Patti LaBelle

Patricia Louise Holte was born on May 24, 1944, in the Eastwick section of Southwest Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the second-youngest of Henry and Bertha Holte's three children and the next-to-youngest of five children overall. Her father worked as a railroad worker and club performer, and her mother was a domestic. At ten, LaBelle joined the choir at Beulah Baptist Church, performing her first solo two years later. At sixteen, she won a talent competition at John Bartram High School, which led to her joining her first singing group, the Ordettes, in 1960 alongside schoolmates Jean Brown, Yvonne Hogen, and Johnnie Dawson.

In 1962, the Ordettes added three new members — Cindy Birdsong, Sarah Dash, and Nona Hendryx — and auditioned for record-label owner Harold Robinson, who signed the group after hearing LaBelle perform "I Sold My Heart to the Junkman." Robinson renamed the group the Blue Belles and later Patti LaBelle and the Blue Belles, also giving Holte the professional surname LaBelle, derived from the French word for "the beautiful." The group entered the top 40 in late 1963 with the ballad "Down the Aisle," distributed by King Records, and followed with top 40 renditions of "You'll Never Walk Alone" and "Danny Boy" through Cameo-Parkway Records. After Cameo-Parkway dissolved in late 1965, the Bluebelles signed with Atlantic Records, releasing the album Over the Rainbow and charting modestly with "All or Nothing" and "Take Me for a Little While."

Following Cindy Birdsong's departure to join the Supremes in July 1967 and the group's subsequent drop from Atlantic, producer Vicki Wickham — acting on the advice of Dusty Springfield — took over management of the trio. Wickham directed the group to change their name to Labelle and shift toward a more progressive soul sound. In 1971, Labelle signed with Warner Bros. Records, released a self-titled debut album blending rock, funk, soul, and gospel, and opened for the Who on several stops of their U.S. tour. The group also contributed background vocals to Laura Nyro's album Gonna Take a Miracle that same year. A 1973 image overhaul, influenced by glam rockers David Bowie and Elton John, saw the group performing in silver space suits and luminescent makeup designed by Larry LeGaspi. After signing with Epic Records in 1974, Labelle released Nightbirds, produced by Allen Toussaint, which blended soul, funk, and rock. The album's single "Lady Marmalade" reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100, sold over a million copies, and was later inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame. In October 1974, Labelle became the first rock and roll vocal group to perform at the Metropolitan Opera House, and in 1975 the group appeared on the cover of Rolling Stone. Two additional albums, Phoenix in 1975 and Chameleon in 1976, followed before internal disagreements over musical direction led to the group's dissolution. LaBelle advised the separation after a December 16, 1976, show in Baltimore during which Hendryx suffered a nervous breakdown backstage.

LaBelle launched her solo career in 1977 with a self-titled debut album on Epic, which included her composition "You Are My Friend." She achieved mainstream success in the 1980s with singles including "If Only You Knew," "New Attitude," and "Stir It Up." In 1986, her album Winner in You reached number one in the United States, as did her duet with Michael McDonald, "On My Own." LaBelle won a Grammy Award for Best Female R&B Vocal Performance in 1992 for the album Burnin' and a second Grammy in 1999 for the live album Live! One Night Only. She reunited with her Labelle bandmates in 2008 for the album Back to Now. Across a career spanning seven decades, LaBelle has sold more than 50 million records worldwide and has been inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame, the Hollywood Walk of Fame, the Black Music and Entertainment Walk of Fame, and the Apollo Theater Hall of Fame. Rolling Stone included her on their list of 100 Greatest Singers. A dramatic soprano, she is recognized for her vocal power, modal register range, and emotive delivery, and has been referred to as the Godmother of Soul.

Beyond recording, LaBelle built a substantial career in film and television. She appeared in the Academy Award-nominated film A Soldier's Story and had roles in television series including A Different World and American Horror Story: Freak Show. In 1992, she starred in her own sitcom, Out All Night, and in 2002 she hosted the lifestyle program Living It Up with Patti LaBelle on TV One. In 2015, she competed on Dancing with the Stars, and that same year her Patti's Sweet Potato Pie became a viral sensation following a YouTube video.

LaBelle's Broadway career extended from 1982 to 2013. She starred in Patti LaBelle on Broadway and Patti LaBelle on Broadway: The 'Look to the Rainbow' Tour, and also appeared in After Midnight and the play Chicago, among other productions.