Chaka Khan

Presenter0:00

Hello, I'm Lauren Laverne and this is the Desert Island Discs podcast from BBC Radio 4. Every week I ask my guests to choose the eight tracks, book and luxury, that they'd want to take with them if they were cast away to a desert island. For rights reasons, the music's shorter than on the original broadcast, but you can find a version with longer music tracks on BBC Sounds. Listeners will also get access to episodes 28 days earlier than everyone else. I hope you enjoy listening.

Presenter0:44

My castaway this week is the singer, songwriter, and musician Chaka Khan. She's a music icon, a vocal powerhouse whose range encompasses folk, soul, disco, jazz, pop, and beyond. An eleven-time Grammy winner and rock and roll Hall of Fame alumnus, her career has spanned six consecutive decades and given us classics, including I'm Every Woman, Ain't Nobody, and I Feel For You. She sold an estimated 70 million records and collaborated with all-time greats, including Stevie Wonder, Miles Davis, Joni Mitchell, and Prince. She grew up in Chicago in an artistic family surrounded by music. At 13, she took the Yoruba name Chaka, and by her late teens, she joined the band Rufus, whose sawaway success paved the way for her breakout as a solo artist. Her path took her from the Black Panther movement to the giddy heights of global superstardom. Today, she lives on a farm in Georgia, surrounded by family, animals, and of course, music. She says, Music balances me out. It makes everything okay. It lets me know I'm in the right place. It's where I fit, where I live. It's what I live for. Chaka Khan, welcome to Desert Island Discs. Thank you. I'm honored to be here. So, as we've just heard, Chuck, at this point in your career, you have got nothing to prove. What guides the choices that you make as an artist and as a person today? Well.

Chaka Khan2:06

Yeah.

Presenter2:06

I just

Chaka Khan2:07

Feel

Presenter2:07

Uh

Chaka Khan2:07

But I feel it. It's a feeling I get. And, you know, I follow that. I call it the spirit.

Chaka Khan2:13

And it works for me.

Presenter2:14

And you're about to release your thirteenth solo album. How does this moment feel when you've finished a record but everybody else is just about to hear it? That kind of moment of unveiling? Well, you know.

Chaka Khan2:25

I've been doing this fifty years.

Chaka Khan2:27

I'm sure that when I was younger, I used to get a little angst about the whole thing and wonder, oh, will they like it? Will they? Well.

Chaka Khan2:35

I just give what I got, and I hope.

Chaka Khan2:38

And pray that they will love it like I do. That's all you can do, really.

Presenter2:43

Absolutely. And of course, you're sharing your story and your music with us today. Is music still as important to your life as it always was? You know, it's.

Chaka Khan2:52

It's important in a different kind of way. Tell me about that. Well, you know, when I was younger, I.

Presenter2:55

Oh, you know.

Chaka Khan2:57

I knew less about life. I didn't know much as much as I do now, of course. And I think that music, the magic of music, just had me in its grasp very tightly.

Speaker 23:08

Yeah.

Chaka Khan3:08

You know, and that's loosened up as the years go by. And I get interested in other things as well. And that's, you know, right now my focuses are right now just being happy to be still here and with my grandbabies and my great grandchildren.

Speaker 23:22

Yeah.

Chaka Khan3:23

That's my my biggest joy. Do you sing to to the little ones? Yeah. We have a new baby. Her name's Cody. She just had her first birthday and she's open to my singing. Now, the the second one, the her her big sister is only five. She's heard me sing it. She's over it.

Presenter3:42

A lot of listeners will, like me, be long standing fans of yours. And I have a confession to make, which is that when I'm having a bad day, I sometimes look up just videos of you drumming. There are many, many videos of this on the internet, old school videos of you drumming. Do you still play as well as

Chaka Khan3:57

Well, not really. I do have a music room, but I when I come home, I don't want to play drums right there. I wanna you know, I don't I used to go out and jam.

Presenter4:06

Yeah.

Speaker 24:06

Mm-hmm.

Chaka Khan4:07

You know, go where people I knew, some people I didn't know who were playing, you know, and there's there's not a lot of that today. And the DJs have taken over and so uh you don't get a lot of live music like it used to.

Presenter4:19

So some things changed, but your story is still bringing in new generations and theatre goers now because a new musical's opened, I'm Every Woman, which is based on your life. How did you feel about the project when they first approached you?

Chaka Khan4:34

who is an amazing woman who I've known for several years, who who knows me very well, and that helped a lot with the success of this whole thing. She put her heart, her entire heart, into it. Did a great job. It's very honest, very real.

Chaka Khan4:52

Didn't feel uncomfortable about it at all. I loved it.

Speaker 24:55

Mm-hmm.

Chaka Khan4:55

I saw it for the first time last night in in its entirety and I cried a couple of times. It was really an emotionally great experience for me, done by someone who knows my heart. And that's I think that was really the key to what made it such a great offering.

Presenter5:11

Yeah, and did you cry when you thought you would cry? No. No. It's funny that, isn't it? Yeah, it's funny how the.

Chaka Khan5:11

Yeah, and

Chaka Khan5:14

No.

Chaka Khan5:16

Yeah, it's funny how that happened.

Presenter5:17

Yeah.

Chaka Khan5:17

Yeah.

Presenter5:20

Two.

Chaka Khan5:20

And laughing is a lot of laughter because it's been a circus. My life's been a circus.

Presenter5:26

You have an incredible story and obviously you're going to share some of that with us today. And also your music. What's disc number one and why are you taking it with you to the Ord Desert Island?

Chaka Khan5:36

Well, it's a Let's Up on album. I was in high school. When it re when that album came out, everybody was all my, you know, peers were

Chaka Khan5:44

Wow, he got his new Zeppelin album. I didn't know what a Zeppelin was. I knew who Zeppelin was, I didn't know. So I got hip to Zeppelin. Whole lot of love, of course it's the first single. But I got stuck on what is and what should never be.

Presenter5:56

And why did you get stuck on this track?

Chaka Khan5:58

It's so ethereal sounding. It's like um it's as if you're floating on a cloud just before it's it gets dark. It's got that beautiful purple quality to it, and I like the words what is and what is and what should never be.

Chaka Khan6:17

Really fine song.

Speaker 26:19

And what's to stop us pretty bad now?

Speaker 26:25

But what is them? What shouldn't them?

Speaker 26:31

The wind seems things fade away. Leave the day where high in the sky. And war and the wind won't blow. Really shouldn't go. Only under show. Yeah, you will be mad.

Speaker 26:45

By taking a chat

Presenter6:50

What is and what should never be a LED Zeppelin. So, Chaka Khan, let's go back to the beginning. You were born Yvette Marie Stevens, nineteen fifty three, and grew up in Chicago. If I ask you to think back to your childhood,

Chaka Khan6:57

Ninety five

Presenter7:02

What comes to mind, what you remember?

Chaka Khan7:04

I don't remember a lot at all. I really don't. Because I'm a forward person. I really am. I'm just next. I remember bits and pieces. I remember going to school and hating that. I remember a couple of sweet things that my mother and father did. We thought we were rich because they were so good at, they were artists. They were both artists. And we had... frescoes on the walls and we thought we were in a castle in this apartment. They made us the only Christmas I actually remember as a child was when they built the dollhouse.

Presenter7:09

Mm-hmm.

Presenter7:43

So very creative parents then, and young parents. I think your your mum was nineteen. Right, okay, so full of energy and crazy.

Chaka Khan7:47

Do you like

Chaka Khan7:48

Yeah.

Chaka Khan7:51

Creativity. She made a lot of my outfits. If I wanted something, she says, Well, show it to me and she would make it happen. Tell me about your father, Charles, known as Buddy. What was he like? He was a very s he was a serious guy.

Chaka Khan8:05

A Sagittarius Man

Speaker 28:06

Mm.

Chaka Khan8:07

Who wanted greatness and strove? He was striving for it, you know. He had some addiction problems that he did overcome, but he was my best friend. What connected you? Where did you go? Well, I was more like a boy. I was the firstborn. You could take me anywhere. For instance, simple things, bike riding in the wintertime. It must have been cold and chilly. It was freaky. And my sister would come along. My little sister, Taka, who's a year and six months apart, we are. She was a sweet little girl and more feminine.

Presenter8:30

Yeah.

Chaka Khan8:42

And she would always get cold and start crying and

Chaka Khan8:47

So he said, Come on, let's take Bonnie home and then we'll go back out Did that. He bought his archery sets and we used to go to Lincoln Park and shoot bow and arrows and things like that. Wow. Yeah, he was a very interesting and an amazing man and he

Speaker 28:56

Yeah.

Chaka Khan9:01

He could have been whatever he wanted to be except for the way the world is. I think it did him a great diss disservice. A lot of

Speaker 29:04

Hmm.

Chaka Khan9:10

Guys, it it still does a great disservice to a lot of really talented, smart, intelligent people.

Presenter9:16

Your parents, obviously, as you say, you know, energetic, loving, and creative. What did they do to make a living? My mother worked at the.

Chaka Khan9:24

National Opinion Research Center. And she rode a bike to work. And I recall one morning it was snowing.

Chaka Khan9:30

And she was pregnant with my brother. I must have been about nine, seven maybe seven or eight. I was looking out the window. I thought to myself, well, I was always talking to her, but it was to myself'cause she couldn't hear me, of course, but I said

Chaka Khan9:44

Mommy, one day you'll never have to do that again. You'll never have to ride a Burke bike to work again. I'm going to buy you a house.

Presenter9:53

So that was in your mind from from that age?

Chaka Khan9:55

Mm-hmm.

Presenter9:56

Your dad he worked in book

Chaka Khan9:58

Bookstores, I think. Yeah, he did lots of odd jobs as as well and stuff like that.

Speaker 210:02

Uh-huh.

Chaka Khan10:03

He wasn't a professional, but he was a genius and he had lots of followers. In what way? Tell me more. He was very philosophical. And he read lots of lots of books. He really was an avid reader. And he had like a crew of guides. They would come over and talk about really good, deep stuff. He got my brain working. He said to me, that always remember when you read a book, it was written by a human being just like you. Don't take anything you read.

Chaka Khan10:31

completely to heart. And he gave me a lot of good advice like that.

Presenter10:35

So the two of you were very close. It must have been tough when you didn't see him for a while because your parents separated. Yeah, there was a time when.

Chaka Khan10:41

was a time we um we didn't see him at all, almost for almost eight years. That's when I ran away. I ran away. I was maybe sixteen, fifteen, sixteen. I went to look for my dad. So I called some um cousins. I called them and I asked, Have you do you know where my dad is? Do you have his phone number?

Speaker 210:50

15.

Chaka Khan10:59

I was on a payphone with my dog at night and he was there. And I walked from my mother's house to Hyde Park where he was still living. It was quite a walk at night with the dog. It was sounds like a

Presenter11:10

Yeah.

Chaka Khan11:12

Movie.

Presenter11:13

Sounds like a movie, Chuck. They did do a play about it. Yeah, exactly. The movie's got to be next.

Chaka Khan11:16

Yeah, exactly.

Presenter11:18

Alright, Chakra, it's time for some more music. Your second choice today. Tell me about this one.

Chaka Khan11:20

Yeah.

Chaka Khan11:23

I used to be in a a group called the Crystalettes. I started the group. It was my sister, Taka, or Yvonne, that's her slave name we call it, and myself, Nikki, and Finesse. That was the four of us. We were called the Crystalettes. So we used to do a lot of competitions with other girl groups. And my mother, she would make our clothes. She'd make up our faces. She would sew our outfits. We looked like little china dolls.

Presenter11:51

Did you all have matching outfits as I can imagine?

Chaka Khan11:52

I could imagine. Absolutely. And she'd take us to the competitions. She was like a guru.

Presenter11:58

Mm-hmm.

Chaka Khan11:59

And a like a sergeant.

Chaka Khan12:02

Uh

Presenter12:02

Yeah.

Chaka Khan12:02

And was this the track that you sang? You performed as the Crystal Ettes? We did a lot of Aretha Franklin songs. We did a lot of Gladys Knight and Rita Franklin. This song is one of the songs that I had really always wanted to sing, but there was really no background to it. It was just a single just Aretha singing and the music. If I were like 15, 16, or now, I would have put some backgrounds to it. But I never thought to do that. But this is a good song because she's saying, get in the groove and let the good times roll. I want to stay here till I soothe my soul if it takes all night long. I thought that was such a great thing to put in a song. And I felt that way many times as I grew up. And she gave me good advice.

Presenter12:03

This attractive

Speaker 212:44

And the groove and let the good time roll.

Speaker 212:48

I'm gon' stay until I sue my soul If it takes all night long

Speaker 212:57

It might be one o'clock and it might be

Speaker 213:01

It's hard to mean that much of me

Speaker 213:06

And he had this much fun till I don't know when.

Speaker 213:09

Get up!

Speaker 213:11

Let's go home.

Presenter13:14

Aretha Franklin and Good Times. Chuck a Khan still word perfect. You still know every lyric. Yeah, I do, yes.

Speaker 213:18

Uh

Chaka Khan13:18

Yeah, I do.

