Chaka Khan pulled precisely zero punches when it came to her music industry peers during a recent interview with Los Angeles magazine.
Speaking to the publication’s podcast The Originals, the I’m Every Woman star was asked for her thoughts on Rolling Stone’s recent ranking of the 200 greatest singers of all time.
“I didn’t even know what the hell you were talking about, so obviously this don’t mean a great deal to me,” she said of the list, before going on to throw shade at everyone from Adele and Ariana Grande to Mariah Carey and Mary J Blige.
After hearing that Mariah had landed at number five on the list, Chaka – who was ranked 29th by Rolling Stone – suggested it was down to “payola or some shit like that”, and said of Adele’s placement at 22: “I quit.”
When she heard that Joan Baez had made the cut, Chaka commented: “Let’s be honest, the bitch cannot sing. Now, she was a good writer.”
“They are blind as a motherfucking bat!” she said of Rolling Stone. “They need hearing aids… These must be the children of Helen Keller!”
But it was hearing that Mary J Blige had ranked higher on the list than her that got the biggest reaction from the legendary diva.
Elsewhere in the interview, Chaka was asked about Ariana Grande, with whom she recorded a duet for the Charlie’s Angels soundtrack in 2019.
However, despite being a featured artist on Ariana’s song, it seems she never actually met the Thank U Next singer in person.
She said: ”I would never have somebody come sing on my motherfucking project without me knowing them.”
It should be noted that Chaka’s interview did see her heaping praise on a couple of music legends, though.
When she heard Aretha Franklin had been named top of Rolling Stone’s ranking, she responded simply: “As she fucking should be. Thank you. There’s justice somehwere.”
Chaka later said of Beyoncé: “She’s a great singer. OK? She really has the opportunity to be a great singer. She has what it takes.”
Rolling Stone’s list sparked a big controversy at the beginning of this year as it excluded a few key musical figures – most notably Celine Dion.
This led a group of Celine’s fans to gather outside the Rolling Stone office in New York as a protest.