“I came to sing,” the “I’m Every Woman” musician said.

Chaka Khan says modern pop stars who use their ‘butts,’ ‘body parts’ on stage are ‘compensating for what they don’t have’

"I came to sing," the "I'm Every Woman" musician said.

By Wesley Stenzel

Wesley Stenzel

Wesley Stenzel is a news writer at **. He began writing for EW in 2022.

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March 27, 2026 3:08 p.m. ET

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Chaka Khan in Los Angeles on Feb. 1, 2026. Credit:

Amy Sussman/Getty

Chaka Khan isn't too impressed with how the pop music industry has evolved.

The "I Feel for You" singer sounded off on contemporary stars' emphasis on production value and theatrics in an interview with the *Table Manners* podcast

"These women are doing any and every damn thing on stage, and trying to sing, too," Khan said. "And the ones that are doing the most physicalities — their butts and stuff, and their body parts — are the ones that usually are compensating for what they don't have."

Charles Sykes/Bravo via Getty

Khan acknowledged that the perceived shift toward elaborate choreography and maximalist showmanship is an industry-wide phenomenon. "The game has changed," she said. "All bets are off."

The "Through the Fire" singer said that delivering a strong vocal performance is always her primary concern as a musician. "I came to *sing*, and I came to really do a good job," she said. "And that's hard work. I don't feel like it's hard work once I'm doing it. I feel great."

She also noted that her process isn't particularly complicated. "It's not rocket science for me," she said. "I've never had a singing teacher that was on the road for me. We do warm up, though."

Khan is not one to bite her tongue while discussing her fellow pop stars. She candidly slammed *Rolling Stone*'s 200 Greatest Singers list — which placed her at No. 29 — in a 2023 interview with *Los Angeles *magazine's* The Originals* podcast.

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Khan suggested that Mariah Carey reaching the No. 5 slot on the list was due to "payola," and said "I quiet" after learning that Adele ranked seven spots ahead of her at No. 22. But her most pronounced critique came upon discovering that Mary J. Blige landed the No. 25 spot.

"They are blind as a motherf---ing bat! They need hearing aids," the musician said of *Rolling Stone*'s critics. "These must be the children of Helen Keller!"

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Elsewhere in that interview, Khan had criticized Blige's 1992 cover of her song "Sweet Thing." "Her vocals were flat," Khan opined, noting that she and the "Family Affair" musician are "cool" with each other.

"I love her. She loves me. We don't have a problem," Khan said at the time. "Now the press would love to make it a f---ing problem."

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