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Chaka! Through the Fire
Rolling Stone compared it to melted caramel, and Miles Davis compared it to his horn.
Chaka Khan's scorchingly soulful voice first dazzled most of us back in 1974 with Rufus and "Tell Me Something Good," and most recently in her Grammy Award-winning performance in Standing in the Shadows of Motown , singing "What's Going On?" with the Funk Brothers. Over the years, she's had twelve number-one hits and nine number-one albums. Over one hundred appearances on the Billboard charts. Nineteen Grammy nominations and eight Grammy wins. Her achievements in the music industry are legendary, and like her twenty albums, they're well-known to the public.
But the private side of Chaka, the story of what fame and fortune have cost her-- and taught her-- hasn't been told before. In Chaka! Through the Fire , Chaka Khan gives us the whole story of the woman behind the diva and reveals her high and low points. A happy early childhood in a loving, creative home was shattered by escalating fights between her parents. When they finally split, Chaka's father disappeared without even a goodbye, leaving Chaka bewildered, bereft, and blaming her mother. She reconnected with her dad in her teens, finding that he was as liberal and permissive a parent as her mother was strict. Chaka started experimenting with drugs and joined the Black Panthers. Soon after, she fronted for a band called Rufus.
They hit it big with "Tell Me Something Good," and Chaka's stardom was launched. But life on the road was grueling, and as the years went by, the pressures grew. Chaka turned to alcohol and drugs to numb the pain of failed relationships, the guilt of leaving her kids to be raised by Grandma, the resentment she felt about the exhausting demands of her career. It wasn't until things got very bad that she started to see the patterns. All the things she had suffered through in her childhood and swore never to do to her kids-- well, she was doing them.
That's when she began the work of turning it all around. These days, she's still a musical powerhouse, but she's making sure there's time for family, too. She's drug-free. She's started her own record label and has also started a foundation to help women and children in need. Remarkably, Chaka has remained a true wild child despite all the a fiercely independent woman who never compromised her spirit.
Chaka Khan's scorchingly soulful voice first dazzled most of us back in 1974 with Rufus and "Tell Me Something Good," and most recently in her Grammy Award-winning performance in Standing in the Shadows of Motown , singing "What's Going On?" with the Funk Brothers. Over the years, she's had twelve number-one hits and nine number-one albums. Over one hundred appearances on the Billboard charts. Nineteen Grammy nominations and eight Grammy wins. Her achievements in the music industry are legendary, and like her twenty albums, they're well-known to the public.
But the private side of Chaka, the story of what fame and fortune have cost her-- and taught her-- hasn't been told before. In Chaka! Through the Fire , Chaka Khan gives us the whole story of the woman behind the diva and reveals her high and low points. A happy early childhood in a loving, creative home was shattered by escalating fights between her parents. When they finally split, Chaka's father disappeared without even a goodbye, leaving Chaka bewildered, bereft, and blaming her mother. She reconnected with her dad in her teens, finding that he was as liberal and permissive a parent as her mother was strict. Chaka started experimenting with drugs and joined the Black Panthers. Soon after, she fronted for a band called Rufus.
They hit it big with "Tell Me Something Good," and Chaka's stardom was launched. But life on the road was grueling, and as the years went by, the pressures grew. Chaka turned to alcohol and drugs to numb the pain of failed relationships, the guilt of leaving her kids to be raised by Grandma, the resentment she felt about the exhausting demands of her career. It wasn't until things got very bad that she started to see the patterns. All the things she had suffered through in her childhood and swore never to do to her kids-- well, she was doing them.
That's when she began the work of turning it all around. These days, she's still a musical powerhouse, but she's making sure there's time for family, too. She's drug-free. She's started her own record label and has also started a foundation to help women and children in need. Remarkably, Chaka has remained a true wild child despite all the a fiercely independent woman who never compromised her spirit.
288 pages, Hardcover
First published October 10, 2003
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219 people want to read
About the author
Chaka Khan
10 books7 followersChaka Khan (born Yvette Marie Stevens) is an American singer-songwriter best known for such hit songs as "I'm Every Woman", "Ain't Nobody", "I Feel for You" and "Through the Fire". She sang a modernized theme song for the popular children's TV show Reading Rainbow in the show's later years. Khan was featured vocalist in the funk band Rufus with hit songs, "Tell Me Something Good", "You Got The Love", "Once You Get Started", 'Sweet Thing", "Everlasting Love" and "Stay", before launching a solo career.
