Chicago-born Chaka Khan became the voice of the funk-rock band Rufus in the early 1970s, powering hits like "Tell Me Something Good" with a raw, gospel-and-jazz-inflected belt rare in funk at the time. Her solo run beginning with 1978's "I'm Every Woman" established her as one of R&B's most technically dazzling vocalists, later crossing into dance and jazz-fusion territory. Her elastic, riff-heavy phrasing became a direct template for the generation of 1990s R&B singers who followed.

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1978

I'm Every WomanChaka Khan