Chicago funk band Rufus is best known for its 1974 hit "Tell Me Something Good," featuring singer Chaka Khan, later to emerge as a major solo star at R&B radio.
Originally dubbed Ask Rufus, the group formed from the ashes of the American Breed, the Chicago pop band behind the oldies radio staple "Bend Me, Shape Me." Khan, the dynamo who replaced original singer Pauline McWilliams, joined with vocalist/keyboardist Ron Stockert, guitarist Al Ciner, bassist Kevin Murphy and drummer André Fischer to record Rufus' self-titled RCA debut, issued to little fanfare in 1973.
Stockert left Rufus during sessions for the follow-up, Rags to Rufus, and the reconfigured lineup - "a Black chick with a white band," Khan later told a reporter - recorded "Tell Me Something Good," written for them by Motown icon Stevie Wonder. The single reached number three on the Billboard Hot 100, and earned Rufus its first Grammy Award. The group scored a second Grammy with 1983's "Ain't Nobody."
