Patti LaBelle
By All Music Guide
By All Music Guide
In 1965, the quartet -- now known as Patti LaBelle & the Bluebelles -- signed to Atlantic, where they earned a minor hit with their version of the standard Somewhere Over the Rainbow. The groups Atlantic tenure was largely disappointing, however, and in 1967 Birdsong replaced Florence Ballard in the Supremes. The remaining trio toured the so-called chitlin circuit for the remainder of the decade before signing on with British manager Vicki Wickham in 1970; Wickham renamed the group simply LaBelle and pushed their music in a funkier, ock-oriented direction, and in the wake of their self-titled 1971 Warner Bros. debut they even toured with the Who. (The trio also collaborated with Laura Nyro on her superb R&B-influenced album Gonna Take a Miracle.)
By 1973, LaBelle had gone glam, taking the stage in wildly theatrical, futuristic costumes; a year later they became the first African-American act ever to appear at New Yorks ~Metropolitan Opera House, a landmark performance that also introduced their lone chart-topping single, the Allen Toussaint-produced classic Lady Marmalade. However, after two more albums -- 1975s Phoenix and the following years Chameleon -- LaBelle disbanded, and its namesake mounted a solo career, issuing her eponymous debut in 1977. In addition to subsequent releases including 1979s Its Alright with Me and 1980s Released, LaBelle also turned to acting, co-starring in a 1982 Broadway revival of +Your Arms to Short to Box with God.
Upon signing with the Philadephia International label, LaBelle scored a number one R&B hit with If You Only Knew, from 1983s Im in Love Again. Two years later, she reached the pop Top 20 with her Beverly Hills Cop soundtrack contribution New Attitude. Her subsequent MCA debut, 1986s The Winner in You, went platinum on the strength of the Burt Bacharach-penned On My Own, a duet with Michael McDonald, while the follow-up, 1989s Be Yourself, featured a pair of cuts written by Prince. 1991s Burnin earned a Grammy for Best Female R&B Performance. LaBelle recorded less and less frequently in the years to follow, in 1995 publishing her autobiography, -Dont Block the Blessings: Revelations of a Lifetime. She returned five years later to release When a Woman Loves.
