In the court of R&B royalty with Chaka, Patti, Gladys and Stephanie

Near the extremity of an evening ruled by queens, a king was keeping Chaka Khan waiting.

“Stevie Wonder’s successful the location tonight,” Khan said precocious Sunday arsenic she stood successful the spotlight astatine Inglewood’s Kia Forum. “I don’t cognize wherever helium is.” The seasoned soul-music prima wandered implicit to the borderline of the stage, the achromatic fringe of her bedazzled cape swaying with each step, and peered retired into the crowd. “Steve, you implicit there?”

Khan was successful the mediate of her acceptable to adjacent Sunday’s installment of a traveling R&B revue called “The Queens” that launched past week successful Las Vegas and has her connected the roadworthy done the autumn with 3 chap lifers successful Patti LaBelle, Gladys Knight and Stephanie Mills. (One longs to person been successful the country erstwhile they decided who plays last.) She’d travel retired singing “I Feel for You” — saucy, casual, effortlessly funky — past glided done “Do You Love What You Feel” and “What Cha’ Gonna Do for Me.” Now her would-be peculiar impermanent was obscurity to beryllium found.

Chaka Khan performs with Stevie Wonder.

(Carlin Stiehl/Los Angeles Times)

“Stevie Wonder!” she said again, attempting to summon him to the stage. “We spell backmost a long, agelong way. I retrieve erstwhile we did a tour, helium and I — indispensable person been backmost successful the ’80s, the ’70s oregon something. It was that agelong ago. We were connected circuit for dang adjacent 2 years. Two friggin’ frack years.” Khan went connected for a infinitesimal astir a vexing aged grounds woody past seemed wisely to deliberation amended of that. “Call him,” she instructed the crowd, which started up a “Stevie” chant.

“What?” boomed a dependable astatine past implicit the dependable system. It was Wonder, shuffling retired from the wings wearing his signature shades and beret to articulation his aged person for — well, for what? Khan had acceptable up Wonder’s cameo by saying they should bash “I Feel for You” again since Wonder played harmonica connected the archetypal grounds successful 1984. But Wonder didn’t look to person gotten that note: After clasping hands with Khan, helium started telling the communicative of penning “Tell Me Something Good” a decennary earlier for her radical Rufus, which led Khan to cue her backing set connected that fig instead.

And what a fig it was. That slinky up-and-down riff inactive a marvel of rhythmic ingenuity that inspired Khan and Wonder to spell disconnected successful a volley of advertisement libs similar the seasoned pros they are.

Patti Labelle performs.

(Carlin Stiehl/Los Angeles Times)

Signs of beingness specified arsenic that 1 are precisely the crushed to spell to a performance similar “The Queens,” successful which the immense acquisition of the performers — Mills was the youngest astatine 68, LaBelle the oldest astatine 80 — serves not arsenic a safeguard against the unexpected but arsenic a warrant that immoderate mightiness hap is afloat roll-with-able.

Mills got up determination Sunday and discovered an unwelcome clime concern — “I privation they would chopped that aerial off,” she said, “it’s blowing truthful acold connected me” — but went up and sang the bejesus retired of “Home,” from “The Wiz.” LaBelle enactment retired a telephone for consenting men from the assemblage — “Black, white, straight, gay,” she made wide — past presided implicit an impromptu endowment amusement arsenic each feline did a spot of “Lady Marmalade” for her. And past determination was Knight’s handler, who seemed to amusement up a fewer beats aboriginal to usher her offstage aft “Midnight Train to Georgia.” No biggie: He could conscionable basal determination holding her limb mildly for a infinitesimal portion she traded “I’ve got to go’s” with her inheritance singers.

Gladys Knight performs.

(Carlin Stiehl/Los Angeles Times)

Another crushed to spell to “The Queens,” particularly connected Mother’s Day, was to behold the finery displayed onstage (and successful the crowd). Knight wore a crisp reddish pantsuit with glittering figure-eight earrings, Mills an off-the-shoulder mermaid gown. LaBelle showed disconnected 2 outfits, emerging successful a silky bluish suit earlier changing into a agelong tunic-style dress. During “On My Own,” she kicked disconnected her heels, sending them hurtling crossed the stage; later, she spritzed herself from a vessel of fragrance past spritzed the beforehand enactment for bully measure.

As a three-hour programme — Knight opened astatine 7 p.m. connected the dot — Sunday’s amusement moved quickly, with a rotating signifier that whirred to beingness aft each woman’s set. And of people cipher stuck astir agelong capable to connection up thing but hits. The philharmonic pleasures were the ripples of item successful each those acquainted tunes: a small ha-ha-ha Knight utilized to punctuate “That’s What Friends Are For”; LaBelle’s frisky vocal runs successful “When You Talk About Love,” which she sang arsenic a stagehand came retired to assistance enactment her in-ear show backmost in; the mode Khan toyed with her phrasing successful “Through the Fire,” slowing down erstwhile you thought she’d velocity up and vice versa. (Nobody wants to commencement a combat here, but Khan was undoubtedly the night’s champion singer.)

Stephanie Mills performs.

(Carlin Stiehl/Los Angeles Times)

After bringing the Mother’s Day assemblage to its feet with “I’m Every Woman” — determination retired determination was Khan’s ain 91-year-old mom, she said — she started to marque for the exit erstwhile her set revved up the throbbing synth lick from “Ain’t Nobody.”

“Oh, 1 more?” she said to nary 1 successful particular. “S—. One more!”