A battle of the divas has kicked off over Rolling Stone’s new list of the world’s greatest singers.
Music legend Chaka Khan has blasted the mag’s editors as “blind bitches” who “need hearing aids” in a new interview — after they dared to rank her at No. 29 on a “The 200 Greatest Singers of All Time” list behind such belters as Adele and Mary J. Blige.
In a lively chat with Andrew Goldman on his “The Originals” podcast for Los Angeles Magazine, Khan complained of the rankings, “These are blind bitches! They are blind as a motherf–king bat! They need hearing aids… These must be the children of Helen Keller!”
In the interview, she went off on Mariah Carey, Joan Baez and others, while giving singers such as Beyoncé and Aretha Franklin props.
When asked about Carey coming in at No. 5, Khan jokingly alleged, “That must be payola or some s–t like that.”
When Goldman asked about Adele being ranked at 22, Khan just threw up her hands, quipping, “OK, I quit.”
The “Ain’t Nobody” singer also didn’t mince words when it came to folkie Joan Baez, who hit the list at No. 189. “Let’s be honest, the bitch cannot sing!” she said, while admitting, “Now she was a good writer.”
But Khan also gave credit where credit was due, in her eyes. Of the late great Aretha Franklin, who topped the list at No. 1, Khan mused: “As she f–king should be. Thank you there’s justice somewhere!”
The singer also took pride in Whitney Houston coming in at No. 2 by saying, “Great… I’m the one who introduced her to [music mogul] Clive [Davis].”
“And I introduced her to the business,” she added. “I made her mother bring her down to the studio and sing background with me. Her and Luther Vandross. They both sang background for me on my albums,” she said.
As far as Beyoncé at No. 8? “I don’t have anything to say about Beyoncé. She’s a great singer… She’s got the chops. She does,” Khan said.
But prior to the interview, she’d never heard of the Rolling Stone list, she said.
“I didn’t even know what the hell you were talking about, so obviously this don’t mean a great deal to me,” she told Goldman. “These people don’t quantify or validate me in any way,” she concluded.