Patti LaBelle has many awards and attributes that credit her as a true legendary singer in the world of music.
Her 50-year career as a singer has spanned music with more than 50 million records sold and as a featured actress in stage and film productions in which she has appeared. She is a published author with her autobiography “Don’t Block The Blessings” and several cookbooks.
As a child, when she was 10 years old, she joined the church choir and at 12 she sang her first solo at Beulah Baptist Church. It was during these early years that people noticed that she had talent as a singer,
The different groups he was a part of early on were the Ordettes in ’59 which became The Blubelles in ’61 and LaBelle in 1970.
On LaBelle’s 1974 album night owls caught in. The first single from the album was “Lady Marmalade”, a disco song and it became her first number one hit in 12 years. In 1976 Labelle, as a group, broke up.
Patti then became a solo artist in 1977 and her career began to pick up steam in the ’80s. In 1982 she recorded a ballad titled “The Best Is Yet to Come” which peaked at #14 on the R&B chart and earned her a Grammy nomination. In 1983 she released another hit with “I’m In Love Again”. In 1984 she had her first number one R&B hit “If Only You Knew”.
Some of Patti’s songs that I really like are “On My Own,” a song that she sang with Michael McDonald and had a number 1 hit with it. Other ’80s hits I really liked were “Stir It Up,” “If You Asked Me To,” “Flame,” and “When You’ve Been Blessed.”
In 1991 he received his first Grammy Award for his album “Burnin” and in 1998 his second Grammy for his album Live! Just one night. Among Patti’s numerous awards, she has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. She has been inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame, the Apollo Hall of Fame, and the Songwriters Hall of Fame. Rolling Stone includes her in the list of the 100 best singers of her.
Beyond all this there are things that speak of his character that are as important as all his awards.
In 1969 Patti married Armstead Edwards. In 1973, they both wanted a child of their own and decided that while juggling her career and parenthood might be a big task, it was worth it. They knew that the child would receive a lot of love from them as it was their sincere wish to have it. In July 1973, her first and only daughter, little Zuri Edwards, came into the world.
There were other acts of kindness by Patti and Armstead that showed their character when something needed it. In the late ’70s, they adopted two teenagers who lived next door when the children lost their mother to cancer.
In 1989, Patti’s younger sister, Jackie Padgett, died of lung cancer. After her death, Patti and Armstead raised Jackie’s teenage children. Patti dedicated the 1991 album “Burnin” to her sister and filmed a video for “If You Asked Me To” the day after her funeral.
And now, we’ve seen both sides of Patti’s story. Personally, I can honestly say that it’s a shame there’s no award for good character, except to talk about it in the written word.
My most fervent hope is that you will come away happier reading about the good works and incredible career of this legendary singer.
