Khan first came to the attention of the music world as the singer of the funk band Rufus in the mid-1970s and with the help of Stevie Wonder, broke into both the pop music and R&B charts in 1974 with the hit "Tell Me Something Good". Throughout the 1970s and early 1980s, the band had a number of R&B hits, including "Tell Me Something Good", "Masterjam", "Sweet Thing", "Do You Love What You Feel?", and "Once You Get Started". In 1978, Khan recorded her highly-orchestrated Arif Mardin-produced disco smash hit "I'm Every Woman". In 1983, Chaka returned to Rufus to release the hit "Ain't Nobody," which returned Khan to the top of the urban and top 40 charts. The next year, 1984, Khan released her hip-hop based hit, "I Feel for You" off the album of the same name, written (and originally recorded) by Prince with a harmonica cameo appearance by Stevie Wonder, which launched her recording career back into full gear. Produced by David Foster, the popular ballad "Through the Fire" also reached the top ten and set a record (since broken)for spending the most consecutive weeks on the Billboard Top 100. "Through the Fire" has since been sampled by hip-hop record producer/rapper Kanye West in "Through The Wire"

In 1992 Chaka Khan released her Album "The Woman I Am" which she received a Grammy award for best Rhythm & Blues vocal performance for. The albums hit single "Love You All My Lifetime" was penned by German hit songwriter duo Irmgard Klarmann and Felix Weber and was produced by David Gamson.