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Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews
January 13, 2008
The best parts of this book are the beginning leading up to Khan's first hit with Rufus, "Tell Me Something Good," and the last 1/3 or so of the book, ranging from the late 1980s through the present day (at publication time, about 2002 or 03). Khan has plenty of detail in these parts of the book, which recount the beginning of her life and career and what she says were the waning and ending days of her long history of substance abuse.
Unfortunately, she speeds through most of her career with Rufus and her solo career with very little detail (the main text of this book is not even 190 pages long). She does explain it in part by saying she has memory lapses from her substance abuse, however. (Interestingly, she only mentions the particular substances she was abusing in passing, and she doesn't write about when she started doing what--apparently she abused a number of different drugs).
In the end, this book would probably not rate as a great autobiography (Patti LaBelle's autobio is a lot more detailed, for example), but I'd reccommend it for any Chaka Khan fan -- which includes me! Plus, it's refreshing to read a autobio of a Black singer who came out of the Black Arts Movement, not the Black church, and doesn't preach about how "God" or "Jesus" saved her from ruin. When asked how she made it through it all, Khan says simply, "Hell if I know."
Unfortunately, she speeds through most of her career with Rufus and her solo career with very little detail (the main text of this book is not even 190 pages long). She does explain it in part by saying she has memory lapses from her substance abuse, however. (Interestingly, she only mentions the particular substances she was abusing in passing, and she doesn't write about when she started doing what--apparently she abused a number of different drugs).
In the end, this book would probably not rate as a great autobiography (Patti LaBelle's autobio is a lot more detailed, for example), but I'd reccommend it for any Chaka Khan fan -- which includes me! Plus, it's refreshing to read a autobio of a Black singer who came out of the Black Arts Movement, not the Black church, and doesn't preach about how "God" or "Jesus" saved her from ruin. When asked how she made it through it all, Khan says simply, "Hell if I know."
March 18, 2016
My rating: 3 ½ Stars
I’ve long been a fan of Chaka Khan’s music, but outside of her of non-too secret use and abuse of drugs, I’ve never known much about her background or private life. The details presented in the first half the THROUGH THE FIRE lent me plenty of insight as to how the little girl who was born Yvette Marie Stevens evolved into the talented, outspoken (and sometimes troubled) woman who adopted the moniker, Chaka Khan.
From the book I learned that Chicago-reared Yvette Marie went from being a playful child who loved arts and crafts and thought about becoming a nun to being a hell-raising teen who thrived on giving her poor mother grief. Highlighted as well is the influence of Chaka’s free-spirited and often absent father. While a loving parent, who took in the rebellious teen when she fled her mother’s strict household, Mr. Stevens is also depicted as an overly permissive one. Not only did he allow his daughter to use drugs and come and go as she pleased, in later years he often helped her score narcotics and apparently had few qualms about getting high with her.
While music was very much a part of Chaka’s upbringing (as a youth she sang in a couple of girl groups and both her grandmother and her father were avid connoisseurs of jazz), I learned that unlike so many other R&B singers of her generation, she never sang in church and nor did she ever take any formal singing lessons. Interestingly enough, Chaka claims that had she not pursued a career in singing, she might have become a drummer.
The overall picture THROUGH THE FIRE paints of Chaka during her teens is that of a hell raiser, but in-between the fights (with her mother, sister and others), the school protests/mini-riots (she often instigated) and getting high, she managed to participate in a Chicago-based Black Arts Organization where she tried her hand at writing poetry, joined an Afrocentric singing group and studied African and African American culture. At age 16, she started hanging out with the Black Panthers and helped run one of their breakfast programs. But the murder of Fred Hampton (the charismatic leader of the Black Panther Party’s Illinois chapter), marked the end of Chaka’s involvement with the group.
I didn’t find the portion of the book that dealt with Chaka’s professional singing career as interesting as her formative years. While the juicy tidbits about her volatile love life were often amusing (and other times tragically sad), I’d hoped to learn more about Chaka “the artist.” My guess is I would have preferred a few more detailed anecdotes about her creative process, life on the road, and the more memorable performances and jam sessions—like the one she had with Stevie Wonder that led to her first big hit “Tell Me Somethin’ Good.” According to Chaka, she helped write the lyrics and regrets not being savvy enough to secure a writing credit for her efforts. Granted, many of the singer’s memories might have been marred by her self-confessed tendency to stay high and/or inebriated or perhaps as well a desire to protect the identity and rep of those who’d over-indulged with her.
