Post your questions for Chaka Khan

The list of people who have lined up to work with Chaka Khan is a who's who of 20th-century music history. Stevie Wonder wrote her breakout hit Tell Me Something Good and played harmonica on I Feel for You. Whitney Houston sang backing vocals on her second album. Miles Davis played on 1988's CK and likened her voice to his trumpet. She turned down Ike Turner's invite to join the Ikettes and almost appeared on Robert Palmer's Addicted to Love, before her management vetoed the collaboration. She has collaborated with Joni Mitchell, Quincy Jones, De La Soul, Mary J Blige … and even Bombay Bicycle Club and Rick Wakeman.
That's not to mention her indelible hits: Ain't Nobody with her first band, 70s funk outfit Rufus; I'm Every Woman, later covered by Houston. Fans seeing Khan live at Hampton Court Palace this summer can look forward to a tour de force by the Queen of Funk – and before then, Guardian readers can ask her all about her career when she sits for the reader interview. Maybe you want to know about her befriending Fred Hampton and joining the Black Panthers as a young woman growing up in Chicago in the 60s; entering the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2023 and curating the Meltdown festival last year; her forthcoming tour with Gladys Knight, Patti LaBelle and Stephanie Mills as the Queens and her recent appearance in Questlove's Sly Stone documentary Sly Lives!
Post your questions in the comments by 10am GMT on Friday 21 March and we'll publish the best answers in a future issue of Film & Music.

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Wales Online

3 days ago

• Wales Online

Council's cavalier attitude criticised as Stevie Wonder and Alanis Morissette music events are set to take over city centre park

Council's cavalier attitude criticised as Stevie Wonder and Alanis Morissette music events are set to take over city centre park Council leader Huw Thomas hit back highlighting the economic contribution the events will have on the city The first gig of Blackweir Live will take place on Friday, June 27, (Image: WalesOnline/Rob Browne ) Cardiff residents have expressed their concerns during a public meeting called to discuss a series of upcoming music events happening at Blackweir Fields. The gigs, named Blackweir Live, will see names such as Noah Kahan, Alanis Morissette, and Stevie Wonder appear on stage at Blackweir Fields over a number of days in June and July. However, there have been concerns raised about the potential for large-scale gigs on the Fields, which are part of Bute Park, with park users citing the impact it could have on access to green space and grassroots sport. You can read more about this here. ‌ At Cathays Community Centre on Thursday evening, Cardiff residents, including members of the Cardiff Civic Society and Friends of Bute Park, voiced their worries, with Councillor Huw Thomas - the leader of Cardiff Council, in attendance to answer questions and speak on behalf of the council. Never miss a Cardiff story by signing up to our daily newsletter here . ‌ The speaker at the meeting, Fiona Peel, stressed that while residents were "in favour of the council being a good steward of [the] park" and that most were in support of the arts, she added: "But we also support our park and that's the dilemma, of where to put an ability where the council does rightly want to make some money, but to what cost?" The fencing area for Blackweir Live has recently been put in place for the summer shows in Cardiff (Image: WalesOnline/Rob Browne ) Jim Bischoff, a member of Friends of Bute Park, carried the same sentiment and said: "I would totally support the music scene for Cardiff. Article continues below "The Cardiff Council's idea into a welcoming place for such stars are Stevie Wonder, Alanis Morissette. But what we do object to is the council's cavalier attitude towards Bute Park, which is managed for the people of Cardiff." Jim Bischoff, a member of the Friends of Bute Park, at the Cathays Community Centre (Image: WalesOnline ) Key decision makers at Cardiff Council and the leader of the local authority, Cllr Huw Thomas, have previously argued that funds from the events will help protect grassroots music venues and the city's parks. ‌ There is already a licence covering Blackweir Fields for events of up to 25,000 people and the land has been used for a firework display in the past. In order for the events to run as planned, a licence to allow events of up to 35,000 people was needed. The licence that's now been approved for Blackweir Fields has 46 conditions attached to it to manage future events correctly and to try and mitigate any potential negative impacts. Under the licence, there can only be six main event days during the year, which you can read more about here. However, various concerns were brought up during the meeting in Cathays, including the adverse effects the corporate events at Blackweir Fields could have on local residents, the loss of access for the general public during various times in the summer and the felling of trees in Bute Park for access to these events. ‌ The treasurer of Friends of Bute Park, Ashley Martin, said: "We're here tonight because we're very concerned about the future of Bute Park. Ashley Martin is the treasurer of Friends of Bute Park (Image: WalesOnline ) "The council's short term gain policy has seen commercial interest take precedence over the rights of the residents of Cardiff who use and enjoy Bute Park every day of the year. ‌ "Blackweir Live will attract an audience largely from outside the city, making money for the council and the promoters, but disrupting the lives of local residents and taking the fields out of use for sports and leisure. "Blackweir Fields has been designated as an events site. A license is for a capacity of up to 35,000 people and has been granted in perpetuity - forever. We want to see this overturned". In response, council leader Huw Thomas highlighted the economic contribution such events would have on the city, which would then allow the council to continue maintaining its parks for the future. ‌ Fiona Peel called on a review following the meeting (Image: WalesOnline ) While he acknowledged that one of the council's ambitions was to make Cardiff a "greener city", he also said he wanted to make the Welsh capital a "music city". He said: "We are building an indoor arena down in Cardiff Bay to meet that gap in the city's music venue offering. ‌ "But what's happened over the last three years is a huge growth in appetite for live music, outside, in the summer, in particular in the grounds of Cardiff Castle but with larger acts attracting bigger crowds." He then added: "The opportunity came to us as a council last summer. Depot, which is obviously a Cardiff-based promoter, had this opportunity to bring acts. "They identified Blackweir as a location where this could be held. 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In reply, Councillor Huw Thomas said: "I have no objection to that, whatsoever. It's entirely reasonable, so let's do that. "We want to get this right, and if it can't be done right, then we reflect and change our plans. You talked about balance, this is exactly what we are trying to achieve here." Article continues below

Times

5 days ago

• Times

Children with painted faces at event in India — and other news in pictures

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Glasgow Times

11-06-2025

• Glasgow Times

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