Jeffrey Osborne reveals classic Chaka Khan, Magic Johnson, Soul Train stories (Photos)

Jeffrey Osborne shares classic unforgettable stories on Chaka Khan, Magic Johnson and upcoming Soul Train cruise as interview continues form part I here:

W.E. What was it like recording “Baby, It’s Cold Outside” with Chaka Khan?

J.O. (Laughs) Well, Chaka is just so sweet, we have worked together many times onstage and have a great relationship and rapport so it felt so natural to record with her. We just enjoy each other so much. The recording session was very loose, so fun, and so easy.

W.E. We’re getting close to the NBA All Star Weekend (Feb 15 - Feb 17) and baseball season is just around the corner – you’ve got the really unique distinction of having performed the national anthem at championship games for both leagues. What is that like?

J.O. It’s great. I think I started doing the anthem for the Lakers back in 1979, which was Magic’s rookie year. I started doing the anthems because he was a fan of my music. I had actually performed with my old group, LTD, at his birthday party that year and after that the Lakers asked me to come by and sing the national anthem. Every time I sang they won, and you know how superstitious athletes can be, so I sang like 30 times! The beauty of all these years of singing the anthem is that I got a chance to meet athletes that I love and there was a mutual respect. Before you knew it, I was doing playoff games and all these other teams were calling me. It’s been nice – I love sports and all of these great athletes, and it’s just meant so much to me. In fact, I have 6 championship rings from the Lakers.

W.E. Is there anything specifically about Los Angeles that you’d like to talk about?

J.O. The beauty of recording in LA is that most of the musicians that are on the record live here, so it was easy to get world class artists like Rick Braun to swing by and play a little trumpet, Everette Harp on sax, guitarist Paul Jackson. We have access to just about everyone here. Only Christian McBride and John Roberts had to come into town for the recording.

I wanted to let your readers know that I’m taking off on the first ever Soul Train Cruise next week. I’m pretty excited and honored to be making history like this. I’ll be back onboard and performing for the second Soul Train Cruise that leaves from San Diego on October 5th. I hope some of you out there will join me.