28 August 2023
It’s been a banner year for Chaka Khan, the Queen of Funk. She turned 70 in March and 2023 marks the Chicago native’s 50th year in the business. And after seven nominations, as a solo act and with her old band Rufus, Khan finally made the cut and will be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in November.
That said, she has only played a half dozen shows this year. Sunday marked her seventh as she shared the bill with ’90s hitmakers Boyz II Men at the Minnesota State Fair Grandstand in front of a crowd of 10,356.
For a solid hour, Khan belted out hit after hit as she kept sweeping her mane of hair out of her face to reveal her wide grin. To be clear, Khan chose her battles. She let her three extremely capable backup singers do a lot of the heavy lifting and sometimes pulled that old trick of pointing her mic to the crowd during choruses she didn’t want to tackle.
But when she did sing, she sang and often wailed as purely as she ever has, particularly during “I Feel for You.” Prince wrote and recorded the song for his self-titled 1979 album. But Khan, and producer Arif Mardin, turned it into a perfect pop song, complete with harmonica from Stevie Wonder and rapping from Grandmaster Melle Mel, a move that was revolutionary at the time.
Khan nailed “I Feel for You” and followed it up with even finer takes on “I’m Every Woman” and her encore, “Ain’t Nobody.” But, really, she never stumbled, except for when she first took the stage and appeared to nearly trip over something. Somehow she made decades-old numbers still sound fresh today, from “Tell Me Something Good” to “What Cha’ Gonna Do for Me” to “Through the Fire.”
Boyz II Men perform during the 2022 Gershwin Prize Honoree’s Tribute Concert at the DAR Constitution Hall on Wednesday, March 9, 2022, in Washington. (AP Photo/Kevin Wolf)
Boyz II Men opened their career, as well as Sunday’s set, with 1991’s “Motownphilly,” a jaunty slice of new jack soul that suggested the guys were looking to become the next Bell Biv DeVoe, who they name-checked in the song. Instead, they went on to become masters of epic ballads of love and lust, custom-made for both wedding receptions and honeymoons. They burned bright and hot for a few record-breaking years before sliding off the charts by the end of the decade.
Still, the three members of the group — Nathan Morris, Shawn Stockman and Wanya Morris — remain consummate performers. And they’re all in their early 50s, with still-strong and versatile voices.
The thing is, though, with all those glossy slow songs they played (“On Bended Knee,” “I’ll Make Love to You,” “End of the Road”), the trio turned to the work of other artists whenever they needed to pick up the pace. That meant a medley that included Sam Cooke’s “A Change Is Gonna Come,” Lenny Kravitz’s “Are You Gonna Go My Way” and Bruno Mars’ “Locked Out of Heaven.” They also indulged in a swing at the Beatles’ “Come Together,” Journey’s “Open Arms” and Eric Clapton’s “Wonderful Tonight.” (Stockman taught himself guitar via YouTube and turned in a not-bad version of Slowhand himself.)
While the trio’s extended runs and vocal trickery got to be overly showy and “American Idol”-y at times, they still served as the ideal complement to Khan in offering a lovely night of memorable tunes under the stars.
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