The 5-minute Interview: Chaka Khan, Singer

'Obama is a puppet of big business'

(EPA)

Chaka Khan, 55, has won 10 Grammy awards and released 13 solo albums. Her latest, 'Funk This', includes a duet with Mary J Blige. She plays the 02 Centre in London on 22 July

If I weren't talking to you right now I'd be ...

Asleep or relaxing. I'd be looking at the TV and the TV would be looking at me.

A phrase I use far too often is ...

Cheap and cheerful. It's what most of my stuff is like! I don't wear diamonds on stage.

I wish people would take more notice of ...

The dynamics of what's going on in the world. I'd like people to be more aware of the use of fossil fuels. Hopefully [Barack] Obama will bring in some change, but really he is just a puppet. Any person that runs as president is a servant of the big corporations.

The most surprising thing that happened to me was ...

Getting sober. I'll have been sober for four years in November.

A common misconception of me is ...

That I'm mean. People say, "Oh I thought you would be mean", but they probably say that because I'm honest, and they can't handle the truth.

I'm not a politician but ...

I wish there were more honest and effective ones. I truly believe that politicians would be more effective if they were honest and didn't have to conform to a code.

In moments of weakness I ...

Pray for guidance. My prayers usually get answered one way or another.

You know me as a singer but in another life I would have been ...

A painter. I would have painted angelic and ethereal women like Botticelli did.

In a nutshell my philosophy is ...

To be and let others be.

Jessica Wilkins