logo
Singer Chaka Khan says West End musical about her life is the ‘greatest honour'

Singer Chaka Khan says West End musical about her life is the ‘greatest honour'

Leader Live09-05-2025

I'm Every Woman The Chaka Khan Musical will launch at The Peacock Theatre in March 2026, covering the 72-year-old's life story and rise to fame.
Speaking about the production, the Queen Of Funk said: 'Many of you know that my life has always influenced my music, but you may not know the full story.
'I've lived a rich, beautiful, and sometimes difficult life, and now those experiences will come alive on stage in I'm Every Woman The Chaka Khan Musical.
'It's the greatest honour to have my journey and work celebrated in this way.
'London holds a special place in my heart, and I can't wait to share this moment with the fans who have sung, danced, and stood by me through it all.
'I've always wanted to inspire joy, truth, and love — and I know this musical will be filled with all of that and more. This is for you.'
The play will follow Khan's 1970s beginnings with the funk band Rufus, to her solo success with hits such as I'm Every Woman, Ain't Nobody, and UK number one single I Feel For You, while also looking at her famous friendships with the likes of Prince, Joni Mitchell and Stevie Wonder.
Producer Adrian Grant said: 'I'm excited to be bringing a stage show about the life of Chaka Khan to the West End.
'I grew up listening to hits such as Ain't Nobody and I Feel For You, with her powerhouse vocals and electric videos which have left an undeniable imprint on popular culture.
'My brilliant creative team cannot wait to present that energy on stage, with a bold and empowering new musical celebrating Chaka's legacy and amazing catalogue of songs.'
Khan has had four UK top 10 singles and three UK top 40 albums, and will pay tribute to her collaborator Quincy Jones in a performance at the 2025 Montreux Jazz Festival, after receiving the global impact award at the O2 Silver Clefs last year.
The production is written by Nia T Hill and directed by Racky Plews, with choreography from Jade Hackett and casting by Debbie O'Brien, with casting to be announced.
The show will run from March 5 to March 28 2026, with tickets going on sale at 10am on May 19.

Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

Why a Minneapolis neighborhood sharpens a giant pencil every year
Why a Minneapolis neighborhood sharpens a giant pencil every year

The Independent

timea day ago

  • The Independent

Why a Minneapolis neighborhood sharpens a giant pencil every year

Residents will gather Saturday in a scenic Minneapolis neighborhood for an annual ritual — the sharpening of a gigantic No. 2 pencil. The 20-foot-tall (6-meter-tall) pencil was sculpted out of a mammoth oak tree at the home of John and Amy Higgins. The beloved tree was damaged in a storm a few years ago when fierce winds twisted the crown off. Neighbors mourned. A couple even wept. But the Higginses saw it not so much as a loss, but as a chance to give the tree new life. The sharpening ceremony on their front lawn has evolved into a community spectacle that draws hundreds of people to the leafy neighborhood on Lake of the Isles, complete with music and pageantry. Some people dress as pencils or erasers. Two Swiss alphorn players will provide part of this year's entertainment. The hosts will commemorate a Minneapolis icon, the late music superstar Prince, by handing out purple pencils on what would have been his 67th birthday. In the wake of the storm, the Higginses knew they wanted to create a sculpture out of their tree. They envisioned a whimsical piece of pop art that people could recognize, but not a stereotypical chainsaw-carved, north-woods bear. Given the shape and circumference of the log, they came up with the idea of an oversized pencil standing tall in their yard. 'Why a pencil? Everybody uses a pencil,' Amy Higgins said. 'Everybody knows a pencil. You see it in school, you see it in people's work, or drawings, everything. So, it's just so accessible to everybody, I think, and can easily mean something, and everyone can make what they want of it.' So they enlisted wood sculptor Curtis Ingvoldstad to transform it into a replica of a classic Trusty brand No. 2 pencil. ' People interpret this however they want to. They should. They should come to this and find whatever they want out of it,' Ingvoldstad said. That's true even if their reaction is negative, he added. 'Whatever you want to bring, you know, it's you at the end of the day. And it's a good place. It's good to have pieces that do that for people." John Higgins said they wanted the celebration to pull the community together. 'We tell a story about the dull tip, and we're gonna get sharp,' he said. 'There's a renewal. We can write a new love letter, a thank you note. We can write a math problem, a to-do list. And that chance for renewal, that promise, people really seem to buy into and understand.' To keep the point pointy, they haul a giant, custom-made pencil sharpener up the scaffolding that's erected for the event. Like a real pencil, this one is ephemeral. Every year they sharpen it, it gets a bit shorter. They've taken anywhere from 3 to 10 inches (8 to 25 centimeters) off a year. They haven't decided how much to shave off this year. They're OK knowing that they could reduce it to a stub one day. The artist said they'll let time and life dictate its form — that's part of the magic. 'Like any ritual, you've got to sacrifice something," Ingvoldstad said. "So we're sacrificing part of the monumentality of the pencil, so that we can give that to the audience that comes, and say, 'This is our offering to you, and in goodwill to all the things that you've done this year.''