Speaker 213:19

Uh

Presenter13:20

So when you called

Chaka Khan13:22

Little Aretha when you were young. Yeah, that well, one of the competitions we were at, I was singing an Aretha Franklin song. People started throwing money on the stage. I was like, What's going on?

Presenter13:23

Yeah.

Chaka Khan13:33

And they were calling me Lil Aretha.

Presenter13:35

So that moment for you, was that the moment that you realized, hang on, I've got a talent and you know, exactly, take me somewhere.

Chaka Khan13:42

But I ran away from home

Presenter13:43

Yeah.

Chaka Khan13:43

I was thinking all these things in the during the walk with my dog Mimi.

Chaka Khan13:47

And I'm thinking, well, what am I going to do?

Chaka Khan13:51

How am I going to live? How can I make money? And that's was the first thought that I had of I can sing. Oh, yes, I can make money. I can get paid doing that.

Presenter14:03

And that's just as well, Chaka, because as you mentioned earlier, you you didn't have a great time at school. Why not? What was difficult about school for you?

Chaka Khan14:10

I don't like to bash or to say anything negative about the way they taught. I don't know what it was about having children in school, wearing uniforms. There were these undertones of

Chaka Khan14:26

Something I just did not like at all.

Presenter14:28

What was that?

Chaka Khan14:29

Well, I you know, I'd rather not expound on this'cause there are a lot of Catholics in the world. I'm still a Catholic. I'm not a practicing one. I'm a world girl. I know their spirit's God, there's spirit. I keep it simple.

Presenter14:43

Mm-hmm.

Chaka Khan14:44

You know.

Presenter14:44

You also, as you mentioned, you ran away from home, so there were tensions at home between you and your mum in your team.

Chaka Khan14:49

Your mamma in your team. We were both always butting heads. You know, and I was always trying to get my way, of course. I wanted to run away and go to Woodstock. I must have been twelve.

Presenter14:59

Yes, that's too young to go to Woods.

Chaka Khan15:01

Yeah.

Chaka Khan15:03

Very much.

Presenter15:03

Very much.

Chaka Khan15:05

Uh

Presenter15:05

Yeah.

Chaka Khan15:05

So she

Presenter15:06

So she wasn't into it.

Chaka Khan15:07

Hello, my mother stopped me from doing lots of things that I wanted to do.

Presenter15:12

So no wood stock for you. But you did end up moving in with your dad, Buddy, and his wife, your stepmother, Connie. How different was that household?

Chaka Khan15:16

And his

Chaka Khan15:18

For the corny.

Chaka Khan15:20

Well, it opened up my world for me in a way because

Chaka Khan15:24

They were very open-minded, modern. So they were kind of beatniks, right? Yes, exactly. So I got a freedom there where I could think for myself. And I loved that. I had a say, I had a voice, and it helped me to free me up. Did that extend to the kind of music influences that were around you? Oh, yeah, my dad was in every weekend.

Presenter15:29

Yes, exactly.

Presenter15:42

Oh dear my

Chaka Khan15:45

He would take us to a place called The Point at night. It's at Lincoln Park. And all these guys were there with their kungas, and they would have big drum circle.

Chaka Khan15:55

You know, I had their wine on the side and all the kids, we were in heaven. And he introduced you to Miles

Presenter16:01

Dave has sitting

Chaka Khan16:02

Miles Davis and Max Roach, his favorite drummer.

Presenter16:05

Yeah.

Chaka Khan16:06

He's also the guy that told me and gave me an ear to hear and differentiate what instrument was playing. I didn't know the bass from, say, mm the trumpet. I just didn't know what they were.

Presenter16:22

All right, I think it's time to hear your next disc then, Chucker, which might be a bit of Miles Davis, actually. Dig that.

Chaka Khan16:27

This next song comes off of the album called Tutu. I've named it after Desmond Tutu, of course, and my favorite song on there, the one that really moved me, is called Tomas.

Presenter16:37

And for you, I mean, you know, to get to know Miles Davis, to get to work with him, you know, one of your dad's heroes, what was that like? My dad.

Chaka Khan16:44

actually lived long enough to see me I did a see an album with a lot of the guys that we were listening to growing up. And that is amazing that he got to just see that. That really rocked his world.

Presenter16:58

And I know Miles Davis is someone you cared about a huge amount. Why was he such an important figure in your life?

Chaka Khan17:05

He was very honest to a fault. Not for me though. I love it straight up. And he scared a lot of people. He was actually an an amazing singer.

Chaka Khan17:15

But he got some polyps removed from his tonsils and I got the same treatment a long, long time ago when I lived in New York. I was singing and singing too much and not getting enough rest and all that stuff. Overdoing it.

Speaker 217:27

Overd

Chaka Khan17:28

And when you get those polyps off, you can't sleep, you cannot talk for two weeks, even whisper. So it was very hard. He got that done.

Chaka Khan17:37

and he was his own manager. The day after he got the operation, he s talking to a promoter, and that was a no no and he's yelling and screaming at the promoter, and he lost his voice. So I kept thinking about Miles Davis, too, whilst I was being quiet.

Presenter17:54

But that gives us a little portrait of who he was as well.

Chaka Khan17:58

Yeah, he was very passionate.

Presenter17:58

He was f

Presenter17:59

Mm-hmm.

Chaka Khan18:00

I love that raw quality.

Chaka Khan18:02

I'm like that in a person.

Presenter18:33

Miles Davis and Tomas. Chaku Khan, your teenage years took place during the civil rights era and they were a political awakening for you. You began organizing protests at school. Tell me, what what did you do at school? Do you remember the protests?

Chaka Khan18:48

Well, I was always the one that liked the cherry bombs in the lunchroom. Powell and everybody would see these

Presenter18:53

So these are what, like little firecracker things?

Chaka Khan18:55

Yeah, little bitty little bitty balls, little cherry things, put in the yellow pop. I'd put them in the trash. Everybody would run out. Just to, you know, get people to march around the school. We got rid of one principal. There was a teacher there named Jenkins, Mrs. Jenkins. She was Afrocentric. She wore a garb every day to school. Very beautiful, articulate. And she was on our side and telling us what was the right way to do it, what was the wrong way to do, to protest and things like that. The cherry bombs had to stop, of course. But I can see her right now, and I can hear her voice right now. She was my favorite teacher, period.

Presenter19:30

And this is around the time that you took the name Chukka.

Chaka Khan19:34

Dead.

Presenter19:34

Uh

Chaka Khan19:34

It's around that time.

Presenter19:34

I'm

Chaka Khan19:35

Which is a Yoruba name, I think. Yeah, Euroba, that's right. How how did um you come by it? We were um going on weekends to this place called the Afro Arts Theater.

Presenter19:35

Which is a Europa name, I think.

