Chaka Khan is getting her flowers.
The iconic performer is being inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame this year, and honored with the Musical Excellence Award.
“I’m honored,” Khan told ET’s Rachel Smith, who spoke with her at a party celebrating her cover of The Gentlewoman magazine ahead of the induction ceremony on Friday. “I’m truly honored.”
“I’ve got lots of accolades, lots of awards, you know, and it’s been a beautiful experience because people have been letting me know how they feel about me and that means more than anything,” she continued, noting, “I don’t sing for awards. I do because God put me here to, and this is what I love to do. This is my calling.”
Over the course of her 50-year career, Khan has been inspired by countless artists, naming iconic vocalists like Ella Fitzgerald, Aretha Franklin and Billie Holiday, classic talents like Mario Lanza and Yma Sumac, and even rock groups like Led Zeppelin and The Beatles.
“That’s how I started out, you know?” she shared with a laugh.
With that eclectic group of influences, it’s no surprise that Khan has formed a friendship and partnership with a uniquely talented performer like Sia, who will perform at her induction ceremony.
“Sia and I have become great musical partners, writing stuff together,” she shared. “We have a song coming out in the first quarter of next year.”
“I’m looking forward to that,” she added. “We’ll be doing a lot more work together.”
With an honor like being inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, Khan is taking a moment to look back at her life and career.
“I look at my body of work and I say, ‘My goodness, when did I have time to do all this stuff?'” she joked.
“I know it’s gonna continue,” she added. “Not my music only, but music, good music period, is something that’s going to be with us forever. Because it is a very special communication.”
What’s important, the performer shared, is not to focus on the awards, but the fans.
“I got these accolades and stuff, not because I strived to get them,” she said candidly. “When I record a song, my first question is, ‘Will the people love it? Will they want to listen to it? Will they hear what I’m saying?’ That’s the most important part of it to me.”
And she’s constantly reinventing herself, with an upcoming remix of her hit single, “I’m Every Woman” — which also happens to be the title of a Chaka Khan-inspired musical that’s slated to debut on the West End.
“That’s the beautiful thing about music. It doesn’t die even when the person’s dead,” she mused. “The music lives.”
The 2023 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony will be broadcast live coast to coast on Disney+ on Friday, Nov. 3 at 5 p.m. PT/8 p.m. ET, and will be available to stream following the ceremony. ABC will air a primetime special featuring performance highlights and standout moments on Monday, Jan. 1, 2024 at 8 p.m. PT/ET, which will be available the next day on Hulu and Disney+.
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