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Factsheet

• Formed her first group, the Crystalettes, with her sister Yvonne in 1964.
• Changed her name to Chaka Adunne Aduffe Yemoja Hodarhi Karifi at age 16 at a Yoruba religious ceremony.
• Established the Chaka Khan Foundation, which addresses issues of domestic violence and youth education, in 1999.
• Received an Honorary Doctorate in Music from Boston's Berklee College of Music in 2004.
• Created her own line of gourmet chocolates, called Chakalates; proceeds finance her charitable foundation.
• Made her Broadway debut in 2008 in the stage adaptation of The Color Purple.
• At the time she got the Broadway role, she was asked by the New York Times about her interest in Scientology; she replied that while she'd studied it, she was, instead, a member of "the religion of the Church of Chaka Khan."
• Received a Hollywood Walk of Fame star in 2011. She performed her enduring hit from her days with Rufus, "Tell Me Something Good," with Stevie Wonder to mark the occasion.
• Her band, Rufus With Chaka Khan, received a 2012 nomination for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.