In the past, Khan struggled with drug abuse and alcoholism. Her drug use, which at times included cocaine and heroin, ended sometime in the early 1990s. Khan would have an on-again, off-again struggle with alcoholism. In 2005 she said she was sober. In 2006, her son Damien Holland was accused of murder after 17-year-old Christopher Bailey was shot to death. Khan testified on her son's behalf defending her son's innocence. Holland said the shooting was an accident and was found not guilty. Though she sang at both the 2000 Democratic and Republican conventions, Khan says that she is more of a "Democratic-minded person".