About Patti LaBelle
Patricia Louise Holte , known professionally as Patti LaBelle, is an American R&B singer and actress. She has been referred to as the "Godmother of Soul".
LaBelle began her career in the early 1960s as lead singer and frontwoman of the vocal group Patti LaBelle and the Bluebelles. After the group's name change to Labelle in the 1970s, they released the popular number-one hit "Lady Marmalade". 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", "Love, Need and Want You" , "New Attitude" and "Stir It Up". In 1986, LaBelle released a number-one album, Winner in You, and its number-one single "On My Own", a duet with Michael McDonald. In 1989, the standard "If You Asked Me To" was released on Be Yourself. LaBelle won a 1992 Grammy for Best Female R&B Vocal Performance for her 1991 album Burnin', an album that featured "Somebody Loves You Baby ", "Feels Like Another One", and "When You've Been Blessed ". She won a second Grammy for the live album Live! One Night Only. Her 1990s albums Burnin', Gems , and Flame continued her popularity with young R&B audiences throughout the decade. She reunited with her Labelle bandmates for the album Back to Now, which was followed by a well-received promotional tour.
LaBelle has also had success as an actress with a role in the Academy Award-nominated film A Soldier's Story, and in television shows such as A Different World and American Horror Story: Freak Show. In 1992, LaBelle starred in her own sitcom Out All Night. In 2002, LaBelle hosted her own lifestyle show, Living It Up with Patti LaBelle, on TV One. In 2015, LaBelle took part in the dance competition Dancing with the Stars at the age of 70. Labelle has also seen success launching her own brand of bedding, cookbooks, and food for various companies. In 2015 her Patti's Sweet Potato Pie sold millions when a YouTube video praising the product went viral. As a result, over a 72-hour period, Walmart sold one pie every second.
In a career which has spanned seven decades, LaBelle has sold more than 50 million records worldwide. She has been inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame, the Hollywood Walk of Fame, the Black Music & Entertainment Walk of Fame, and the Apollo Theater Hall of Fame. Rolling Stone included her on their list of 100 Greatest Singers. LaBelle is a dramatic soprano recognized for her vocal power, modal register range and emotive delivery.
LaBelle was born Patricia Louise Holte in the Eastwick section of Southwest Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She was born the second youngest child of Henry and Bertha Holte's three children, and the next-to-youngest of five children overall. Her siblings were Thomas Hogan Jr. , Vivian Hogan , Barbara and Jacqueline "Jackie" . 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' marriage was abusive. Shortly after her parents' divorce, when LaBelle was twelve, she was sexually molested by a family friend.
She joined a local church choir at the Beulah Baptist Church at ten and performed her first solo two years later. While she was growing up, she listened to secular music styles such as R&B and jazz music as well.
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