Chaka Khan (born Yvette Marie Stevens; March 23, 1953) is a 10-time Grammy Award-winning American singer-songwriter whose career has spanned four decades, beginning in the 1970s as the frontwoman and focal point of the funk band Rufus. Chaka Khan was born Yvette Marie Stevens in Chicago, Illinois. Raised in Chicago’s rough South Side housing projects, she is the eldest of five children to Charles Stevens and Sandra Coleman. See for more.