Chaka Khan19:45

The musicians who opened this theater, they were all Yoruba. It was a really good thing for all the black kids in the neighborhood who were targets. To have a place to go, a place to be safe. To be safe. And to be fed, to learn an instrument, to learn how to paint pictures, whatever.

Presenter20:06

Yeah.

Chaka Khan20:07

And and that was one of the highlights of my life.

Chaka Khan20:10

And that is also where I got my christening.

Presenter20:12

And what does your name mean? What was the meaning behind it?

Chaka Khan20:14

So Shaka Warrioris. Adune one who loves to touch. Adufei, one who loves to be touched. Of course, a man named me this. Shaka Dunjefe. Yimoya, woman of the waters. Saka Adune Ajufe. Hodari Karivi. Woman of nature. Karivi.

Presenter20:33

So Shaka, you were about sixteen when you joined the Black Panther Party, what drew you to the movement?

Chaka Khan20:38

At that time. But they were absolutely correct on every point, pretty much. They only believed in protecting themselves. I think a lot of people were fearful because it's called the Black Panthers. That's kind of strong. Well, it's okay. The thing is, they believed in self-defense and taking care of our people. I started a free breakfast for children's program. Things like that. We were really giving to the community.

Speaker 221:03

Yeah.

Chaka Khan21:04

But the thing that we did not like and and they that we did not go for

Chaka Khan21:09

And it's only fair that you were able to protect yourself.

Presenter21:14

And you knew the activist Fred Hampton. You attended many of his speeches. He was killed in nineteen sixty nine. What effect did his death have on you? A profound effect.

Chaka Khan21:24

I'm still mourning. But not re you know, I had to move on, but I love him. I know that hi in spirit he's around when he wants to be. But the way he went is ugly. He he was killed in the middle of the night. Yeah, they're asleep. Han or hand busts down the door and his guys.

Chaka Khan21:40

And it's the bubba ba ba ba ba ba.

Chaka Khan21:43

It's a miracle.

Presenter21:43

She was eight months pregnant, his his fiancé living next to him in the bed. It's a miracle.

Chaka Khan21:50

She didn't. Yeah.

Presenter21:51

Uh

Chaka Khan21:51

Uh

Presenter21:51

I think she made it. Did you feel that danger close to you at points?

Chaka Khan21:51

Yeah.

Chaka Khan21:55

No, I didn't feel in any da in any danger at all. I really didn't. In fact, I had a gun that came into my hands. I forget how I got it. But it made me sick having the gun all the time. I got really ill, physically ill. That's when I decided I was going to be a singer or an entertainer as opposed to dedicating my life to the Black Panthers. It took a weight off of me.

Presenter22:19

Well, let's go to the music then. Your fourth choice today, Shaka Khan. What's it gonna be? California.

Chaka Khan22:25

Is that Miss Joni Mitchell? A good friend of yours. Yeah, a very good friend of mine, my sister friend. She took me through a lot of madness on the road, on tour buses. All I did, go on stage, then get on the bus and go to the next city, get off the bus. Maybe we could have two or three hours in a hotel to shower and clean up everything. We'd get back on the bus, go to the gig. And same thing repeated itself over and over again. That's hard. And when I had the babies with me, that was extra hard. We were driving down south and we're a black and white band. This is where you first serve. Yeah, yeah, we're all walking into a truck stop to eat. And we used to get a lot of plaque. What y'all doing here? We were never welcome. There was always a static in the air, like something might happen or jump off. So we get our stuff to go all the time. We always say, that was our rule. Get you something to go. We'll eat it on the bus on the way out of here.

Presenter23:04

Yeah, yeah.

Speaker 223:18

Yeah.

Presenter23:18

So

Presenter23:24

No.

Presenter23:25

And Joni got you through those times, did she? Yes.

Chaka Khan23:28

I would go in my I had the the back stateroom, they call it. The baby had the bassinet, which is on top of the op motor, kept the baby asleep. And I open the windows

Chaka Khan23:40

Wide and blast her back there and looking at the dark. She helped me a great deal. Her songs, not just this song, it's one of her most beautiful songs. I love this song because I had moved to California, and whenever I got off the bus to go back home, I would feel so, so, so wonderful, so good. Good to come home, and I'd play California.

Speaker 224:06

Sitting in a park in Paris, France Reading the news and it sure looks bad They won't give peace a chance That was just a dream some of us had Still a lot of lands to see But I wouldn't wanna stay here It's too old and cold And settled in its ways here

Speaker 224:26

All the California, California, coming home.

Speaker 224:34

I'm gonna see the folks I dig.

Presenter24:36

Joni Mitchell and California from 1971's Blue Shaka. Would you have been friends with Joni by 71? Had you met by that state?

Chaka Khan24:43

No, I wasn't her friend then. We'd met, but we hadn't become tight. Shortly after.

Presenter24:47

Shortly afterwards. It was when you moved to California yourself.

Chaka Khan24:49

Yeah. That's right. We were both living in in Lowell Canyon.

Presenter24:52

What a neighbourhoods I mean

Chaka Khan24:52

I don't mean what

Presenter24:53

Yeah.

Chaka Khan24:53

Okay.

Presenter24:53

Let's go back to nineteen seventy though, because that was a formative year for you. You left school and you also got married. You married the bass player Hassan Khan, becoming Shaka Khan. You were just seventeen. You also went to see a band called Ask Rufus. At that time they were fronted by a singer called Paulette McWilliams. And I know that she had a big impact on you.

Chaka Khan25:07

And that's

Chaka Khan25:10

Okay.

Chaka Khan25:13

She did. Before I came to California, just before I met Paulette, she had a boyfriend named Howard, and he was a motorcycle guy. My ex-husband was also a motorcycle guy. So we started a motorcycle club. And that's how I met Paulette. And then I saw her singing with this group on Rush Street. Rush Street in Chicago is on the north side. And it's like maybe two or three blocks of just taverns. And there'd always be a live band there. So a lot of people got a lot of musicians got good work there. They got to work. I was playing at Rush Over.

Speaker 225:42

Yeah.

Chaka Khan25:45

And Rufus was playing at Rush Hop, owned by the same guy across the street from each other. So, on my break, I go over and see who's there. And I saw this beautiful young woman with this all-white band, and she had a big fro, and it was such a good look, you know. And she was singing, and they were singing all songs that they wrote. And that's what you want to do because we were doing songs on the hit parade, Slidestone, and name it, Region Franklin, name it. That's what I was doing over and over again. And I just wanted to write songs, but my band wasn't ready for that. So.

Chaka Khan26:21

I would sneak over and see her every break I got. We became friends. She would run across the street and see me on her breaks.