I did learn that Chaka had a good working relationship with both Prince and Miles Davis (the latter of whom she’d idolized since childhood). Prior to Miles’s death, the three had even discussed making an album together. Also, Chaka’s dislike of her smash hit—“I Feel For You” came as a surprise to me as too did her indifference towards two of my favorites on that album—“This Is My Night” and “Through The Fire.”
Three of the book’s best features include: the black and white pictures of Chaka with various friends, family members and fellow musicians; the 49 page discography that chronicles the years, writers, producers and billboard chart positions of Chaka’s songs and albums; and a list of the awards and honors she’d garnered by the book’s publication in 2003.
I’ve long been a fan of Chaka Khan’s music, but outside of her of non-too secret use and abuse of drugs, I’ve never known much about her background or private life. The details presented in the first half the THROUGH THE FIRE lent me plenty of insight as to how the little girl who was born Yvette Marie Stevens evolved into the talented, outspoken (and sometimes troubled) woman who adopted the moniker, Chaka Khan.
From the book I learned that Chicago-reared Yvette Marie went from being a playful child who loved arts and crafts and thought about becoming a nun to being a hell-raising teen who thrived on giving her poor mother grief. Highlighted as well is the influence of Chaka’s free-spirited and often absent father. While a loving parent, who took in the rebellious teen when she fled her mother’s strict household, Mr. Stevens is also depicted as an overly permissive one. Not only did he allow his daughter to use drugs and come and go as she pleased, in later years he often helped her score narcotics and apparently had few qualms about getting high with her.
While music was very much a part of Chaka’s upbringing (as a youth she sang in a couple of girl groups and both her grandmother and her father were avid connoisseurs of jazz), I learned that unlike so many other R&B singers of her generation, she never sang in church and nor did she ever take any formal singing lessons. Interestingly enough, Chaka claims that had she not pursued a career in singing, she might have become a drummer.
The overall picture THROUGH THE FIRE paints of Chaka during her teens is that of a hell raiser, but in-between the fights (with her mother, sister and others), the school protests/mini-riots (she often instigated) and getting high, she managed to participate in a Chicago-based Black Arts Organization where she tried her hand at writing poetry, joined an Afrocentric singing group and studied African and African American culture. At age 16, she started hanging out with the Black Panthers and helped run one of their breakfast programs. But the murder of Fred Hampton (the charismatic leader of the Black Panther Party’s Illinois chapter), marked the end of Chaka’s involvement with the group.
I didn’t find the portion of the book that dealt with Chaka’s professional singing career as interesting as her formative years. While the juicy tidbits about her volatile love life were often amusing (and other times tragically sad), I’d hoped to learn more about Chaka “the artist.” My guess is I would have preferred a few more detailed anecdotes about her creative process, life on the road, and the more memorable performances and jam sessions—like the one she had with Stevie Wonder that led to her first big hit “Tell Me Somethin’ Good.” According to Chaka, she helped write the lyrics and regrets not being savvy enough to secure a writing credit for her efforts. Granted, many of the singer’s memories might have been marred by her self-confessed tendency to stay high and/or inebriated or perhaps as well a desire to protect the identity and rep of those who’d over-indulged with her.
I did learn that Chaka had a good working relationship with both Prince and Miles Davis (the latter of whom she’d idolized since childhood). Prior to Miles’s death, the three had even discussed making an album together. Also, Chaka’s dislike of her smash hit—“I Feel For You” came as a surprise to me as too did her indifference towards two of my favorites on that album—“This Is My Night” and “Through The Fire.”
Three of the book’s best features include: the black and white pictures of Chaka with various friends, family members and fellow musicians; the 49 page discography that chronicles the years, writers, producers and billboard chart positions of Chaka’s songs and albums; and a list of the awards and honors she’d garnered by the book’s publication in 2003.
January 27, 2022
Chaka toned herself WAYYYYY down. She admitted her addictions but she deleted meticulous detail about events. There wasn't much discussion about sex but she did discuss love. She admitted the songs she loves are not always the hits. She doesn't mind using the word 'never'. Hmm, that seems outlandish but this is Chaka Khan so I should not be surprised.
This autobiography packs some wisdom.
This autobiography packs some wisdom.
April 17, 2025
An honest story that had some slow parts but it finished strong.
