Patti LaBelle

At 80 years old, Patti LaBelle has this physical status:

Patti LaBelle (born Patricia Louise Holte; May 24, 1944) is an American singer, actress, and entrepreneur.

LaBelle began her career in the early 1960s as lead singer and front woman of the vocal group, Patti LaBelle and the Bluebelles.

Following the group's name change to Labelle in the early 1970s, they released the iconic disco song "Lady Marmalade" and the group later became the first African-American vocal group to land the cover of Rolling Stone magazine.

LaBelle is commonly identified as the "Godmother of Soul".After the group split in 1976, LaBelle began a successful solo career, starting with her critically acclaimed debut album, which included the career-defining song, "You Are My Friend".

LaBelle became a mainstream solo star in 1984 following the success of the singles, "If Only You Knew", "New Attitude" and "Stir It Up", with the latter two crossing over to pop audiences and becoming radio staples.Less than two years later, in 1986, LaBelle scored with the number-one album, Winner in You and the number-one duet single, "On My Own", with Michael McDonald.

LaBelle eventually won a 1992 Grammy for Best Female R&B Vocal Performance for her 1991 album, Burnin', followed by a second Grammy win for the live album, Live! One Night Only.

Her 1990s albums, Burnin', Gems (1994) and Flame (1997), continued her popularity with young R&B audiences throughout the decade.

Following the release of two mildly receptive solo albums in the early new millennium, she reunited with her Labelle bandmates for the album, Back to Now, followed by a briefly well received promotional tour.

LaBelle's success has extended as an actress with a notable role in the film, A Soldier's Story, and in TV shows such as A Different World and American Horror Story: Freak Show.

In 1992, LaBelle starred in her own TV sitcom, Out All Night.

A decade later, LaBelle hosted her own lifestyle TV show, Living It Up with Patti LaBelle on TV One.

In 2015, LaBelle took part in the dance competition, Dancing with the Stars. In a career that has spanned fifty years, she has sold more than 50 million records worldwide.

LaBelle has been inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame, the Hollywood Walk of Fame, and the Apollo Theater Hall of Fame.

LaBelle was included in Rolling Stone on their list of 100 Greatest Singers.

LaBelle is a dramatic soprano and is noted for her vocal power, range and emotive delivery.

She also has a cake named "Patti LaBelle's Fancy Cake".

Personal life

LaBelle dropped out of Philadelphia's John Bartram High School just a semester before graduating in 1962. LaBelle returned to the school in her mid-thirties and later earned her diploma.

LaBelle wrote that she was sexually assaulted by Jackie Wilson while at the Brevoort Theatre at Brooklyn in the 1960s. Around 1964, LaBelle was engaged to Otis Williams, founding member of The Temptations. The engagement lasted a year before Patti broke it off after fearing Williams would force her to move to Detroit and retire from the road.

On July 23, 1969, LaBelle married a longtime friend, Armstead Edwards, who was a schoolteacher. After LaBelle started her solo career, Edwards became her manager, a position he would remain in until 2000. That year, LaBelle announced that she and Edwards had legally separated, with their divorce finalized in 2003. They have a son, Zuri Kye Edwards (born July 17, 1973), who is now her manager. Following Zuri's birth, LaBelle suffered from postpartum depression for a year and said singer-songwriter Laura Nyro helped the singer to cope with it helping to take care of Zuri until she eventually got over it. Through Zuri (whose name means "good" in Swahili), LaBelle is a grandmother of two girls and one boy.

Members of LaBelle's family died at young ages. Her mother Bertha died in October 1978 from diabetes at the age of 62. Her father, Henry Holte Jr., died of complications from emphysema and Alzheimer's disease in October 1989 at the age of 70.

