Patti Labelle

Born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, US, Patricia Holte-Edwards developed her vocal talents whilst being part of the church choir, with her vocal talents recognised at an early age. Together with friends Nonah Hendryx, Sarah Dash and Cindy Birdsong, they formed the vocal group the BlueBelles, later shortened to the LaBelles. The group went on to have a career full of top ten hits, most notably the pioneering disco number, “Lady Marmalade,” which reached number one on the Billboard Carts, sending the group into wide critical acclaim, becoming the first African American vocal group to be on the front cover of Rolling Stone magazine in 1975. Following differences with their musical direction, the LaBelles split in 1977, with Patti LaBelle embarking upon a solo career shortly after.

LaBelle went on to have great success as a solo artist, releasing ecords frequently throughout her forty-year career. As a solo artist, she got her first number one hit with the Michael McDonald duet “On My Own” (1986), with her album “Winner in You,” released that same year, peaking at number one on the Billboard album charts. The song went on to sell over a million copies and be certified Platinum. In 1992, she won a Grammy Award for Best R&B Vocal Performance for her 1991 album “Burnin’.” The album featured three top ten hits and sold half a million copies.

As well as being a recording artist, LaBelle has also featured in a number of stage productions, performing in “Your Arms Too Sort to Box with God,” and in later years as Fela Kuti’s mother in the award winning musical “Fela.”

Patti LaBelle has been hugely influential to a number of artists following her work with the LaBelles and as a solo artist. She has helped spur the rise of Disco in America, with the hit songs “Lady Marmalade” and “Messin’ with My Mind.” She has inspired a whole generation of soul singers, with the likes of Christina Aguilera, Donna Summer, Mariah Carey and Whitney Houston.

Like a host of other R&B groups to have originally found success around the middle of the twentieth century – the likes of The Four Tops, The Ink Spots and The Temptations all spring to mind – The O’Jayss are now a bona fide R&B institution and continue to perform today, and unlike some of those aforementioned contemporaries, two of the original members – Eddie Levert and Walter Williams – remain with the group today. That kind of longevity is impressive in itself – it means that they’ve been going for longer than The Rolling Stones. But it’s the energy and vigour that the trio – currently completed by Eric Grant – continue to pour into their frequent tours that’s really striking.

With hits like ‘Love Train’, ‘Back Stabbers’, ‘I Love Music’ ‘Use ta Be My Girl’ and ‘Livin’ for the Weekend’ having made a genuine impact worldwide in their seventies heyday, it’s little wonder that The O’Jays can count themselves amongst the revered inductees to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, as well as the recipients of a BET Lifetime Achievement Award. That’s not to mention, either, the renaissance they enjoyed in the early noughties, when their classic track ‘For the Love of Money’ was used as the theme to NBC’s global smash television show ‘The Apprentice’.