Patti LaBelle

Early life and career

Patricia Louise Holte grew up in Southwest Philadelphia as the second-youngest of five children. Her father worked on the railroad and performed in clubs, while her mother was a domestic worker. When she was 12, her parents divorced, and soon after, a family friend sexually abused her. She joined Beulah Baptist Church’s choir at age 10 and sang her first solo two years later.

At 16, she won a high school talent contest, which led to forming the Ordettes in 1960 with classmates. By 1962, the group included Cindy Birdsong, Sarah Dash, and Nona Hendryx. That year, they auditioned for Harold Robinson, who initially dismissed LaBelle as “too dark and too plain,” but changed his mind after hearing her sing “I Sold My Heart to the Junkman.”

Solo career

After Labelle split, LaBelle signed a solo contract with Epic and released her self-titled debut album in 1977. Her composition "You Are My Friend" became a modest R&B hit in 1978. Three more Epic albums followed through 1980, none generating a top 40 hit until her rendition of "I Don't Go Shopping" reached the top 30 on the R&B charts in 1981. That year, her contract was reassigned to Philadelphia International Records, where she recorded "Over the Rainbow" on The Spirit's in It, which became a signature live staple.

In 1982, she was featured on Grover Washington's duet "The Best Is Yet to Come", her first top 20 R&B hit in early 1983, earning her first Grammy nomination. That same year, she starred in the Broadway musical Your Arms Too Short to Box with God. In October 1983, her sixth solo album I'm in Love Again became her breakthrough, reaching the top five of the Top Black Albums chart and including her first number-one R&B hit "If Only You Knew" in January 1984.

She earned a third top ten R&B single with her duet with Bobby Womack, "Love Has Finally Come at Last", and made her film debut in A Soldier's Story. In late 1984, she recorded "New Attitude" and "Stir It Up" for the Beverly Hills Cop soundtrack; "New Attitude" became her first top 20 pop hit, peaking at number 17 on the Billboard Hot 100.

Personal life

LaBelle dropped out of John Bartram High School a semester before graduating in 1962 but later returned to earn her diploma. She wrote that she was sexually assaulted by Jackie Wilson in the 1960s. Around 1966, she was engaged to Otis Williams of The Temptations for a year before breaking it off. On July 23, 1969, she married Armstead Edwards, a schoolteacher who later became her manager until 2000; they separated that year and divorced in 2003.

They have a son, Zuri Kye Edwards, born July 17, 1973, who is now her manager. After Zuri's birth, LaBelle suffered postpartum depression for a year; singer-songwriter Laura Nyro helped care for Zuri. Through Zuri, LaBelle is a grandmother of two girls and one boy. She and Edwards adopted two sons, Dodd Stocker-Edwards and Stanley Stocker-Edwards.

Her mother Bertha died from diabetes in October 1978; her father Henry died from complications of emphysema and Alzheimer's in October 1989. All three of LaBelle's sisters died young: Vivian from lung cancer in 1975, Barbara from colon cancer in 1982, and Jacqueline from brain cancer in 1989.

Influence

Patti LaBelle has been described as "the greatest gay icon of all time and a prime example of the intersection of the LGBT community and black female artists". In a 2017 interview, she credited gay fans as a major reason she is still performing. The New York Times called her one of three "America's Most Beloved Divas" alongside Dolly Parton and Barbra Streisand.

She is the primary character on the web parody Got 2B Real. Her 1996 performance of "This Christmas" at the National Tree Lighting Ceremony, broadcast live on C-SPAN, went viral annually during the 2010s due to her reactions to technical difficulties. In late 2015, a vlogger's enthusiastic YouTube review of her sweet potato pies caused the pies to sell out at Walmart stores across the country.

Did You Know?

• Labelle became the first rock and roll vocal group to perform at the Metropolitan Opera House in October 1974.
• A vlogger's enthusiastic YouTube review of Patti's Sweet Potato Pie in 2015 caused the pies to sell out at Walmart stores nationwide.