Chaka Khan26:28

One night she called me up on stage'cause I knew their songs. I was there already.

Presenter26:32

Are you a number one fan?

Chaka Khan26:34

Right. So, not long after that she quit the band. She wanted to go solo. And then

Chaka Khan26:40

Rivers snatched me up. I was able to choose what song I wanted to sing. That was new to me. I got some kind of freedom going. It was a tough.

Presenter26:48

Time for you in your personal life though, because you were going through a breakup in your marriage and you're pregnant at the same time. How was that received by you know I'm thinking of managers, like especially in the seventies, that would have been It was insane.

Chaka Khan27:02

Yeah.

Presenter27:02

That's crazy. Did you get pressure from record executives, managers?

Chaka Khan27:05

Absolutely. I would never sign with the label. I haven't for a long time, and I would just not do it ever again.

Presenter27:12

Good.

Chaka Khan27:12

It's it's not for me. Let's just put it that way.

Presenter27:15

Because I think there was a one music exec who, you know, questioned the idea of you, you know, how are you going to have this baby?

Chaka Khan27:22

Uh

Presenter27:22

Uh

Chaka Khan27:22

Yeah, he said, How am I going to make you famous if you're going to be having babies? I said, I'll tell you what, I'll be having babies with you, without you, over you, or under you. I'm just going to do my life. And actually,

Presenter27:31

You embraced and emphasized your pregnancy on stage during performance. Painting. Yeah.

Chaka Khan27:36

And so you would

Chaka Khan27:38

Yeah. Right.

Presenter27:39

Yeah. So the stars and moons and rainbows. Yeah, I mean, I think that would still be seen as radical. Back then it must have been.

Chaka Khan27:39

Yeah.

Chaka Khan27:47

Yeah.

Chaka Khan27:48

Yeah, but what's so risque about a big belly?

Chaka Khan27:51

Nobody thought it was ri was deep or anything. They thought it was very hippie-esque.

Presenter27:56

Yeah, yeah. And and obviously, you know, things took off for Rufus. Tell Me Something Good was a huge hit in nineteen seventy four. By that point you were a mother as well as a star. And I think that's going to be your next disc, your fifth today. So tell me the story behind this track,

Chaka Khan28:11

Well actually when we got this song it was I was pregnant.

Presenter28:15

Yeah, you recorded the album that this is taken from at something like Eight Months Pregnant, I think.

Chaka Khan28:19

I think really yeah, close. And we had a manager named Bob Monaco, lovely man. He told us, um, How'd you like to meet Stevie Wonder? And we were like, Yeah, right. Didn't think about it at all after that.

Chaka Khan28:32

Till the next night, Stevie shows up.

Chaka Khan28:36

Everybody almost fainted. The the track that he gave us I didn't like.

Chaka Khan28:40

I did tell him that.

Presenter28:41

Yeah.

Chaka Khan28:41

I said, have you got anything else? That's ballsy, though, to say to Steve when I'm not sure about this one. What was wrong with it? It wasn't right for us. I didn't like it. I knew he had more stuff.

Presenter28:51

Could have very

Chaka Khan28:52

My juice

Presenter28:52

Yeah.

Presenter28:54

A very cynical look.

Chaka Khan28:54

Very s-

Chaka Khan28:55

Cody.

Presenter28:55

Uh

Chaka Khan28:55

Yeah.

Presenter28:55

Yeah. THE

Chaka Khan28:55

Uh

Presenter28:55

Uh

Chaka Khan28:55

Yeah, I was like, I know you come on, you're Stevie Wonder.

Presenter28:55

Yeah.

Presenter28:58

Come on, you

Chaka Khan28:59

Come on, show me something else. And then when you said with that with the with whatever that instrument is, the waka ooh waka ooh and he played that. I said, Okay, this works. Didn't he ask your star sign? He said, asked me what was my birth sign. I told him Aries, Oh Then he got it why I was talking to him like that.

Presenter29:18

And and you collaborated on the lyrics but didn't get a

Chaka Khan29:21

Credit. To be bad, I didn't even care about the credit. I was happy.

Chaka Khan29:24

to have him interested enough in us to to come to our studio and to to work with to play with to give us. And he played on it, I mean too, a little bit, you know. So I was just happy about that.

Speaker 229:37

Tell me something good

Speaker 229:41

Tell me, tell me, tell me tell me that you love me, yeah.

Speaker 229:49

Tell me something good.

Speaker 229:54

Why not?

Speaker 229:56

Well the bat you like it, yeah.

Presenter30:06

Rufus and Shaku Khan, tell me something good.

Presenter30:11

Shaka, in nineteen seventy eight you decided to make a solo album, and that featured what would become one of your all time anthems, I'm Every Woman. Did you know that that track would be a smash hit when you recorded it?

Chaka Khan30:23

Well, I knew there'd be a lot of interest because I was very interested. I felt like this is something special that needs to be shouted out.

Presenter30:32

So what was it like for you to to be performance

Chaka Khan30:35

Solo to be out there on your own. It was hard at first because I'm used to having Tony and Bobby right there.

Chaka Khan30:42

We kinda should have stayed together, but I wonder if I'd be where I am today if we had.

Chaka Khan30:49

But I knew better. I just followed spirit, like I said. I followed my what my energy was telling me to do and

Speaker 230:52

Uh

Presenter30:52

Not

Chaka Khan30:55

It works.

Presenter30:56

What was the difficult part? Was it performing? Was it just missing having your friends around you?

Chaka Khan31:00

I wanna here's the deal. We voted we were very Democratic and we voted on what songs I would sing and they would play. And I got tired of that. There were so many things I wanted to do.

Speaker 231:11

Mm.

Chaka Khan31:12

that I I wasn't able to do because of the boat.

Chaka Khan31:15

I'm the only girl. And it, you know, it it was lopsided. So I I said, I just really want to do sing what I want to sing.

Presenter31:23

And it worked, as you say. You reached new heights of success as a solo artist. By the mid eighties, you're a huge star, I feel for you, through the fire, massive hits. Did you get to enjoy that success? It can be quite a treadmill once you get there.

Chaka Khan31:27

By the middle

Chaka Khan31:38

Well, at the beginning it was okay, but it got to where what did I do?

Chaka Khan31:43

What happened? What did I do?

Presenter31:46

Yeah.

Chaka Khan31:46

Yeah.

Presenter31:46

You'd bitten off more than you could chew, is what I was saying in the UK, yeah. And you were touring extensively, and obviously you had you know, you had your daughter, uh, Malini, by this point.

Chaka Khan31:48

It was a bit in the UK, yeah.

Chaka Khan31:55

Yeah.

Presenter31:56

And I think that was when you started to have drug problems as well. Was that connected to tourism?

