Patti Labelle has been in the music business since most of our readers were probably not even born. Starting off as a trio under the name ‘Patti Labelle and The Bluebelles’ which was later christened to just ‘Labelle’, who delivered some stellar hits like ‘Lady Marmalade’ and ‘Somewhere Over The Rainbow’, Patti’s solo career shined for several decades backed up by her powerhouse voice and dramatic stage-presence.
Patti still has those chops and even today as she opens her mouth to let that voice come out, she’s a force to be reckoned-with. As it shows in her latest offering, her 19th studio album entitled “Bel Hommage” which is Labelle’s first ever take on Jazz music as captured in the studio.The album released amid mild-to-zero publicity on the 5th of May, is the Soul Diva’s first album after a 10 year hiatus from the studio. Patti’s last album called ‘Miss Patti’s Christmas’ was released back in 2007.
“Bel Hommage’ is executive-produced by Patti’s ex-husband Armstead Edwards and will be distributed under ‘GPE records’ – a record label owned by Patti along with her son Zuri Edwards.
The 72 year old legendary songstress was quoted telling Variety, how she didn’t like the state of her voice during the initial recording sessions and how she got her confidence back later on, “I just didn’t like how I sounded. My voice wasn’t being kind to me. I knew I could be better. I didn’t think I could do it, but Armstead said ‘Blanche’ — that’s his nick name for me and my drama — ‘I know you have it in you.’ So I did it, and was in it to win it. Now, it sounds more beautiful than I ever imagined.”
“Bel Hommage” is available on all major outlets nationwide.
Watch her perform two songs from the album on QVC: