Chaka Khan

In her recently published autobiography, Chaka! Through the Fire, Chaka Khan (born Yvette Marie Stevens) reveals her tough road to sobriety -- turns out Whitney Houston emulated more than Khan's voice in an odd mirroring of two careers. This goes a long way to explaining Khan's relative absence from the recorded world since her underrated and underexposed 1998 album, Come 2 My House, on Prince's NPG label. And for those who didn't follow her occasional concert appearances at jazz festivals and casinos in random cities nationwide, she has been a relative unknown since last peaking on the pop charts with "I Feel for You" (coincidentally a Prince cover) in 1984. Now, at just over 50, she seems in a solid place: clean and sober, working on her Chaka Khan Foundation, which assists children in distress, and doing a select few performances. A fit mind and body make for healthy pipes, so we're betting it's a fairly good time to catch Chaka Khan's unparalleled voice in action.