Chaka Khan Teases Long-Lost Prince Collab Album: “We’ve Cleared the Red Tape”
Get ready to funk—it’s finally happening. In a revelation that has fans buzzing, Chaka Khan confirmed that an album of unreleased songs co-written with Prince and funk icon Larry Graham is officially on the way.
Speaking with The Guardian, Khan revealed that after years of navigating industry red tape, the trio’s long-vaulted recordings will soon be released. “We worked on a lot of songs,” she said. “And they’re all going to be on a CD I’m soon to release. There’s a lot of red tape that’s been in the way, but we’ve cleared it. It’s him and me and Larry Graham, together.”
The collaborative sessions stem from 1998, when Khan and Graham both dropped albums heavily influenced by Prince on the same day—Khan’s Come 2 My House, and Graham Central Station’s GCS 2000, produced by Prince himself. Now, the dream team’s unreleased tracks are poised to bring fans back to that golden era of late-’90s funk fusion.
Khan, who famously had a massive 1984 hit with her cover of Prince’s “I Feel For You,” compared the late legend to another visionary she’s worked with: Miles Davis. “He and Prince were very similar—big thinkers,” she explained. “Prince just grabbed ideas out of the air and left you wondering: ‘Where did you get that?’”
As always, Chaka keeps it real—even about the haze of those wild late nights. She laughed about her forgetfulness around a 4 a.m. jam session with Prince and George Benson after a London show in 1995. “No one’s doing anything but craziness at four in the morning!” she said. “I don’t remember a lot of what I did. And thank God!”
With the legal hurdles now cleared, this long-buried treasure trove of funk is set to finally see the light, bringing together three titans of the genre in what promises to be a deeply soulful, groove-heavy experience.
Release date details are still under wraps, but one thing’s certain—this collaboration is about to become the stuff of legend.
