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If you know anything about the legend that is Patti LaBelle, you know that she operates with a level of realness not often seen in celebrity spaces.
If she feels it, she says it, good, bad or indifferent. Personally, I love her for it. Not only because it’s hard to hate someone telling the truth but also because for someone who has been in the industry as long as she has, that honesty comes with a whole lot of incredible stories.
She’s shared quite a few of them over the years. She spoke about her issues with Diana Ross, stealing their outfits and then later poaching Cindy Birdsong for The Supremes. But Patti always says that the two have mended their rift.
Recently, during a conversation with Angela Rye, Ms. LaBelle told the truth about some people who weren’t always kind.
First she started with the men who had acted up in one way or another.
Patti: I had some men who didn’t like the way that I performed and I wrote about it in my first book Don’t Block the Blessing. It was Wilson Pickett, James Brown and a few other gentlemen. Al Green. It’s a story a big story about my life working with men.
I recorded with Wilson Pickett, ‘634-5789’ with Sarah Dash and Nona Hendryx and at the very end, he did something that he didn’t like very much. I went off of background and went, ‘Why don’t you call him?!’ And when I sang that part he was so mad at me. He said, ‘If I had a gun, I would shoot you.’ I said, ‘Really?!’ Back in the day stuff. It’s real cuz it’s in my book so nobody’s going to beat me up for telling the truth.
And there was an incident with my favorite man James Brown at the Apollo Theater. We were the opening act and he had to follow. And we were singing ‘Danny Boy’ and ‘You’ll Never Walk Alone’ and we got standing ovations for the whole time we were on. So James said to the curtain guy, ‘Shut the curtain on those witches with a b.’
I said, ‘Woo!’ So they closed the curtains on me. Then later, after James and I got over that, he said to me, ‘Ms. LaBelle, you know what, you’re so fabulous, and I think you should do something for the young girls.’ I said, ‘What?’ He said, ‘Start a culture class because you always have your nails done, your hair done, you’re always wearing the right clothes.’
What a compliment. So it went from a downer to an upper. So in my life, I’ve learned that people don’t really not like me, they just don’t understand what I do and I was born this way.
And there was Al Green moment when we were doing, Your Arms Are Too Short To Box with God and we were on Broadway. This is an ugly story but I’m going to tell it anyway.
So, at the time, my sister Barbara was struggling with cancer. And there was a matinee that day and an evening show. So, I wanted to go home for the matinee. Burnett Carol, the producer, said Ms. LaBelle you can go home. And Al Green, we were all there at the theater, he said, ‘If she’s going home, I’m going home.’ It was so ugly. So I said, ‘But I’m going home to see my sister who’s not well, she’s dying of cancer.’
He said, ‘I don’t care about your sister!’
Why he wanna say that? Girl, I took a glass and my friend Norma took the glass from me but I was going to cut him.
And since then, he’s apologized.
I’ve had some many funny moments with people in this industry. I’ve been through a lot in my life. But so many ups.
And now that we’re all in this dilemma together, I think it’s time to be kind. It’s always time to be kind but right now, we’re seeing life leave just like that.”
Later, she spoke about one particular diva who dissed her during a Live Aid performance. She didn’t say the woman’s name. But when she did the impersonation, it’s pretty clear who she was referring to. See what she said.
Patti: My son Zuri was about 8 or something. And he went to show with me and met everybody. It was a wonderful moment. But that was the time too, I got dissed. But I can’t tell you who it was. Lord knows I can’t. She know who she is. I went to hug her—and I went to introduce Zuri because she was with Mick Jagger at that moment and I said, ‘This is Mick Jagger.’ Mick was excited, ‘Oh, you’re Patti’s son.’ Then the lady, I went to hug her and she said, ‘Oh no, darling you’re moist.’ I said, ‘Moist?’ I had just finished and I was hot and sweaty. That heffa told me I was moist. I haven’t spoken to her since. I have so many stories. Some beautiful and some not so cute but they grew to be better.
You can listen to both parts of this interview in the videos below.
