Rufus and Chaka Khan

Rufus
Circa late 1970s: left to right - (top row) Bobby Watson, John "J.R." Robinson, Tony Maiden, (bottom row) Kevin Murphy, Chaka Khan, Dave "Hawk" Wolinski.
Background information
Also known as	Smoke Ask Rufus Rufus featuring Chaka Khan Rufus & Chaka Khan Rufus & Chaka Rufus with Chaka Khan
Origin	Chicago, Illinois, United States
Genres	R&B, soul, funk, smooth soul, quiet storm, disco
Years active	1970–1983
Labels	Epic, ABC, MCA, Warner Bros.
Past members	See line-ups

Rufus was an American funk band from Chicago, Illinois best known for launching the career of lead singer Chaka Khan. They had several hits throughout their career, including "Tell Me Something Good", "Sweet Thing", and "Ain't Nobody".

In 1968, The American Breed (Gary Loizzo, Al Ciner, Charles (Chuck) Colbert and Lee Graziano) had a top ten hit with the classic rock single, "Bend Me, Shape Me,". After much success, Colbert and Graziano (without Loizzo who pursued a successful production career) created a new group, adding later day "Breed" members Kevin Murphy on (keyboards) and Paulette McWilliams (vocals), plus James Stella (vocals) and Vern Pilder (guitar) from the bar band "Circus". They re-emerged in 1969 under the name "Smoke". In 1970, after switching their management to Bob Monaco and Bill Traut, the group's name changed again to "Ask Rufus", the name taken from the title of the advice column in Mechanics Illustrated. At this point, Ciner came back to replace Pilder and Willie Weeks was added on bass after Colbert left.

In 1971 the band signed a contract with Epic Records recording an album that wasn't released after which Epic dropped their contract in early 1972. Willie Weeks was in turn replaced by Dennis Belfield, James Stella by keyboardist/vocalist Ron Stockert and Lee Graziano by Andre Fischer (former drummer with Curtis Mayfield and Jerry Butler). Paulette McWilliams and Chaka Khan had met and became the best of friends through their spouses Howard Towles and Hassan Khan. Chaka would come to most of Ask Rufus gigs when they were performing in Chicago. When Paulette decided she was leaving Ask Rufus, she went to the band and told them she had the perfect singer to replace her; she had also asked Chaka if she was interested. After the band members hesitantly submitted, Paulette remained with Ask Rufus for a few more weeks to teach Chaka all of their material. Paulette also got Chaka a gig with the group formed by Chicago's Cash McCall called Lyfe. Chaka had been performing at the Pumpkin Room on the south side of Chicago, with a local Chicago group called Lock and Chain, led by drummer Scotty Harris.