BANG Showbiz English
Chaka Khan has taken a foul-mouthed swipe at Mary J. Blige, Adele, and Mariah Carey.
The 69-year-old star has hit out at a number of her fellow vocalists while discussing Rolling Stone’s recent list of the 200 Greatest Singers of All Time, on which she was placed at number 29.
On hearing her old rival Mary ranked higher than her at 25, she ranted on Los Angeles magazine’s podcast ‘The Originals’: “They are blind as a motherf****** bat! They need hearing aids … These must be the children of Helen Keller!”
The ‘I’m Every Woman’ hitmaker tersely said of Adele making it to 22nd place: “I quit”.
And she suggested Mariah’s team had bought her position at number five on the list.
She mused: “That must be payola or some s*** like that.”
Chaka was also asked about 43rd-placed Ariana Grande, who she duetted with on ‘Nobody’ for the 2019 ‘Charlie’s Angels’ soundtrack, and admitted they had never met.
She fumed: “I would never have somebody come sing on my motherf****** project without me knowing them.”
The ‘I Feel For You’ singer felt Joan Baez was lucky to make it onto the list in 189th spot.
She said: “Let’s be honest, the b**** cannot sing. Now, she was a good writer.”
But Chaka didn’t only have negative things to say, as she approved of Aretha Franklin being given the top spot.
She said: “As she f****** should be. Thank you. There’s justice somewhere.”
And she had faint praise for eighth-placed Beyonce.
She said: “She’s a great singer. OK? She really has the opportunity to be a great singer. She has what it takes.”
But the ‘Ain’t Nobody’ hitmaker insisted she “didn’t even know” anything about the last, which was published in January, until she was asked about it.
She said: “I didn’t even know what the hell you were talking about, so obviously this don’t mean a great deal to me. These people don’t quantify or validate me in any way.”
