In October 2002, Kanye West crashed his car in Los Angeles and shattered his jaw in three places. Lying in the hospital with his mouth wired shut, he heard Chaka Khan's "Through the Fire" playing through a speaker and caught the line "right down to the wire." Two weeks later, still unable to open his mouth, he went into the studio and rapped "Through the Wire" through clenched teeth. The song became his first single and launched his solo career.