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Patricia Louise Holte, better known by her artistic name Patti LaBelle, is an American singer-songwriter originating from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Patricia was born in southwestern Philadelphia and was the second youngest child in a family. Despite she spent her childhood in a relatively prosperous family, and she was generally satisfied by her early years, she mentioned that family relationships were insulting later. Patti also stated that she was sexually abused by friends of her family several times, and, not least of all, the divorce of her parents influenced the future artist, according to Patti herself. The girl's first passion for music resulted in the fact that she joined the church choir at the age of twelve, where she spent more than two years as a soloist. When Patricia was sixteen years old, she won the High School talent competition, after which she immediately decided to create a singing group called the Ordettes with her schoolmates. This group successfully existed until the group members chose family life instead of stage life.
The musician took part in two more groups before the start of her solo career. So, Patti performed as a part of Patti LaBelle and the Bluebelles, which later formed LaBelle, which allowed Patricia to gain real fame. So, performances as part of the LaBelle group continued until 1977. As part of the group, Patti has received widespread recognizability. So, the album Nightbirds, and in particular, the single Lady Marmalade, which will become one of LaBelle's calling cards, received commercial success. After some misunderstandings about the future of the group, Patricia decides to try herself in a solo career. So, the musician signed with Epic Records, which began Patti's career as an individual musician.
Patti released an eponymous album, which was immediately noted by critics and became popular thanks to separate disco hits and soul ballads, in the same year. Along with the Epic label, from under whose wing a lot of famous jazz, blues, and soul artists came out, Patti recorded three more studio albums. After that, the vocalist decided to change the publisher and signed with the local Philadelphia International Records, with which she also records several studio projects. Nevertheless, the peak of popularity fell precisely in cooperation with MCA Records. So, the best-selling album named "Winner in You" hit the first positions in the American pop charts within a few weeks and later became platinum, according to RIAA. The artist spent over a year giving performances around the globe in support of this album. During this time, besides releasing several studio albums solo or in collaboration with other eminent artists of those days, Patti took part in a wide variety of activities.
The 80-s became the so-called golden age of Patti LaBelle. Moreover, the statement that the musician lost popularity after that would be incorrect. The several albums that followed after the "Winner in You" release have also gained recognition in the circle of fans and critics. Three albums received gold status from RIAA in the 90s.
Although they did not take first places in the charts, each of them hit the top 10 of the US R&B charts, however, like individual albums from the 2000s. So, the following albums were also met with great success: Gems, Burnin', Flame, Classic Moments, and Timeless Journey.
The last two studio albums to date were released in 2017, with one of them reaching number two on the US jazz charts. Patti continues to give live performances to this day, despite the long experience of performing and the age. So, the artist has already managed to announce new concerts, and we would like to believe, will delight us with new releases and performances in the future.