Queen Chaka brought everything we needed to her COLORS close-up.
Chaka Khan has come full circle with thee COLORS universe. After stripping “Through the Fire” back to its emotional core in July and returning in August with the new “Curious Subject”, Queen Chaka is closing the chapter with A COLORS CLOSE UP — a more conversational look at where she is now, what keeps her grounded and protected, and the people inside her current creative circle.
The timing could not be better. Khan’s new album CHAKZILLA arrives September 18, her first new studio album in seven years. The 10-track set includes “Curious Subject,” “Boogie’s in My Soul” with Snoop Dogg, “Cool U Down” with Sia and “Bring the Party” with Lenny Kravitz. So the COLORS run has quietly become its own little rollout: legacy, new material, then the woman behind both.
THE CHAKZILLA ERA
Chaka Khan’s new chapter is officially here
Go straight to the album, then revisit the two COLORS performances that led into this Close-Up.
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Now the performance armor comes off a little. In the Close-Up, Khan gets into the new project, the way she thinks about protection and trust, and her relationship with Sia — who is not just a collaborator, but Khan’s goddaughter. Their connection has become part of this whole era: Sia helped shape the CHAKZILLA world, while Khan has described the bond between them as deeply personal as well as creative.
That relationship makes sense when you hear how Khan talks about this phase of her life. There is less interest in pretending she has everything figured out and more comfort in saying the opposite. “Curious Subject” itself leans into that idea of getting older while still discovering who you are. At 73, Chaka is not presenting herself as finished. Thank goodness.
Plus, there’s the opening beginning of the video — playful, sensitive and very human — that gives us another side of the Khan before the bigger career questions settle in. It is exactly what the COLORS setup does well when it works: strip away the usual television furniture and let personality breathe.
And this is where the whole three-part COLORS stretch starts to click. “Through the Fire” arrived July 20 as a return to one of her defining ballads. “Curious Subject” followed August 20 with brand-new material from CHAKZILLA. Then, on September 15, the Close-Up finally handed Chaka the floor to talk instead of only sing.
For somebody with more than five decades of history behind her, Khan still sounds most alive when she is talking about what she has not finished learning yet. That is probably the best bridge between the woman who recorded “Through the Fire” and the one now singing “Curious Subject”: same instrument, more life inside it.
Chaka Khan Opens Up in A COLORS CLOSE UP
COLORS published Chaka Khan | A COLORS CLOSE UP on September 15, 2026, following her 2026 COLORS performances of “Through the Fire” and “Curious Subject.”
Sources: COLORS; Chaka Khan official site and store; BMG; and People.