All three of LaBelle's sisters died young. Eldest sister Vivian Hogan Rogers died of lung cancer in October 1975 at the age of 43. Seven years later, in October 1982, her elder sister Barbara Holte Purifoy died from complications of colon cancer at the age of 40. In July 1989, three months before her father's death, LaBelle lost her youngest sister, Jacqueline "Jackie" Holte-Padgett, to brain cancer at the age of 43. A day after the singer buried Padgett, an emotionally-wrecked LaBelle shot the music video to "If You Asked Me To" where she was seen crying in various shots; the video was shot on what would've been Padgett's 44th birthday. The singer dedicated her 1991 Burnin' album, and her famous rendition of the song "Wind Beneath My Wings" during her concert tour in 1991–92 to Padgett.

LaBelle said because of her sisters and parents dying "before their time", she wrote in her autobiography that she feared she wouldn't make it to 50. Once she reached that age, however, the singer said she felt her life "had just begun". A year later, LaBelle was diagnosed as having diabetes and later became a spokesperson for several organizations dedicated in fighting the disease.

She has a home in the Philadelphia suburb of Wynnewood and also has condos in Los Angeles and in Eleuthera, the Bahamas.

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Early life and career

Patricia Louise Holte was born in Southwest Philadelphia, Pennsylvania,'s Eastwick neighborhood. Catherine was Henry's second child (1919–1989) and Bertha (Robinson; 1916–1978) Holte's three children were the youngest of five children overall, with the second youngest five children the next-to-youngest of five children. Thomas Hogan Jr. (1930-2013), Vivian Hogan (1932–1975), Barbara (1942-1972), and Jacqueline "Jackie" (1945-1989). Her father was a railroad worker and club performer, and her mother was a domestic. Despite enjoying her childhood, LaBelle would later write in her memoirs, Don't Block the Blessings, that her parents' union was traumatic. LaBelle was sexually molested by a family friend a few weeks after her parents' divorce when she was twelve years old.

At ten years old, she sang in a local church choir at Beulah Baptist Church, and this was her first solo performance two years later. Although she was growing up, she listened to secular music styles such as R&B and jazz.

When LaBelle was sixteen, she placed first in a talent competition at her high school, John Bartram High School. With schoolmates Jean Brown, Yvonne Hogen, and Johnnie Dawson, this success led to the Ordettes' first singing group in 1960. With LaBelle as the front woman, the group became a local attraction until two of its members were forced to marry, and another was forced to leave the group due to her religious father's inability. The Ordettes were made up of three new members, Cindy Birdsong, Sarah Dash, and Nona Hendryx, the latter two girls were performing for another now defunct vocal group. They auditioned for local record label owner Harold Robinson in the first year. After hearing LaBelle sing "I Sold My Heart to the Junkman," Robinson decided to work with the company. Robinson was initially dismissive of LaBelle, accusing her of being "too dark and too plain."

Robinson was signed as the Blue Belles and they were chosen to promote "I Sold My Heart to the Junkman," which had not been released by The Starlets. Due to a name match, it was not identified as a Blue Belles single. After the Blue Belles were seen performing a lip-synching interpretation of the song on American Bandstand, the Starlets' manager filed a lawsuit against Harold Robinson. Robinson changed the group's name to "Patti LaBelle and The Blue Belles" after settling out of court. In French, Robinson gave Holte the name "LaBelle," which means "the beautiful" in French. The group was initially identified as "Patti Bell and the Blue Bells" by a Billboard ad. The group had their first hit single with the ballad "Down the Aisle," which became a crossover top 40 hit on the Billboard pop and R&B charts in 1963 after King Records released it. Later this year, the group recorded their interpretation of "You'll Never Walk Alone," which was later released on Cameo-Parkway Records, where the band earned their second hit on the pop charts with the song's second hit on the pop charts in 1964. "Danny Boy," a charted single, was also released the same year. The group migrated to New York in 1965, after Cameo Parkway's folding, where they released twelve singles for the brand, including the mildly charted singles "All or Nothing" and "Take Me for a Little While." The group's Atlantic tenure included their interpretation of "Over the Rainbow" and a version of the song "Groovy Kind of Love." Birdsong left the organization in 1967 to join The Supremes, but by 1970, the group had been stripped from Atlantic Records as well as longtime manager Bernard Montague.

