PATTI LaBELLE AND THE BLUE BELLES
Patti LaBelle (born Patricia Louise Holt-Edwards; May 24, 1944) is an American singer, author, actress, and entrepreneur. LaBelle began her career in the early 1960s as lead singer and front woman of the vocal group, Patti LaBelle and the Bluebelles. Following the group’s name change to Labelle in the early 1970s, they released the iconic disco song “Lady Marmalade”; and the group later became the first African-American vocal group to land the cover of Rolling Stone magazine. After the group split in 1976, Patti LaBelle began a successful solo career. (More from Wikipedia)
Even before the name was changed to Diana Ross and the Supremes in 1967, the heavy promoting of Diana Ross was causing turmoil in the Supremes and even in other Motown groups. Florence Ballard in particular felt that she was being pushed into the background; she gained weight and began drinking heavily, eventually failing to show up for rehearsals and arriving at concerts too inebriated to perform. She was eventually eased out entirely in April 1967 and was replaced by Cindy Birdsong of Patti LaBelle and the Blue Belles. (Patti LaBelle performed on Dancing with the Stars in the current season).
(April 2015/1)
