Celebrating Black Music Month: Chart Topping Diva’s - Patti Labelle
Date: 06/20/08 | By Njai Joszor
Filed under: R&B News, Patti Labelle
Continuing our celebration of Black Music Month, this week’s featured moments are dedicated to the best chart topping, record breaking, and soul stirring R&B/Soul singers from Whitney and Mary to Aretha and Chaka. Plus get the lowdown on the latest news and upcoming projects from each featured Diva.
Patti Labelle - “On My Own”
After spending years on the charts with Labelle, Patti Labelle struck out on her own. It was not until she collaborated with Michael McDonald of The Doobies that she really reached her biggest success alone. Patti Labelle and Michael McDonald’s “On My Own” catapulted both of their solo careers earning Labelle her first Billboard Hot 100 #1 single and platinum-selling album.
Featured on Labelle’s MCA Records debut “Winner In You,” the single was released in 1986 and quickly climbed up the R&B and Adult Contemporary Chart. The hit was not intended to be a duet but the singer recalls "The song was sent to me and I did a version of it but somehow it just didn't quite work," Patti notes. "We were going over things I'd done and we talked about turning in into a duet. Someone asked , 'If you could do it with anyone, who would you sing it with,' and Michael was my first choice..."
Today:
As previously reported on Singersroom Patti Labelle, Nona Hendryx, and Sarah Dash, R&B's most original and formidable trio are reuniting via Verve Records as Labelle to deliver their first full-length studio album in more than 33 years. The new recording, to be completed this month is slated for release this fall, produced by a trio of icons equally up to the task: cutting edge funk rocker Lenny Kravitz and longtime Labelle collaborators and 2008 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees, Gamble & Huff.
Labelle will also reunite at this year’s Essence MusicFest, July 4th weekend where Patti Labelle will be honored for her achievements in music.
Are you ready for the new Labelle, can Patti, Nona and Sarah pick up where they left off ?
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Patti Labelle! A true lady, and an admirable singer....oh yes, and the original diva! The way she commands the stage and the microphone makes her presence that more powerful. And of course, her voice has this refined quality, it's (to quote one of the younger soul legends, Mariah) "just like honey". I wish Patti the best on her new endeavor. She never ceases to amaze! "If Only You Knew" is one of her best records!