8X GRAMMY-Winning Musical Icon Chaka Khan to Be Honored With The 'Legend Award' at the 2003 World Music Awards in Monaco

    LOS ANGELES, Oct. 14 /PRNewswire/ -- If ever an artist was perfectly
 suited to receive an honor titled the Legend Award, it would be the 8X
 GRAMMY(R)-winning superstar Chaka Khan.  She will in fact be the recipient of
 exactly that, in recognition of her lifetime achievements and extraordinary
 contributions to the world of music, when the 15th annual World Music Awards
 are taped live in Monaco on October 12th.  The Awards will be televised in the
 United States October 18th, as well as broadcast in 160 countries around the
 globe, reaching upwards of 1 billion viewers.  In addition to being honored,
 Chaka will also show the world just what a legend is made of, as she performs
 two of her timeless hits from the stage at the Sporting Club in Monte Carlo,
 where the ceremony takes place.
     The truly legendary Chaka Khan is one of the most readily identifiable --
 and widely imitated -- female vocalists of her time.  Rolling Stone Magazine
 has written, "Her voice is an instrument of knowingness, carnality,
 spirituality and intellect.  If melted caramel had a sound, this would be it:
 rich, warm and enveloping."  That sound has been winning fans the world over
 and setting standards in almost every musical genre -- pop, R&B, rock, disco,
 fusion, jazz, hip-hop and more -- for over three decades now.  She has amassed
 eight GRAMMY Awards, most recently in 2003 for Best R&B Traditional Vocal
 Performance with her inspired reinvention of the Marvin Gaye classic "What's
 Going On."  Khan is the driving force behind four platinum and seven gold
 albums, and a stunning ten #1 hits in a career as vital today as when it first
 took off.
     Chaka originally became a household name in the early 1970s as lead singer
 for the funk-rock fusion phenomenon Rufus -- best known as Rufus featuring
 Chaka Khan.  Groundbreaking as one of the first multi-racial bands in pop
 music, they topped the charts five times, toured with the Rolling Stones and
 Stevie Wonder, and aced hits including "Ain't Nobody," and "Tell Me Something
 Good," which Wonder wrote for Chaka.  The ascendant diva's solo career
 exploded in the late '70s with the Ashford & Simpson-penned #1 smash
 "I'm Every Woman."  Since then, over the course of nine albums, Chaka Khan has
 delivered unforgettable hits including "What Cha Gonna Do For Me?," "Clouds,"
 "I Feel For You," and "Through The Fire."  She has collaborated with a stellar
 assemblage of music greats, including Quincy Jones, Joni Mitchell, Gladys
 Knight, Phil Collins, Arif Mardin, Mary J. Blige and Miles Davis.  Her
 forthcoming album, a star-studded 30th anniversary musical celebration, is
 slated for an early 2004 release.
     Right now, the artist's new autobiographical volume "Chaka! Through The
 Fire," published this month by Rodale (with distribution through St. Martin's
 Press), is available in stores everywhere.  Opening with the line, "A lot of
 people think it's a miracle that I didn't wind up like Hendrix or Joplin," the
 book exposes the personal journey parallel to Khan's chart-topping,
 award-laden celebrity.  For the first time, Chaka tells all about her
 struggles with -- and recovery from -- substance abuse and overspending, as
 well as the travails of failed relationships and broken marriages.  An
 intimate, insider's view of a singular talent, Chaka's story, as vividly
 chronicled in her new memoir, is ultimately a testament to her resilient
 spirit.
     Fifty this year, Chaka Khan now revels in the joys of her children and
 grandchildren, and the full bounty of meaningful projects in her life.  And,
 she gives back all things good in great measure via the Chaka Khan Foundation,
 a non-profit organization whose guiding mission is to assist at-risk women and
 children through a broad spectrum of programs and cultural, health and
 educational initiatives.
     Like her own life journey, the portrait of Chaka as an artist remains a
 work in progress, but there's no doubt she's a living legend, a creative
 triumph that will be honored next week in Monte Carlo.  Paying tribute to the
 music industry's top-selling artists since 1989, the World Music Awards are
 bestowed under the High Patronage of H.S.H. Prince Albert of Monaco, and all
 proceeds from the 2003 event go towards building the Princess Grace Hospital
 and School in Africa.  This year's ceremony will include performances by
 50 Cent, Pink, Mariah Carey, George Benson, Ashanti, and the presentation of
 the Legend Award -- the World Music Award's highest honor -- to the one and
 only Chaka Khan.
 
     For more information on Chaka Khan, log onto www.ChakaKhan.com .
 
 

SOURCE  Chaka Khan