Patti Labelle

Biography

Patti LaBelle (n?e Patricia Louise Holt) was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on May 24, 1944. As a teen, her musical talent emerged when she joined the Beulah Baptist Church Choir, with which she would remain as a soloist even after she began to sing professionally. In 1960, she formed a vocal group called the Ordettes with friend Cindy Birdsong; Nona Hendryx and Sarah Dash joined shortly thereafter, and the group was renamed the Blue Belles. They scored a top 20 pop and R&B hit in 1962 with the single "I Sold My Heart to the Junkman." The foursome became a trio when Birdsong left to join the Supremes in '67. In 1970, Patti LaBelle and the Blue Belles were transformed into the soul/rock, glam-styled "LaBelle," after hooking up with British manager Vicki Wickham. The trio backed up singer/songwriter Laura Nyro on her 1971 album, It's Gonna Take a Miracle and went on tour with rock acts like The Who, following the release of LaBelle's self-titled debut on the Warner Brothers label that same year. In late 1974, Patti and LaBelle released the album Nightbirds on Epic Records. The single "Lady Marmalade" became a No. 1 hit on both the U.S. R&B and pop charts, and an international smash during the winter of 1975. Patti, Sarah and Nona backed Elton John on three tracks for his multimillion selling Rock of the Westies album later in '75, and following the release of two more albums -- Phoenix (1975) and Chameleon (1976) -- the trio disbanded on good terms in 1976. Patti LaBelle (1977), Patti's self-titled solo debut, sold modestly well, but her subsequent late '70s releases -- Tasty (1978), It's Alright With Me (1979) and Released (1980) -- failed to crack the top 100.