by Dot Cannon

At Pasadena’s Tournament House, on Wednesday morning, the clues were subtle.

At 9:00, 2019 Tournament of Roses® President Gerald Freeny would announce the Grand Marshal for the 130th Rose Parade®.

Since President Freeny had announced the theme, “The Melody of Life” for the January 1, 2019 parade, a musician would be a logical choice.  And local papers had shared the hint that the honoree was “a ten-time Grammy winner”.

But, who?

As usual, as invited guests and media waited,  there were some audio and visual hints.

Was that purple curtain–in lieu of the usual red–a clue?

Or, perhaps, this musician’s hat?

Or the fact that this sax cutout was overflowing with flowers?

Meanwhile, this jazz ensemble was playing selections including “Satin Doll”, “Breezing”, “The Girl From Ipanema” and an uptempo jazz version of “When the Saints Go Marching In”.   An eclectic mix, surely?

And the Grand Marshal was delayed in traffic!  So the suspense built…

…until….

…President Freeny stepped onstage, to the strains of “This Is How We Do It”.

“Good morning!” he began.  “Welcome to another glorious morning in beautiful Pasadena.  I’m very excited, and pleased and proud to…introduce to you, our selection for Grand Marshal for the  2019 Tournament of Roses® Parade, presented by Honda.”

Referencing the parade theme, “The Melody of Life”, President Freeny talked about the power of music, on both the individual and collective levels.

“On a personal scale, it gets us through our day.  It accompanies us through good times and bad times. It is, quite literally, the soundtrack of our lives.

“But on a grand scale, it has the ability to heal. To unite.  To promote change…it quite simply touches every single life on earth.

“Considering all that magnificence, you will soon see why I have an equally-magnificent Grand Marshal to embody the theme, ‘The Melody of Life’.

Introducing a luminary

“Like last year’s Grand Marshal, this person was also born in Illinois in the 1950s…” President Freeny continued

“Attracted to music at a very early age, through a jazz-loving grandmother, our Grand Marshal formed a rhythm-and-blues group at the age of 11.”

“Wow,” murmured several audience members.

“Our Grand Marshal continued performing in local bands until the early 1970s, when (this person’s) talent was discovered by the leader of a new group,” President Freeny said.

“This new group started working with Stevie Wonder.   The combination of Wonder’s songwriting and our Grand Marshal’s vocal skills scored a huge hit in 1974, (earning our Grand Marshal a Grammy) for ‘Best R&B Vocal’.”

Detailing the honoree’s subsequent career, garnering nine additional Grammys, numerous Grammy nominations and multiple bestselling albums, President Freeny said, “And as they say, the hits kept coming.”

A lifetime of achievements–and counting

But, he continued, singing was far from being the 2019 Grand Marshal’s only area of accomplishment.

“In 2008–that’s right, I said ‘she’–earned rave reviews on Broadway, playing Miss Sophie in The Color Purple.”

President Freeny enumerated the honors the 2019 Grand Marshal had received, including a BET Lifetime Achievement Award, a high school named in her honor and a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

Her philanthropic work, he added, included starting a foundation, in 1999, to help women and children at risk.

“She is booked for our Opening Spectacular, …on January first.   She will perform in our opening show…She’s an author, an entrepreneur–have you tried her chocolates?–She’s an activist, a mother, a grandmother.

Playfully, he continued, “She’s an icon for a reason, she’s every woman, there ‘ain’t nobody’ like her.

“Our Grand Marshal for the 2019 Tournament of Roses Parade, presented by Honda, is–Chaka Khan!”

A Grand Marshal shares her thoughts

“Hi!” Chaka began, to a chorus of greetings back from the audience.

“I so don’t know where to go with this.  I’m so honored.  This is something so new and different for me.”

After thanking President Freeny, his wife and the Tournament of Roses® staff, she continued, “To think that I would ever be a part of something like this.  Who knew?

“And I’m really honored, I want to thank you all–you didn’t know.  But I hope you like me,” said the celebrated singer/songwriter.

The audience cheered and applauded.

Looking ahead to New Year’s Day, Chaka commented, “As roses come in all colors, there’s so much we can do with that.

“I’m thinking now about a rose hairpiece,” she joked.  “Something–purple.”

Turning serious, in response to a reporter’s question, she admitted, “I’m a little bit scared.   But (fear), for me, has always been a good thing.  If I’m scared of something…I’m all about it, I (go) to conquer.

“I’m kind of just in a tizzy about what exactly I’m going to do, us rolling down the street there.  We’ve come up with several ideas…So, we’re going to talk, (we’re discussing it).”

Her favorite melodies

Asked about the melody that most inspired her,  Chaka said, “I see life as a melody.  As an ongoing song, several songs ongoing, a collection of songs. …And I feel like it is music to me, and we’re here to dance to it. We must live and dance to the song of life.”

She also told the gathered reporters that she was excited about her recent musical work.

“I just love Indian music.  I just did a project to celebrate the life of Gandhi.  And I got to sing with Sonu Nigam, who’s like Michael Jackson of India.  He’s a fabulous singer, so we did a duet together.  And it was Gandhi’s favorite prayer song.

“It’s just amazing.  It’s beautiful.  And I had to learn–it’s as if a spaceship landed down, on the studio, and these guys came out and said, ‘Read this.  Sing this’.”

The language she had to learn and sing?  Gujarati.

“And it’s a beautiful, difficult language, yeah.”

We suspect she won’t be singing in Gujarati on January 1, 2019 .  But, what will the “verse” she’s adding to her own “Melody of Life” sound like, that morning?

“To me it sounds fabulous,” Chaka said, as the reporters laughed.   “You’ll even like it.”

 

 

(In fact, we’ll all probably love it!   Listen for Chaka Khan’s performance to open the 130th Rose Parade, themed “The Melody of Life”, at 8:00 am PST on January 1, 2019.)