Vocal icon Chaka Khan's brand-new CD Funk This! debuted at Number 15 on the Billboard 200 chart this week. It's the soulful singer's highest charting album since her best-selling solo set I Feel For You peaked at Number 14 in 1984, a span of more than 20 years. Funk This! also debuted on the R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart at Number Five, making this her best chart showing ever.

Her first single from the set, the poignant ballad "Angel," has risen to Number Four on the urban AC airplay charts. Another urban single, "Disrespectful," is a duet with Mary J. Blige. And her version of Michael McDonald's "You Belong To Me," performed with McDonald himself, is climbing the smooth jazz charts.

Khan worked on Funk This! with producers Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis, who allowed the onetime Rufus frontwoman to choose the material she wanted to record, which includes a mix of originals and covers. Even the few suggestions, like McDonald's "You Belong To Me," had to be done her way.

Khan explained: "Well, they were songs I liked. No, they were adamant about me singing what I like to sing. One or two suggestions here or there. 'You Belong To Me' was a suggestion that I thought was cool. I thought it could work -- only with Michael."

Khan is embarking on a national tour that kicks off Saturday (October 6th), in Mobile, Alabama.

Come January, the veteran performer will join the cast of the Tony-winning musical, The Color Purple.


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