How many times was Chaka Khan married? Singer says she's done looking for a partner at 73 

The Connie Orlando Foundation Presents Black Women In Music - Source: Getty
How many times was Chaka Khan married? Singer says she's done looking for a partner at 73 - Source: Getty: The Connie Orlando Foundation Presents Black Women In Music

Chaka Khan has been widely reported to have been married three times. The seventy-three-year-old singer wed Hassan Khan back in 1970, when she was just seventeen, though that marriage ended within a year. She later married Richard Holland in 1976, and the couple share a son, Damien, before divorcing in 1980. Khan married her third husband, Doug Rasheed, in 2001. However, as per a report shared by Hollywood Life, it is not clear when the couple got separated and divorced.

The music icon has now made headlines after opening up in an interview with the U.K.'s Observer, published August 20, about her new album Chakzilla and life on her own. When quizzed about the inspiration behind a lyric on the title track, where she sings "I've been waiting all my life for this moment," Khan was tight-lipped about specifics.

"I don't want to discuss that, because if I talk too much about what I would like to have, somebody will try to arrange it for me. So I'm just going to mosey along and let life do what it do. One of them is not necessarily a partner. I'm not looking for that," she shared.

She put it even more plainly after that.

"I'm partnered out," Khan said.

As per a report shared by Us Weekly, Khan also welcomed daughter Indira, with Rahsaan Morris in 1973.


Chaka Khan reflects on her marriages and what it would take to wed again:

Bobbi Kristina Brown and Chaka Khan attends the GRAMMY Gift Lounge during the 56th Grammy Awards at Staples Center on January 25, 2014 in Los Angeles, California - Source: Getty
Bobbi Kristina Brown and Chaka Khan attends the GRAMMY Gift Lounge during the 56th Grammy Awards at Staples Center on January 25, 2014 in Los Angeles, California - Source: Getty

In a 2017 interview with The Guardian, Chaka Khan reflected on both of her marriages, sharing that each one left her questioning her own identity.

"I've been married twice. Both times I was constantly wondering which person they loved: Chaka Khan or the real me — Yvette Stevens," she said.
"It would take a man of biblical proportions for me to marry again. I don't have time for a man unless he can bring something big to the table, like a huge amount of money," she added.
Chaka performs onstage during 2019 Black Friday R&B Mega Fest at State Farm Arena on November 29, 2019 in Atlanta, Georgia - Source: Getty
Chaka performs onstage during 2019 Black Friday R&B Mega Fest at State Farm Arena on November 29, 2019 in Atlanta, Georgia - Source: Getty

That tension around her identity in relationships wasn't new. Back in 2019, also speaking with The Guardian, Khan revealed that her second marriage had caused friction within Rufus, the funk band she fronted in the 1970s.

"They didn't want me to have a husband," she said.
"When the band first went on tour, every night, after a gig, they would all do a walk-through of my room to make sure I was by myself. They didn't care who it was — no one could come and visit me. They were just very possessive of their little diamond," she added.

Chaka Khan addresses what people assume about her:

Chaka Khan walks on the runway wearing a Chris March design at The Heart Truth's Red Dress Collection 2012 Fashion Show at Hammerstein Ballroom on February 8, 2012 in New York City- Source: Getty
Chaka Khan walks on the runway wearing a Chris March design at The Heart Truth's Red Dress Collection 2012 Fashion Show at Hammerstein Ballroom on February 8, 2012 in New York City- Source: Getty

Chaka Khan wasted no time setting the tone when she sat down with The Observer recently. Before a single question was asked, she jumped straight in.

"Oh God, you're not going to ask me if I've slept with Prince, are you?"

The interviewer said no, then asked whether that question follows her around often. Khan was blunt.

"Hell yeah I do! It's sad that they just assume I'm either a wh*re or a singer. Make up your mind! What do you want me to be?"

She puffed on a cigarette and kept going.

"I'm not going to lie to you and add to your fantasy. This ain't Disneyland. I'm living for real."

She went further still, adding that

"if I'd slept with all the guys I've done tours with, I don't know what I'd be right now. I'd probably be dead."
Chaka Khan performs at the Henley Festival on July 7, 2017 in Henley-on-Thames, England - Source: Getty
Chaka Khan performs at the Henley Festival on July 7, 2017 in Henley-on-Thames, England - Source: Getty

Prince was always going to come up. Khan covered his track I Feel for You back in 1984, and the recording became a massive commercial success, shifting over a million copies and picking up two Grammy Awards along the way. Khan has long been uncomfortable with one particular element of it though, the intro where rapper Melle Mel repeatedly chants her name. Her feelings about Prince himself were far warmer. She has spoken previously about him helping her through her battle with drugs, and in the Observer interview, she remembered him with genuine affection.

"He was a really deep and beautiful thinker. Prince just grabbed ideas out of the air and left you wondering: where did you get that?"

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Edited by Ryan D'souza