CHAKA KHAN TO HONORED THIS WEEKEND: With 'Legend Award' at the 2003 World Music Awards in Monaco.
Also This Month, the Vocal Diva's New Autobiography, Chaka! Through The Fire, From Rodale Books, Hits the Stores


Chaka Khan
(Oct. 17, 2003) LOS ANGELES /PRNewswire/ -- If ever an artist was perfectly suited to receive an honor titled the Legend Award, it would be the 8X GRAMMY(R)-winning superstar Chaka Khan. She will in fact be the recipient of exactly that, in recognition of her lifetime achievements and extraordinary contributions to the world of music, when the 15th annual World Music Awards are taped live in Monaco on October 12.

The Awards will be televised in the United States October 18, as well as broadcast in 160 countries around the globe, reaching upwards of 1 billion viewers. In addition to being honored, Chaka will also show the world just what a legend is made of, as she performs two of her timeless hits from the stage at the Sporting Club in Monte Carlo, where the ceremony takes place.

The truly legendary Chaka Khan is one of the most readily identifiable -- and widely imitated -- female vocalists of her time. Rolling Stone Magazine has written, "Her voice is an instrument of knowingness, carnality, spirituality and intellect. If melted caramel had a sound, this would be it: rich, warm and enveloping." That sound has been winning fans the world over and setting standards in almost every musical genre -- pop, R&B, rock disco, fusion, jazz, hip-hop and more -- for over three decades now.

She has amassed eight GRAMMY Awards, most recently in 2003 for Best R&B Traditional Vocal Performance with her inspired reinvention of the Marvin Gaye classic "What's Going On." Khan is the driving force behind four platinum and seven gold albums, and a stunning ten #1 hits in a career as vital today as when it first took off.

Chaka originally became a household name in the early 1970s as lead singer for the funk-rock fusion phenomenon Rufus -- best known as Rufus featuring Chaka Khan. Groundbreaking as one of the first multi-racial bands in pop music, they topped the charts five times, toured with the Rolling Stones and Stevie Wonder, and aced hits including "Ain't Nobody," and "Tell Me Something Good," which Wonder wrote for Chaka.

The ascendant diva's solo career exploded in the late '70s with the Ashford & Simpson-penned #1 smash "I'm Every Woman." Since then, over the course of nine albums, Chaka Khan has delivered unforgettable hits including "What Cha Gonna Do For Me?," "Clouds," "I Feel For You," and "Through The Fire." She has collaborated with a stellar assemblage of music greats, including Quincy Jones, Joni Mitchell, Gladys Knight, Phil Collins, Arif Mardin, Mary J. Blige and Miles Davis. Her forthcoming album, a star-studded 30th anniversary musical celebration, is slated for an early 2004 release.

Right now, the artist's new autobiographical volume Chaka! Through The Fire, published this month by Rodale (with distribution through St. Martin's Press), is available in stores everywhere. Opening with the line, "A lot of people think it's a miracle that I didn't wind up like Hendrix or Joplin," the book exposes the personal journey parallel to Khan's chart-topping, award- laden celebrity. For the first time, Chaka tells all about her struggles with -- and recovery from -- substance abuse and overspending, as well as the travails of failed relationships and broken marriages. An intimate, insider's view of a singular talent, Chaka's story, as vividly chronicled in her new memoir, is ultimately a testament to her resilient spirit.

Fifty this year, Chaka Khan now revels in the joys of her children and grandchildren, and the full bounty of meaningful projects in her life. And, she gives back all things good in great measure via the Chaka Khan Foundation, a non-profit organization whose guiding mission is to assist at-risk women and children through a broad spectrum of programs and cultural, health and educational initiatives.

Like her own life journey, the portrait of Chaka as an artist remains a work in progress, but there's no doubt she's a living legend, a creative triumph that will be honored next week in Monte Carlo. Paying tribute to the music industry's top-selling artists since 1989, the World Music Awards are bestowed under the High Patronage of H.S.H. Prince Albert of Monaco, and all proceeds from the 2003 event go towards building the Princess Grace Hospital and School in Africa. This year's ceremony will include performances by 50 Cent, Pink, Mariah Carey, George Benson, Ashanti, and the presentation of the Legend Award -- the World Music Award's highest honor -- to the one and only Chaka Khan.

For more information on Chaka Khan, log onto http://www.ChakaKhan.com


You can check her pix from the pre4mance over here:


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[This message was edited Sat Oct 18 11:01:42 PDT 2003 by Harlepolis]

Well deserved. Now if someone could only find it fit to bestow upon my girl Teena Marie...

violator said:

I'm gonna see Teena Marie in concert with Rick James in November.Their tour has begun!

DavidEye said:

were at? and why didnt u invite me?

Go Girl!

DavidEye said:

Next week Rick will recieve the Hot Pipe award...

sosgemini said:

At the San Jose State Event Center on November 8.That's the same place that Prince played in 1997 and 2000.

Finess said:

LOL! That ain't right! Leave our boy Rick alone!!

DavidEye said:

Damn! Why am I JUST finding out they're performing in Upper Marlboro, MD on Oct. 30th? I hope there are some tix left, but what I was really hoping for was something closer to Baltimore!!