EL SEGUNDO, Calif. — Chaka Khan is lending her voice to a new family-friendly project.
The legendary singer can be heard in the new Disney+ film, The One and Only Ivan, a live-action/CGI hybrid that follows a loveable 400 pound silverback gorilla who tries to escape from captivity.
Khan provides the voice of Henrietta, a chicken, and it was the relateable themes of the movie's story that got her on board.
"It's an ongoing theme of freedom, love, strength, and friends. It speaks about a lot of things in life and everybody comes away with something different," she said.
Khan's list of milestones includes 10 Grammy Awards, 70 million records sold, and more recently, competing on hit series The Masked Singer and serving as the 2019 Grand Marshal of the Rose Parase.
Like many, the artist has spent most of her time at home amid the coronavirus pandemic. However, Khan has enjoyed the time indoors.
"I’m already a great hermit, I can isolate," she said. "I think it’s good to come home and hang 'Chaka Khan' in the closet ... I love it."
Here are five things you need to know about Khan and her new film:
- The One and Only Ivan is based on a children's novel about a silverback gorilla named Ivan who lived in a cage at a mall. The book won numerous awards, including being named the 2013 winner of the Newbery Medal, and is currently nominated on several reading lists.
- The Disney+ movie also features the voices of Sam Rockwell, Angelina Jolie, Danny DeVito, Helen Mirren, and Brooklynn Prince.
- Although The One and Only Ivan is a fictional story, it is inspired by the true story of Ivan, a gorilla who lived in a similar situation for 27 years before being adopted by Zoo Atlanta in 1994.
- Khan has been only been featured in one other movie, playing a choir soloist in the 1980 American musical comedy The Blues Brothers. That doesn't mean she's not a big fan of movies, saying, "I’m a big film freak, I love film. I think in one of my last lives I was a cinematographer. I love cinema, lighting and all that."
- When it comes to being comfortable at home during the pandemic, the 67-year-old star says, "The whole experience has been sort of magical for me and eye-opening and sad and revealing. I’ve never had this much time off. In 50 years singing, I’ve never taken a vacation."
The One and Only Ivan is now streaming on Disney+.