Chaka Khan Explains Why She’s Retiring From Touring: “I Got This Rich A** Lifestyle”

If you haven’t seen Chaka Khan on tour, the chances of that happening now are slim to none.

In a recent interview with Rolling Stone, the 70-year-old vocalist shared that she has no intentions of embarking on another tour for the rest of her career. Although the music icon clarified that she currently has no plans to retire from live performances, she expressed a desire to step away from the tour bus lifestyle, citing her current “rich-ass life.”

“Some people, that’s all they have, you know?” Khan said. “I got this rich-ass life. I’ve got great-grandchildren I want to get to know better. So I will not do another tour. I’ll do dates, but it won’t look like a tour. They’ll be far enough apart that I can have time to sleep in between.”

She added, “Riding on a bus, pissing in a little bathroom, waking up in the morning and you’re five hours from your hotel where you can take a proper bath or shower and go to bed like a normal human being. And then you got a gig that night.”

Even though Khan is stepping back from touring, she also spoke about potentially retiring from performing all together in the future.

“Well, I might do that three or four times, like other b*tches do,” she said jokingly.

In 2023, Khan marked her 70th birthday and the 50th anniversary of her music career with several concerts. She plans to extend the celebration into the next year, commencing 2024 with a performance in Los Angeles on January 27th, followed by headlining various festivals across the U.K. during the next summer. Beyond commemorating her significant music milestone in the preceding year, the “Through the Fire” artist also joined the esteemed class of 2023 inductees into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.