Chaka Khan32:00

Let me tell you, I was having drug problems, and I would put myself in rehab and get straight, and I'd do it again. I had the worst of a record label, I had the worst record label. They were the meanest people to artists. Real one-sided thing. I mean, it was in the Hollywood syndrome. A lot of people don't even survive that. Everybody I knew was out of it, trying to survive and trying to stay off, you know, a lot of negativity, but you can't because it's the whole thing was made to enslave you.

Presenter32:33

So a kind of exploitative system that you were entrapped by was how

Chaka Khan32:37

Yeah.

Presenter32:37

Yeah.

Chaka Khan32:38

And then I was in a marriage that wasn't working. I was working really hard.

Presenter32:40

Mm-hmm.

Presenter32:42

Yeah.

Chaka Khan32:42

I was working my behind of my my very tush was gone and that's all I was doing. I you know, I'm not making excuses for wh where I'm at or what happened to me then, but uh that was the int impetus for, you know

Speaker 232:48

Mm.

Chaka Khan32:58

It it just started a whole fireball of reaction. Um I'm just a human being like everybody else.

Presenter33:04

And were your friends, family, the people around you? Were they worried about you? They must have been.

Chaka Khan33:07

Yeah, of course they were.

Presenter33:08

Yeah.

Chaka Khan33:08

Yeah, they were worried.

Presenter33:09

So they could see that you were struggling.

Chaka Khan33:12

With myself.

Presenter33:12

Uh

Chaka Khan33:13

Like you see, I'm I'm a sensitive person. I'm I'm very sensitive. Sometimes I come off like I'm like a hardcore, but I'm not really hardcore. I just just I have to be.

Presenter33:23

Yeah.

Chaka Khan33:23

In this world, sometimes I have to act like that because They went all over you.

Presenter33:27

And I think that can be difficult when you're trying to clean up, but you're not getting that support from the people that you're working with. You're their income streaming.

Chaka Khan33:34

Do you clean up if you

Chaka Khan33:36

That took you there. I come back off of a six-month tour. That right there is scary as heck if you know how it went from day to day to day. It was insanity. And I had to hold everything up. If I wasn't singing, there's no show. Yeah. And that's a lot of responsibility on one person. Yeah, I was trying to escape. How bad did things get for you?

Chaka Khan33:57

Well, not bad enough that I'm not here. I'm still here today. And I don't look so bad. I don't think I don't look like a an addict. You know, I'm doing all right.

Chaka Khan34:07

You know, I got I got the proper care that I really needed.

Presenter34:11

What was the thing that pushed you to that place where, because you have to be ready to receive it, I think you have to be in the right mindset.

Chaka Khan34:17

Mine.

Chaka Khan34:18

I was using what I was w the drugs that I was doing uh to help me wake up in the morning, to help me go to sleep at night. It wasn't for to have a good time, Sally.

Speaker 234:28

Mm-hmm.

Chaka Khan34:28

Once I got things more in order and pulled back and didn't say yes to everything.

Chaka Khan34:35

That's when I started getting better.

Presenter34:37

Charcoaletti, your next disc. It's another track of yours. Tell us about it. It's called Woman.

Chaka Khan34:43

Women in a man's world. And it's cute. It's really sweet. And the guitar that he's playing is so sweet. It's adorable. And I loved the melody. I fell in love with the melody first. And then when I heard the words, I was like, oh, this is great. This is perfect. It's a sweet song about the trials and tribulations of being a female in this world today.

Presenter35:06

And you have been a woman in a man's world. I mean, the music industry was very much a man's world, especially when you were coming up in the 70s and into the 80s. Absolutely.

Chaka Khan35:14

Yeah.

Presenter35:15

Do you think things have changed for the better?

Chaka Khan35:17

Yeah, what's her name? Katie Minogue or these girls. These girls

Presenter35:20

This is

Chaka Khan35:21

They think it. They don't know.

Chaka Khan35:24

You know, it's a business. And when you put business and heartfelt something and your heart together, they really don't they don't mix easily. It's not a good combination. But there is a way that you can get the respect that you deserve.

Presenter35:38

What advice do you give to younger artists when they ask you? Because I know you're a mentor to many.

Chaka Khan35:38

It's

Chaka Khan35:42

Yeah. I tell them, you know, read. Read a lot about the about the this business. I had to live it do it the hard way. I had to you know experience it, but you.

Chaka Khan35:53

Can read it all about it and be on point with it, treat it like a business, kind of.

Chaka Khan36:00

And when you're singing, that's when you're off. But then when you get on the stage, it's back to business. That's when work happens.

Speaker 236:11

Oh man.

Speaker 236:12

Go

Speaker 236:19

The dream of my own

Speaker 236:22

I carry my own weight, and still they try to drag me down.

Presenter36:40

It's so sweetly said. It is sweetly said and sweetly sung. A woman in a man's world, Shaka Khan. So Shaka, in the late eighties you moved to London. Was it an escape for you?

Chaka Khan36:52

Yeah, I needed to like to to breathe some different air.

Chaka Khan36:56

Be around some different people. I was sick of the grind and the daily stuff and looking at the same faces every day. I was just sick of it. And I just wanted to live another way. I was living between London and Germany. And so I was back and forth. It was good for me.

Presenter37:13

Yeah.

Chaka Khan37:13

It helped me.

Presenter37:14

And you took on some new challenges as well. I mean, you were in the West End performing in a musical, which was very different for you. Yes.

Presenter37:23

I can't read that expression.

Chaka Khan37:26

God, it was work. You talk about hard labor. I'm telling you, you'll never see me at a n a musical again. I'll go see some. I mean, I could I'll be the musical, but I will not be in it.

Presenter37:26

Yeah.

Presenter37:38

You did return to Los Angeles in the late nineties, and I think that was around the time that your sister Tammy organized an intervention and you went to rehab and everything really clicked for you and came together at that point. Tell me about that. When did you know that you'd turned a corner and that things were going in the right direction?

Chaka Khan37:55

When I turned a corner, I didn't plan it, it happens. He's just okay, enough, I'm done. Next Yeah.

Presenter38:01

Real next girl.

Chaka Khan38:02

Zero.

Presenter38:03

So the next thing was in 98 you released Come to My House. That was a collaboration with your friend Prince. How did the two of you meet?

Chaka Khan38:11

Oh my gosh, that's a crazy one. Um, I was um in California and I had a friend still have a great friend named Eddie Diamond. We drove to San Francisco just to hang out, just to chill. We were in a nice hotel. Nobody knew where I was. And

Chaka Khan38:27

The phone rang, so I answered the phone. It was Sly Stone. Sly and I were friends.