December 10, 2023
I AM A HUGE FAN OF CHAKA KHAN & LOVED HER RECOUNTS OF EVENTS OF HER STORIED LIFE THIS TIME VIA A MEMOIR!
I LOVE THE FACT THAT MS. KHAN, BETTER KNOW AS YVETTE MARIE STEVENS, IS FROM THE CITY OF CHICAGO, ALSO KNOW AS THE CHI!
THERE WERE MANY STORIES OF BEING IN THE SOULFUL BAND RUFUS, & ONE I FOUND ESPECIALLY INTERESTING OF HOW ONE OF THEIR MOST FAMOUS HITS"TELL ME SOMETHING GOOD" CAME OUT, & HOW THE INCOMPARABLE MULTI-TALENTED SUPERSTAR STEVIE WONDER WHO WROTE THEIR HIT DID SO BASE DON WHAT EACH MEMBER OF THE BAND'S SIGN HAD BEEN WITH CHAKA KHAN'S BEING ON THE CUSP OF PISCES & ARIES. AMAZING RECOUNTING OF THE STORY.
I WASN'T AWARE THAT CHAKA KHAN HAD RAN AWAY FROM HOME AS A YOUNGSTER WITH HER THINGS & HER PET DOG; THAT SHE HAD BEEN NAMED BY A MEMBER OF THE BLACK PANTHERS THAT SHE CLAIMS SHE & HER SISTER TAKA BOOM, HAD ASSOCIATED WITH; OR HOW ANGRY & HURT SHE HAD BEEN BY THE DEATH OF CHICAGO NATIVE FRED HAMPTON IN 1967. IN FACT, I HADN'T KNOWN THAT MS. KHAN STOOD ALONG WITH THE BLACK PANTHER MOVEMENT AT ALL UNTIL I HAD READ THIS BOOK!
MS. KHAN SPOKE VERY VIVIDLY ABOUT EXPERIENCING DRUGS & BEING SO HIGH THAT SHE & A FELLOW DRUG USER WOULD 'SEE' ELEPHANTS & OTHER WEIRD THINGS THAT THEY FOUND HILARIOUS UPON 'SEEING'. BUT, HAD BEEN SCARED WHEN SHE SAID AT ONE POINT SHE 'SAW' A DEMONIC SPIRIT WHILE HIGH.
SHE RECOUNTED STORIES OF BEING SO HIGH THAT SHE HAD FALLEN INTO THAT DISGUSTING WATER IN VENICE ITALY.
I WOULD HAVE LOVED TO HEAR/READ HER RECOUNT OF HOW THE THE VERY PARTICULAR ABOUT WHO REMAKES HIS MUSIC: PERFECTIONIST GLOBAL ICON PRINCE ADDRESSED HER REMAKING HIS SONG "I FEEL FOR YOU" OVER, WHICH BECAME A MASSIVE HIT FOR MS. KHAN IN THE 80'S
OUT OF ALL OF THE AUTOBIOS OF THE MEGASTARS OF R&B/SOUL/POP I LOVE THIS STORY MORE BECAUSE IT BROUGHT INFO BETWEEN THE PAGES THAT I DIDN'T PRIOR HAVE ACCESS TO, GIVEN SHE HAD NOT BEEN IN A PROPER VENUE WHERE SHE COULD SPEAK THIS FREELY ABOUT HERSELF PUBLICLY BEFORE. THAT IS TO SAY THAT THIS BOOK ALLOWED MS. KHAN TO BE A BIT MORE TRANSPARENT WITH HER FANS, WHICH I LOVED!
I LOVE THE FACT THAT MS. KHAN, BETTER KNOW AS YVETTE MARIE STEVENS, IS FROM THE CITY OF CHICAGO, ALSO KNOW AS THE CHI!
THERE WERE MANY STORIES OF BEING IN THE SOULFUL BAND RUFUS, & ONE I FOUND ESPECIALLY INTERESTING OF HOW ONE OF THEIR MOST FAMOUS HITS"TELL ME SOMETHING GOOD" CAME OUT, & HOW THE INCOMPARABLE MULTI-TALENTED SUPERSTAR STEVIE WONDER WHO WROTE THEIR HIT DID SO BASE DON WHAT EACH MEMBER OF THE BAND'S SIGN HAD BEEN WITH CHAKA KHAN'S BEING ON THE CUSP OF PISCES & ARIES. AMAZING RECOUNTING OF THE STORY.
