Chaka Khan Candidly Talks About Mary J. Blige, Mariah Carey And Adele's Placement On Greatest Singers List: 'Must Be Payola Or Some S**t'

“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. “These pepole don’t quantify or validate me in any way.”

After Goldman told her more about the list, Khan gave her opinions. She agreed with Aretha Franklin getting the top spot, saying, “As she f—ing should be.” She also agreed with Joan Baez getting placed at #189, saying “[L]et’s be honest, the bitch cannot sing. Now she was a good writer.” When she learned Carey was #5, she said, “That must be payola or some shit like that.”

When she learned Adele was placed in the 22nd spot, ahead of her, Khan said, “Okay, I quit.” When Goldman told her Mary J. Blige was also ahead over as the 25th artist on the list, Khan said, “They [Rolling Stone] are blind as a motherf—ing bat! They need hearing aids. These must be the children of Helen Keller!”

Goldman brought up how Khan has introduced the Rufus song “Sweet Thing” as the song Mary J. Blige “f—ed up” in a concert decades ago. Khan explained why she gave the song that nickname.

“I didn’t say that out in public, I might have said that to her, but I told Mary J. Blige she f—ed it up,” she said. “Number one, her vocals were flat and I…asked her, what time of day was it, or night, when you decided to cover ‘Sweet Thing’?”

She said Blige said it was eight in the morning, leading her to respond, “You don’t sing nothing at eight o’clock in the motherf—ing morning, especially if you have to get up singing. If you had been up all night, smoking crack or something, I don’t know, it might have been a whole different thing, but you don’t get up at eight o’clock in the morning to sing, girl. But she and I have that kind of relationship, we can talk. I love her, she loves me, we don’t have a problem. Now the press would love to make it a f—ing

Chaka Khan speaks on her dear friend Mary J. Blige “fucking up” her cover of “Sweet Thing”
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— Glock Topickz (@Glock_Topickz) March 1, 2023

Khan also had time for Ariana Grande, who, while not on the list, was mentioned by Khan because of how Grande didn’t show up at the studio with Khan to record “Nobody” for the 2019 Charlie’s Angels soundtrack, despite it being a duet. As Khan said, “I would never have somebody come sing on my motherf—ing project without me knowing them.”