Chaka Khan38:33

And we used to get a hi together. Okay, he was a good friend. I said, I'm coming right now. So I hung up and Eddie and I drove for a long, long time to get to the studios and like nobody was there. So there were no cars outside. And the door was open. So we went in and it was black, dark in there.

Chaka Khan38:51

I looked down the hall, and the very last cubicle down there was lit up. I said, Maybe he's the last one down there, so let's go down there and see. We walk down, we walk in, and there's an engineer. He looks at me and he looks at Prince. And then Prince is still playing his fiddling with his guitar. I said, Is have you seen Sly around here anywhere? He said, No, Sly's not here. We're the only ones here. I said, So

Chaka Khan39:16

That guy, did he do you know if he called me? He says, Probably. I said, Put it on the speaker I said, Did you call me saying that you were sli did y So the engineer had called you? No, no, the engineer did not call me. It was Prince. So Prince had called you pretending to be a slice dog?

Presenter39:24

So the engineer

Presenter39:28

Yeah.

Presenter39:29

Pretending to be Sly Stone? Yes, and how did he get my number? How did he know when I was in the middle of the year? And you sly stone, so how did he do such a good sly stone impression? He fools you.

Chaka Khan39:33

I do use like

Chaka Khan39:37

Because she's so talented.

Chaka Khan39:39

Well, this is before he was anybody knew who he was. Nobody was

Presenter39:42

But before printing.

Chaka Khan39:43

Uh

Presenter39:43

Uh

Chaka Khan39:43

This was

Presenter39:43

Uh

Chaka Khan39:43

He was working on his friends.

Presenter39:44

He was still Prince Nelson at that stage.

Chaka Khan39:46

Yeah, yeah. So were you annoyed at this point? Yes, I was hopping mad.

Chaka Khan39:51

I drove all the way over there to see some sh little short guy playing a guitar who nobody knew. So he fessed up. He said, Yes, it was me. It was me. Then what? I just left. And after that, he called me again when I got back to LA. He gets he's like the with the CIA or some stuff.

Presenter39:59

It was me.

Chaka Khan40:07

And he explained himself. He was apologizing. He said, Look, I do really good music. My CD is coming out soon. Can we just talk on the phone? We'll just be friends.

Chaka Khan40:17

I said, Well, I don't know you. I don't know. If you can get my phone over without me giving it to you, I don't like that. But we started talking on the phone. He would send me flowers and he was very just a nice fella.

Presenter40:27

So over the years that became a really deep friendship.

Chaka Khan40:30

We got friendly enough to trust each other. He showed me a lot of the good tracks that he was doing and stuff like that. And we wrote some stuff together.

Presenter40:39

What was it like working together? The t the dynamic between

Chaka Khan40:41

It was like he probably felt like it was two of him and I felt like it was two of me.

Presenter40:46

Uh

Chaka Khan40:46

It

Chaka Khan40:47

You know, we were like-minded. What's

Chaka Khan40:50

Exactly.

Presenter40:51

Yeah. Yeah.

Chaka Khan40:51

Yeah.

Presenter40:51

It's hard to believe that he's been gone over ten years now. It was his anniversary in April.

Chaka Khan40:56

I remember like yesterday. I can't believe it either. It hurt. I was.

Chaka Khan41:02

hurt and pained. I just all I when I you know when somebody like that friends or

Presenter41:07

Are you thinking of Whitney?

Chaka Khan41:08

Yeah, went to Houston. I loved her.

Presenter41:09

Yeah, what do you think?

Presenter41:10

Cool.

Chaka Khan41:11

And she loved me. We were just the we were just laughing all the time. I don't think that force just stops. I don't want to sound creep creepy, but I sense, you know, their presence.

Chaka Khan41:24

From time to time.

Presenter41:25

And we've still got the music too, which doesn't hurt. Speaking of which, it's time to hear your next track, if you wouldn't mind, Shaka Khan. What's it gonna be?

Chaka Khan41:32

Uh Um it's a Johnny song, isn't it?

Presenter41:34

This is Joni Mitchell and Willie Nelson.

Chaka Khan41:35

Willie Nell

Presenter41:36

Yeah.

Chaka Khan41:36

I love Willie Nelson and she does too, obviously. They did this beautiful it's a country song and it's called Cool Water. And it's about two people being on the desert pining for some cool, clear water. It's the perfect choice for the desert island. Isn't it just

Speaker 241:59

Uh

Speaker 242:04

In my mind I see a big green tree.

Speaker 242:08

And a river flow for you

Speaker 242:11

We're waiting up ahead

Speaker 242:13

For you and me.

Presenter42:24

Cool Water Jonie Mitchell with Willie Nelson.

Presenter42:28

Shaka Khan, you relish working with the very best in music from every generation and we've talked about your long relationship friendship with Joni Mitchell, but recently you've been working with artists like Seer and producer Switch. Are you equals in the studio or are they a little bit

Chaka Khan42:45

In awe of you. It's funny. You know, musicians, when we're working together, when we meet, it's one thing. When we work together, it's like opening up your chest, opening your chest, and everybody's.

Chaka Khan42:55

Got their heart out there, so it's all this is a good thing.

Presenter42:58

And what does singing feel like for you at this stage in your life? How does it make you feel?

Chaka Khan43:02

Can you fix on where I'm seeing?

Presenter43:02

Did you feel time?

Chaka Khan43:04

And what I'm thinking, doesn't it? On stage, it's a special place because you are.

Chaka Khan43:10

Singing to a mass

Chaka Khan43:12

of love that's coming back to you. That's something that is what m uh people miss, you know, and they can't get that love.

Chaka Khan43:22

It's powerful. It's a powerful thing.

Presenter43:24

Do you feel that connection with your fans? Does their love

Chaka Khan43:27

Totally connected with them. Yes, absolutely.

Presenter43:30

What do they mean to you?

Chaka Khan43:31

And they mean everything to me. They mean everything to me. These are people that love me. They have a love for me.

Chaka Khan43:38

They don't even know me. But you can't tell them they don't know me. There's a a bit of truth about that.

Chaka Khan43:45

'Cause I am the most vulnerable and open when I'm singing. It's just like I'm an open, vulnerable heart and they are open, vulnerable hearts too. And we all get the heart thing going. It's it's it's it's it's it's really something special.

Presenter43:57

And your life offstage is obviously completely different, as you mentioned earlier. You live on an estate and

Chaka Khan44:01

Morning.

Chaka Khan44:02

State I like it.

Presenter44:05

So tell me about your place. You're out in the country, you're surrounded by beautiful scenery. I know you have a lot of animals.

Chaka Khan44:12

Well, not a lot yet. I'm still working on that, but I do have two or three horses. I have chickens, free-range chickens. We get these lovely eggs with a dark orange yolk. This is so good. We have dogs, and I have geese and ducks. We have a hawk that flies over my lake, and it's his lake, it's his area.

Chaka Khan44:33

And that's where he hunts. And I just love it when I could go someplace and not hear anything.

Chaka Khan44:41

But thunder when it rains. Every time it rains there.

Presenter44:43

Okay.

Chaka Khan44:45

It's done.

Presenter44:45

Under

Presenter44:47

You're about to be cast away to a desert island, Shaka, on this programme.

Chaka Khan44:49

Ms. Dear Mm.

Presenter44:53

No?

Chaka Khan44:54

No. Why not? I just don't don't like the whole idea of having water 360 gig around.

Presenter44:59

All being being kind of waterlocked is is not for you. Okay, I see. What about being alone? I mean, you know. I'm alone. I'm I'm I'm alone. I'm on an island of of sorts. So you're okay with the isolation? I'm good. And we've heard you're a survivor. So do you think you'll be okay on your desert island? I mean, do you think you can handle it?

Chaka Khan45:02

It's not for you. Okay, I see.

Chaka Khan45:06

Gum

Chaka Khan45:09

The European

Chaka Khan45:18

Yeah I'd final.

Presenter45:19

Boy.

Chaka Khan45:19

Oh, I'd make some arrows and bows and I'd be shooting some sharks and eating it. Will you you'd be all right.

Presenter45:25

Uh Yeah. Well, before we cast you away, we'd love to hear your final track today. It's your last choice, Shakakan. What is it? I would love to.

Chaka Khan45:34

Put this up, but I don't know why. Because this man, Richard Smallwood, is a genius. I didn't know about him and find out about him until late in both our lives. He is the greatest pianist that I have ever heard. Gospel piano player. I occasionally sing gospel. I'm not a real gospel, you know, singer. I don't consider myself at all. You know, I grew up with the Catholics singing, you know, other stuff. And I love gospel music. He just left us, left this realm about three months ago. And it kind of broke my heart because I was ready to do a CD with him too.

Chaka Khan46:15

And he's such a beautiful human being. And he wrote this song for me. And it's called Precious Is Your Name.

Chaka Khan46:22

And he's not referring to me, he's referring to God. And it's a beautiful song.

Speaker 246:31

Lord, you shall forever reign.

Speaker 246:40

Glory is yours, oh, how we reverence your name.

Speaker 246:49

Oh my

Presenter46:55

Precious is your name, Richard Smallwood, featuring Shaka Khan. So, Shaka, the time has come. I'm going to send you away to the desert island. I'll give you the books to take with you. You'll have the Bible, the complete works of Shakespeare, and you can take one other book of your choice. What's it going to be?

Chaka Khan47:12

Well, I think that might be a book by Kaloga Brown. It's my favorite book. It's called The Prophet. And it's a book, you know, that breaks it all down for you about life, family, work, play, everything. And this is a guy that was alive a long time ago. And he was a great prophet, a great genius. So will it help you on the desert island? No, because a lot of this book talks about interactions between other people, how to be in a family, what the mother is supposed to do, how the father is supposed to think, do, and whatever. And what children are to a person. It's a beautiful, beautiful, very enlightening book. I was enlightened a big time.

Presenter47:36

Yeah.

Presenter47:59

We'll also give you a luxury item shaker. What would you like?

Chaka Khan48:02

Well, you bring my American spirits. I'll be okay as long as I have some cigarettes.

Presenter48:09

Apart from your cigarettes, I think you wanted a scented candle. How could I miss that? Candles are so close to

Chaka Khan48:13

I mean, like already here it's

Presenter48:16

So you always have scented candles.

Chaka Khan48:17

I always have candles burning, yeah.

Presenter48:19

You do. I mean, if it's not too personal, a comment is you smell fantastic, Shaka. When you came in, I was like.

Chaka Khan48:23

Yeah.

Presenter48:26

I just wanted to breathe you in. Well, that's probably my perfume you're smelling, presenting. So you're a smells person. Yeah. So it's going to be important to have the scented candle on your hands. Absolutely. Something that smells.

Chaka Khan48:26

I just wanted to

Chaka Khan48:29

So you're

Chaka Khan48:31

Yes.

Chaka Khan48:35

That was really nice.

Presenter48:35

What what should it smell of? I think you'd requested a sandalwood, is that right?

Chaka Khan48:39

Yes, sandalwood and I could find that on an island, most likely. I could find it and make my own oil.

Presenter48:44

I like that idea.

Chaka Khan48:45

I found some things, some flowers or plants and bits that I like.

Presenter48:48

have a little fragrance factory going. That'll keep you busy. Yeah, it will. Beautiful. It's yours. The gigantic sandalwood candle is yours, Chaka. And finally, which one track of the eight that you've shared with us today would you save from the waves first if you needed to?

Chaka Khan48:49

Yeah.

Chaka Khan48:51

Yeah, beautiful.

Chaka Khan48:53

The jika

Chaka Khan48:55

Yours, Chucker.

Chaka Khan49:02

If I was being washed off of an island and I couldn't do anything about it and I was scared, I knew the Richard Smallwood thingy I'd do, I'd call out for Spirit.

Presenter49:11

Here

Presenter49:12

Some spiritual guidance. Yeah, that's not a bad idea.

Chaka Khan49:13

And so that's not a bad idea.

Presenter49:15

Shaka Khan, thank you very much for letting us hear your desert island discs. It was my pleasure.

Chaka Khan49:20

Talking to you. It was really good. I had a good time. Thank you.

Presenter49:35

Hello, it was lovely chatting to Chaka. I expect her candle will make her island the best smelling in Desert Island Discs history. There are more than 2,000 programmes in our archive that you can listen to. We've cast away many other music legends including Nil Rogers and Sher. And of course Shaka's records have been chosen by previous castaways too, including Simon Pegg and David Harewood. You can hear all of those programmes if you search through BBC Sounds or on our own Desert Island Discs website. The studio manager for today's programme was Jackie Marjoram, the production coordinator was Susie Roylands, the editor was Mugabe Turia and the producers were Hannah Hufford and Tim Banno.

Speaker 350:44

Hello, I'm Greg Jenner. I'm the host of You're Dead to Me, the comedy podcast that takes history seriously. And we are back for a 12th series. Everyone in that film is wearing their own pants. We'll be joined by comedians like Kyle Smith Bino and Desiree Birch. Can't see how this would go wrong. We'll meet many medieval saints. Motivational speaker saint with a sort of Madonna head mic on. We're doing a history of underwear. Plus, there's loads more. You're Dead to Me. Listen on BBC Sounds.

Speaker 250:59

Yeah.