful.
It was not my intention to cause pain or upset anyone. To anyone that felt this way, I sincerely apologize.
Thank you for all the love everyone has shown me, unconditionally. I have always been about empowering others and I started a foundation for that very purpose. I will be announcing soon.
Empowering all artists is most important because we truly are the architects of change…and change begins within the heart. I love you all and God bless – Chaka