After Dusty Springfield mentioned signing them, Vicki Wickham, the show's producer, decided to lead the group this year. Wickham's first move for the company was for them to change their name to simply Labelle and be urged to re-elect their act, opting for a more homegrown look and sound that reflected funk, rock, and psychedelic soul. In 1971, the group opened for the Who in several stops on the group's North American tour.

Labelle debuted their self-titled debut album in 1971 when it was released by Warner Bros. Records. The album's psychedelic soul sound and its blend of rock, funk, soul, and gospel beats was a departure from the group's early girl-group sounds. They performed background vocals on Laura Nyro's album, Gonna Take a Miracle, the same year. Moon Shadow, the group's name, a year later, introduced the gritty sound of the previous album. Wickham had the group dressed in silver space suits and luminescent makeup in 1973, influenced by glam rockers David Bowie and Elton John.

Labelle, the record's producer, Allen Toussaint, released their most popular album to date on Pressure Cookin', which mixed soul, funk, glam, and rock music on their third album in a row. The proto-disco single, "Lady Marmalade," would be their top-selling single on the Billboard Hot 100 and selling over a million copies, as did Nightbirds, which later received a RIAA gold medal for sales of a million units, which was later inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame. Labelle made pop history by becoming the first rock and roll vocal group to perform at the Metropolitan Opera House in October 1974. Labelle was on the front page of Rolling Stone in 1975, owing to the popularity of "Lady Marmalade" and the Nightbirds album.

In 1975 and 1976, respectively, Labelle released Phoenix and Chameleon. Although both albums continued the group's critical success, none of the singles on those albums made it to the pop charts. Patti, Nona, and Sarah were among the group's musical directors by 1976. At a show on December 16, 1976, Hendryx went backstage and injured herself during a nervous breakdown, personal struggles came to a head. Following the incident, LaBelle recommended that the team be separated.

Solo career

LaBelle signed David Rubinson, a Chameleon producer, to record her self-titled debut album, which was released the year. Despite the album's low success on the R&B chart, the album was praised for the disco hits, "Joy to Have Your Love" and "Dan Swit Me" and the gospel ballad, "You Are My Friend" and the gospel ballad, "You Are My Friend" and the gospel ballad "You Are My Friend" and the gospel ballad. Three more albums were released in succession on Epic throughout 1980, with "Eyes in the Back of My Head," "Music is My Way of Life," "Release (The Tension)" and "I Don't Go Shopping" being the most popular songs.

LaBelle, a singer on Epic, has signed with Philadelphia International Records, where she performed a memorable version of "Over the Rainbow" on the album "The Spirit's In It." She appeared on the Grover Washington duet "The Best Is Yet to Come" in 1982 and was given accolades that year for her role in the Broadway musical Your Arms Too Short to Box With God. LaBelle's first Grammy Award nomination came later this year. LaBelle's 1983 debut "I'm in Love Again," which included her first top-ten R&B singles, as well as "If Only You Knew," the former singer's first top-one hit as a solo artist in early 1984. She had another hit with Bobby Womack on the song "Love Has Finally Arrived" and appeared in the film A Soldier's Story in 1984.

For the soundtrack to Eddie Murphy's film Beverly Hills Cop, LaBelle recorded the songs "New Attitude" and "Stir It Up" in 1984. "New Attitude" was released as a single in late 1984 and became LaBelle's first crossover solo hit, peaking at number 17 on the Billboard Hot 100 and becoming a signature tune following the film's release. On pop radio and as a staple in dance clubs, "Stir It Up" found similar success. In 1985, LaBelle appeared on the TV show Motown Returns to Apollo and also as part of the all-star charity showcase, Live Aid. LaBelle's success on these two specials made her a pop star and culminated in her own television series later this year. A video of a performance from her year of tour was also posted on VHS in the same year. LaBelle left Philadelphia International's employment and signed with MCA Records during this time.

