Patti Labelle: “lyrics aren’t there anymore”

Patti has been turning out hits since the early sixties, and is still touring today. “Lady Marmelade (Voulez-vous coucher avec moi?)” was her steam-rolling hit from 1975. In an article in The Washington Post, Labelle had this to say about today’s scene: “The music has started to suck. No, maybe it doesn’t suck, it’s just redundant. It starts with one verse, and that same verse, that’s all you hear. You wouldn’t know what the title of the song was today. The Burt Bacharachs, Curtis Mayfields — they wrote the kind of lyrics that aren’t there anymore.”

From Labelle to Patti

From the trailblazing “Lady Marmalade” under the name Labelle to more recent jazz releases under her full name, Patti Labelle has been called the Godmother of Soul. Among the truly standout tracks are the amazing duet with Michael McDonald “On my Own” and the often-cited “If Only You Knew”.

In 2023, she is still touring. For concert dates, visit her concert page on Shazam.