Fluffy rare Bactrian camel calf Woburn Safari Park
Fluffy rare Bactrian camel calf Woburn Safari Park

Scotsman

time2 days ago

  • Scotsman

Fluffy rare Bactrian camel calf Woburn Safari Park

Watch a fluffy rare camel calf as he goes exploring with mum for the first time at a UK Safari Park. Sign up to our daily newsletter Sign up Thank you for signing up! Did you know with a Digital Subscription to Edinburgh News, you can get unlimited access to the website including our premium content, as well as benefiting from fewer ads, loyalty rewards and much more. Learn More Sorry, there seem to be some issues. Please try again later. Submitting... Meet the male Bactrian camel calf as he goes on a wobbly-legged adventure with mum for the first time. The adorable rare camel was born on April 22nd to proud parents Rita and Khan - and has not yet been named. Fluffy rare camel calf wobbles with mum in adorable video | woburn safari Camel soaks up the sun In the clip above (click to play), watch the cute calf as finds his wobbly legs and soaks up the sun at Woburn Safari Park. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Head of Reserves Tom Robson said: 'We're really delighted to welcome a male camel calf to the herd at Woburn Safari Park this month. This is Rita's second calf, with her first born three years ago, so this a truly special moment for the keepers, the Park, and the entire herd. Rita has been an attentive mum, staying close to her little one as he begins to explore his surroundings in the large camel paddock, alongside his brother Walter, dad Khan, and the rest of the herd.' Camel finds wobbly legs Fluffy rare camel calf wobbles with mum in adorable video | woburn safari What are Bactrian camels? Bactrian camels are social animals and live in groups of five to 30 individuals, typically led by a dominant male. At Woburn Safari Park, that role belongs to Khan, a true safari favourite, best known for his wild hairdos and big personality. While male Bactrian camels like Khan don't usually take part in rearing their young directly, they do play an essential role in leading and protecting the herd. Fluffy rare camel calf wobbles with mum in adorable video | woburn safari The camels at the Park belong to the domesticated species population, currently listed as 'Least Concern'. However, their wild relatives, the critically endangered Bactrian camels face serious threats in their natural habitats. That's why the team of expert keepers at Woburn are dedicated to helping preserve and care for this unique species through ongoing breeding and conservation efforts.

Machismo might be back in vogue, but boys are as frightened as ever
Machismo might be back in vogue, but boys are as frightened as ever

Telegraph

time3 days ago

  • Telegraph

Machismo might be back in vogue, but boys are as frightened as ever

Fashion, famously, is a reflection of the zeitgeist. And the cover of this month's GQ magazine certainly captures the present mood. It features a grizzled, muscle-bound Brad Pitt leaning back against a wall, legs spread, glowering from under a fisherman's beanie with a look of murderous intent. Inside, there's plenty more of this real-man aesthetic. Pitt – no doubt exhausted after another day down the mines – reclines on the bare mattress of an unmade bed, veins bulging on his tattooed biceps, his white T-shirt covered in smuts. Turn the page and we find him seemingly cosplaying as Vladimir Putin, smouldering in his aviator shades in the middle of a wild, rushing river. Raising the butch levels all the way up to Russian warmonger. In case you hadn't noticed, machismo is back. More so, I think, than ever before in my lifetime. When I was young, in what feels like a vanished Eden of global stability, men were fearlessly girly. Male pop stars wore eyeliner, frilly shirts and coloured braids in their hair, just like the teenage girls who swooned over them. Male actors – Pitt included – were slender, hairless, soft-lipped and doe-eyed. The sexiest man alive (Prince, of course) wore crop tops and feather boas, and stood 5ft 2ins in his spangly heels. Today, with the exception of tiny Timothée Chalamet, all the heart-throbs look like massive sides of beef. So do the nerds, come to that. Jeff Bezos, the formerly pigeon-chested Amazon founder, has taken up weight-lifting, developed huge biceps and shaved his head so that he looks (at least with the sun behind him) like Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson. Mark Zuckerberg has taken up martial arts and donned a gold medallion. No teenage boy of my generation ever went to the gym, unless they had been picked for the Olympics. Whereas my sons work out diligently, as well as doing boxing, jiu-jitsu and muay thai. The eldest – an otherwise gentle, bookish sort – belongs to one of the many MMA (mixed martial arts) gyms springing up all over London, where he goes twice weekly for bouts of mutual head-kicking. Some of this is just about appearances. We live in a very visual age, and boys are under almost as much pressure as girls to be physically perfect. But isn't there something more obvious – albeit subconscious – happening too? Mightn't they be preparing for an actual fight? Their world is becoming more dangerous, both locally and geo-politically. It's useful, if you don't want to get mugged on your way home from school, to look like a tank. If you do get jumped, you need to know how to disarm your attacker. And one day, these skills may come in handy on a bigger battlefield. All the teenagers I know believe they will have to fight in a war. They used to joke about it, back when Russia first invaded Ukraine and it all seemed impossibly mad. But now mad is the new normal, and the prospect of having to fight feels less amusing. This is, I'm sure, one reason for the huge popularity of MMA among teenage boys. It's a much less rule-based, refined sport than old-fashioned boxing. You can do more or less whatever it takes to subdue your opponent: punching, kicking, elbowing, wrestling. In other words, it's more like a real fight. For real, frightened, future men.

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into the world of global news and events? Download our app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store