Chaka Khan Responds to Accusations of Being Drunk After Bad Performance

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Is Chaka Khan being falsely accused of being drunk?

That’s what her rep said after the legendary singer had a strange performance this past weekend at the 13th annual Jazz in the Gardens show in Miami Gardens, Fla.

In the clips that surfaced, you can see the “Through the Fire” creator mumble some of her lyrics, and at other times she stood on stage without singing at all. Eventually, some of the audience started walking out, and they took to social media to express their disappointment.

@ChakaKhan hits the stage at @jazzgardens18, with a lukewarm reception. A source says the singer is under the weather and was hospitalized overnight. #JITG18 @CBSMiami pic.twitter.com/VcZ59vccUa

— Tania Francois (@SheBreaksNews) March 18, 2018

The famed producer Rico Love also tweeted about the performance and told everyone what was happening in real time.

“I love Chaka Khan with my whole heart, but she is drunk as hell on stage [in] Jazz in the Gardens,” he wrote. “This makes me so sad.”

A woman who uses the Twitter handle Cynthia Traveling Queen also expressed her dissatisfaction with Khan’s set.

“She looks like she’s [dis] oriented,” tweeted Cynthia. “Something is going on with her, so we all just started walking out, because it was just so terrible. I’ve seen Chaka Khan at West Palm Beach at the Kravis Center. I’ve also seen Chaka Khan at the Essence Music Festival, so I don’t know what’s going on tonight, but it was really terrible.”

As the web buzzed with speculation about her lackluster performance, Chaka’s rep spoke out and said the 10-time-Grammy winner was ill but decided to perform anyway against the doctor’s advice.

“She has been supporting her scheduled show dates, as she has been battling the flu for a number of weeks despite the doctor’s orders to cancel these shows and rest,” wrote the rep. “Unfortunately, Chaka not wanting to disappoint her fans has performed, while not totally 100%, and the media has been turning these difficult performances into something else.”

“Chaka values her fans and supporters and would never do anything to jeopardize their support and love,” added the rep. “Under doctor’s orders, Chaka will be resting for the remainder of the week until her next performance engagement in Macon, GA, Saturday, March 24th.”

You can see more of the singer’s Miami Gardens performance below, as well as additional tweets from Rico Love.