I WASN'T AWARE THAT CHAKA KHAN HAD RAN AWAY FROM HOME AS A YOUNGSTER WITH HER THINGS & HER PET DOG; THAT SHE HAD BEEN NAMED BY A MEMBER OF THE BLACK PANTHERS THAT SHE CLAIMS SHE & HER SISTER TAKA BOOM, HAD ASSOCIATED WITH; OR HOW ANGRY & HURT SHE HAD BEEN BY THE DEATH OF CHICAGO NATIVE FRED HAMPTON IN 1967. IN FACT, I HADN'T KNOWN THAT MS. KHAN STOOD ALONG WITH THE BLACK PANTHER MOVEMENT AT ALL UNTIL I HAD READ THIS BOOK!
MS. KHAN SPOKE VERY VIVIDLY ABOUT EXPERIENCING DRUGS & BEING SO HIGH THAT SHE & A FELLOW DRUG USER WOULD 'SEE' ELEPHANTS & OTHER WEIRD THINGS THAT THEY FOUND HILARIOUS UPON 'SEEING'. BUT, HAD BEEN SCARED WHEN SHE SAID AT ONE POINT SHE 'SAW' A DEMONIC SPIRIT WHILE HIGH.
SHE RECOUNTED STORIES OF BEING SO HIGH THAT SHE HAD FALLEN INTO THAT DISGUSTING WATER IN VENICE ITALY.
I WOULD HAVE LOVED TO HEAR/READ HER RECOUNT OF HOW THE THE VERY PARTICULAR ABOUT WHO REMAKES HIS MUSIC: PERFECTIONIST GLOBAL ICON PRINCE ADDRESSED HER REMAKING HIS SONG "I FEEL FOR YOU" OVER, WHICH BECAME A MASSIVE HIT FOR MS. KHAN IN THE 80'S
OUT OF ALL OF THE AUTOBIOS OF THE MEGASTARS OF R&B/SOUL/POP I LOVE THIS STORY MORE BECAUSE IT BROUGHT INFO BETWEEN THE PAGES THAT I DIDN'T PRIOR HAVE ACCESS TO, GIVEN SHE HAD NOT BEEN IN A PROPER VENUE WHERE SHE COULD SPEAK THIS FREELY ABOUT HERSELF PUBLICLY BEFORE. THAT IS TO SAY THAT THIS BOOK ALLOWED MS. KHAN TO BE A BIT MORE TRANSPARENT WITH HER FANS, WHICH I LOVED!
June 12, 2020
This was really funny and quite touching but also SO SHORT! This books is unbelievably spaced out and then I still had a hundred pages left - but it ended! It's a shame because I loved Chaka's voice in this and I feel like I only got a little taste.
April 6, 2020
Very readable, but kinda scattered. Definitely written in Chaka’s voice, though, which I really appreciated. And damn, she has LIVED! Recommended if you’re a fan.
March 23, 2022
#Np Chaka! Through the Fire 🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2...
Lovveee thisss song!♥
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2...
Lovveee thisss song!♥
April 20, 2025
I am a huge Chaka fan, so it was a pleasure even though sometimes shocking book
July 8, 2020
You won’t learn too much about her musical process, but it’s an entertaining trip through the first 50 years of her incredible life.
April 2, 2015
One of my favorite singers is Chaka Khan, probably second only to Aretha Franklin on my list of female vocalists (at least ones still living). This is the story of Chaka's life and rise to fame, and as is common with performers' memoirs, also an account of the years of substance abuse with which she dealt and eventually overcame.
This was a ghostwritten memoir and the co-author seems to do a good job keeping the book in Chaka's words. I doubt I would like Chaka Khan personally after reading this book, but I haven't changed my mind about her incredible talent. But overall, the book is just so-so.
** #31 of 100 books I pledged to read/review in 2015**
This was a ghostwritten memoir and the co-author seems to do a good job keeping the book in Chaka's words. I doubt I would like Chaka Khan personally after reading this book, but I haven't changed my mind about her incredible talent. But overall, the book is just so-so.
** #31 of 100 books I pledged to read/review in 2015**
February 28, 2009
This book tells about her struggles in the music industry
and it reveal some details of her personal life
and it reveal some details of her personal life
November 9, 2014
Simple writing; intriguing story.
September 21, 2014
Candid, Honest & Inspirational!
August 27, 2020
" Excellent book she's, very open and candid in this memoir,if you're a fan, please rush out and get it or however you read your books! "
July 5, 2013
Pretty basic writing, but interesting story.
Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews