Chaka Khan: “I’ll Not Do Another Tour”
Chaka Khan has looked back on some career highlights and struggles in a new interview with Rolling Stone.
Khan reflected on a year that saw her finally induced into the Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame and suggested she might wind down her touring activity, “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 about her artistic legacy, Khan was forthright, “I don’t really care. 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 went on to consider what her younger self would make of her success, “She’d say, ‘Really?’ I never, ever once thought that I’d be as well-known as I am today. Because that happened totally without my having to do anything with it, [besides] just my songs. I didn’t have great people presenting me in a big way to the world. I am still amazed at how loved I am in this industry.”
The singer also reflected on what moving to Georgia meant to her, “I got a peace of mind. I’m looking for Bigfoot, I’m looking for Sasquatch because I’m surrounded by this forest and it’s just beautiful. I got a lake right here. I’m looking at a lake in the forest every day when I get up. I sit outside and breathe in pure oxygen. I’m drinking tap water from my well. I’m getting ready to plant this summer. I’m going to grow my own vegetables and grow a lot of my own herbs. So I’m looking forward to that. And then I plan to get a couple of horses. And I have plans to live life. Real life.