In the Name of Love, LaBelle performed with Gladys Knight and Dionne Warwick in 1986. During the same year, LaBelle released her best-selling solo album In You, which debuted at number one on the pop charts. "On My Own" and the hit ballad "Oh People" were among the album's hits. Winner in You will be the pinnacle of her solo career, but she would continue her acclaim with the release of "You Are Mine" and the hit ballad "If You Asked Me To," which had more success in a remake by singer Celine Dion. LaBelle began a fruitful career on A Different World in the year 2000, the success of which culminated in a short sitcom that only lasted a season. She produced "Superwoman" with Gladys Knight and Dionne Warwick in 1991, a hit duet version of the Babyface piece. LaBelle's solo album Burnin', which went gold in the first year, became one of the top five hits on the R&B charts in three separate years. LaBelle gained her first Grammy Award in the Best Female R&B Vocal Performance category in 1992, a rare tie in the Grammy Awards' history, thanks to her success.

"The Right Kinda Lover," LaBelle's 1994 album Gems went gold and was included in LaBelle's hit, "The Right Kinda Lover." LaBelle appeared at the Super Bowl XXIX halftime show in Miami, Florida, on January 29, 1995, which later became Hard Rock Stadium (which later became Hard Rock Stadium) with Tony Bennett, Arturo Sandoval, and the Miami Sound Machine. "When You Talk About Love," LaBelle's album, Flame, featured the dance number "When You Talk About Love," which included the dance number "When You Talk About Love." In 1996, LaBelle's best-selling memoirs, Don't Block the Blessings, was released, and in 1997, she became the first of five best-selling cookbooks. Live! She first released the album in 1998. One Night Only, which culminated in his second Grammy win in February. It's her most recent Grammy win. When a Woman Loves was released in 2000, LaBelle's last MCA film, When a Woman Loves, was released before she joined Def Soul Classics to debut Timeless Journey in 2004. LaBelle engaged in a feud with Antonio "L.A." Reid over the direction of her career, resulting in her leaving the label. The World Music Awards honoured her years in the music industry by giving her the Legend Award in the same year. Patti LaBelle, the artist's debut on the Bungalo label in 2006, reached number one on Billboard's gospel chart. During this period, LaBelle also published Patti's Pearls, a book that was published in Patti's Pearls. Miss Patti's Christmas was her second holiday album for the singer in 2007. LaBelle's first new album in more than 30 years, 'Back to Now,' in 2008.

LaBelle performed in the award-winning musical Fela on September 14, 2010, two decades after her last Broadway appearance. Fela Anikulapo-Kuti, the Afrobeat queen, has been born in Afrobeat. Funmilayo Ransome-Kuti, LaBelle's mother, was replaced by Tony Award-nominee White as Fela's mother, and she continued with the show until December 2, 2011.

LaBelle appeared on "Oprah's Farewell Spectacular, Part 1," the first show in a series of three shows adorning The Oprah Winfrey Show's conclusion, singing "Over the Rainbow" with Josh Groban on May 23, 2011. On June 26, 2011, LaBelle was named with the Lifetime Achievement Award at the BET Awards. Many artists, including LaBelle and Aretha Franklin, appeared at the "Women of Soul" concert hosted by President Barack Obama at the White House on March 6, 2014.

LaBelle, the cast and creative team of the Tony Award-nominated Broadway musical After Midnight's Broadway debut After Midnight, welcomed her as the "Special Guest Star" on June 10, 2014. LaBelle will appear in a guest appearance on the forthcoming fourth season of the FX horror anthology television series American Horror Story, subtitled Freak Show, in August 2014.

LaBelle was announced on February 24, 2015, as one of the celebrities to compete on the 20th season of Dancing with the Stars. Artem Chigvintsev, a professional dancer, was partnered with her. On Week 6, the couple was ruled out of eighth place and ended in eighth place. LaBelle has regularly visited the United States, selling out shows in various countries. Frankie Beverly & Maze performed on cross-country USA tours in 2012 and 2014. In 2015, LaBelle appeared as herself on Fox's television show Empire.

On the NBC show The Voice, she will be a "key advisor."

Bel Hommage, her first jazz album, was released in 2017.

Patti LaBelle Way, a very different street name, was honoured in Philadelphia on July 2, 2019.

LaBelle was confirmed to have appeared on the second season of The Masked Singer as "Flower" on November 20, 2019.

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