Chaka Khan has said she “will not do another tour” because “I got this rich-ass life.”
Khan said in an interview with Rolling Stone that she wasn’t planning on completely retiring from performing live, but intends on stopping touring.
Elaborating on her decision, Khan said she now had more going on in her life than just music. “Some people, that’s all they have, you know? I got this rich-ass life. I’ve got great-grandchildren I want to get to know better. So I will not do another tour. I’ll do dates, but it won’t look like a tour. They’ll be far enough apart that I can have time to sleep in between.”
When asked if she’d ever retire entirely, she said: “Well, I might do that three or four times, like other bitches do.”
Khan was also asked about her legacy, which she said she was fairly unbothered about. “I don’t really care,” she explained. “I would hope that some of my shit has some longevity, but if it doesn’t, that’ll be because hopefully somebody better has come along. I just hope that the art form doesn’t get so screwed up with stupid shit — kids today think that every instrument can be played on a keyboard. Instruments have to be introduced once again to these kids.”
Khan recently teamed up with Bombay Bicycle Club for the track ‘Tekken 2’, which frontman Jack Steadman said he initially felt ‘embarrassed’ about recording.
Speaking with The Guardian, he recalled flying to Los Angeles to go to a recording session at an upmarket studio near her home, but soon felt a bit ‘embarrassed’ when it became clear he had no intention of using any of the impressive sound equipment.
“I have this funny memory of walking in and the mixing desk was the size of an entire house,” he explained. “I’d just brought my laptop and plugged Chaka into that, but I thought it was so embarrassing that I wasn’t using all this stuff.”
“[I felt daunted ] until I stepped into the room,” he added. “Chaka’s family all showed up and the whole vibe was so communal and supportive. And Chaka herself was really down to earth. I immediately felt relaxed.”
