Oprah interview's Patti LaBelle

[Music] you remember um back in the day when i would come to amateur night which i think was every wednesday night [Music] my picture is right over there let me find me let me find me i see donna washington i see this is my love with oh wait there i am hey okay i love it how old was i in that picture maybe 22. it feels like i am in my second home it's where i grew up and that was the beginning of my life as a singer [Music] ladies and gentlemen [Music] [Music] the legendary miss patti labelle has commanded the stage at harlem's apollo theater more times than even she can count it has been her musical temple really for half a century it was 1962 when patty and the bluebells first performed here and quickly earned the nickname the sweethearts of the apollo in 2009 patty was inducted into the apollo legends hall of fame [Music] in the 60s as rock and roll collided with funk and soul there was patty with her powerful beautiful voice [Music] the bluebells evolved into la belle the force behind the 70s disco anthem that defined an era [Music] patty along with sarah dash and nona hendricks revolutionized music with those out of this world spacesuits and over-the-top hairdos paddy launched her solo career with chart-topping hits like new attitude and on my own [Music] and remember when patty sang the theme song for the oprah show i was honored to have her as a guest on that show 22 times tonight on next chapter patty comes home to the world famous apollo theater no better place to talk to a living legend than the very stage where it all started can you believe where we are i mean this is my second home really yes the apollo theater um i'm 69 years young i've been in show business for 50 years 5-0 i'm you have 5-0 years in business coffee show yes i did so many shows here at the apollo theater uh i can't remember how many and i think that i was 17 when i started performing at the apollo wow and all the great memories all of the great bands thank god they were because if not they would boo you off and all that crazy stuff the apollo theater is an american music landmark with a long list of legends who first started out here ella fitzgerald james brown smokey robinson gladys knight stevie wonder lionel richie michael jackson and so many more but every performer knows an apollo audience is not afraid to boo a future star right off that stage so you never got booed here what what girl who are you talking to no no never ever i don't know because why would you because you always had the voice i've been blessed yeah you know with a decent voice and so when we first played the apollo theater honeycomb uh who worked here at the time uh came back to our dressing room and said you girls were so great would you honor us with a second song and nobody was ever asked to do more than one except like the supremes they were doing two and three temptations but not uh who are we patti labelle and the blue bells we said of course so our first song was uh all or nothing and then we added you you'll never walk alone [Music] and we blew this roof off i mean we were awesome sarah had that beautiful high voice known to have that in between and cindy had another in-between and i was all over the place you know me yeah it was wonderful were you taking your shoes off back then no no then started taking the shoes off no i was 17 then every show i had i wanted to stay on my feet because somebody might take them so you know girl i never took the pumps off back then back then that happened um 10 years ago maybe it just became like more than 10 years ago cause i saw you really yeah 14 years maybe 20. yeah maybe 20. cause i saw you in i remember seeing you in philadelphia 1998 and you had the shoes off the mic down almost rolling on the floor on um it was a part of the show like the last song next to the last song i would kick them off and roll on the floor and throw the mic over and continue to do it i don't know what made me do it but when i did i felt as i was getting exercise when i was rolling on the floor and having fun and just i used to lie on the floor upside down singing lover man [Music] oh where can you be you're still doing it you got that right i am um like i said i've been here for 50 years in this business and 69 years young and there's no stopping me did you ever have that thing though that so many legendary stars have like when you start approaching 50 or you start approaching 60. did you ever have that fear of aging no i had the fear of diabetes and you had the opposite you had the fear of dying because my sisters all died before they turned 44. yeah so i had the fear of not making it not making it to 50. wow and when i did that was a milestone patti labelle was born patricia louise holt in 1944 in philadelphia the city she still calls home patty grew up with three sisters who all passed away from different types of cancer before they were 44 years old in 1978 her mother bertha died from complications with diabetes patty was diagnosed with the same disease after collapsing on stage at a concert in 1994. i remember we talked about this in one of your 22 visits to the oprah show that's what i heard 22 wonderful times 22 wonderful times but we talked about when you have members of your family who die at a young age that as you're approaching that age you think you're going to be the next one with that same disease cancer cancer my last sister jackie died of cancer who i adopted her two kids billy and stacy and i went on to perform and the night of her funeral i did the video if you asked me to and when you see the tears in my eyes they're from i just buried my sister that day [Music] so what you see in that video are tears of uh jackie and so i always thought i would die of cancer early i'm so blessed i have type 2 diabetes for 16 years and i'm doing well now about my diabetes i'm doing so much better because before i said okay i still fried chicken and eat it i now fry for friends and i watch them enjoy it no more potato salad you know the potato salad we did on that show people saw that girl the 12 egg potato salad and all that jazz real meat done done finished the eight cheese macaroni with lobster and shrimp finish i am eating no fruit i'm eating no sugar and i've lost about eight pounds in the last two weeks so tell me what happened to you that you got serious about it um a doctor talked to me seriously talk to me like a real girl lebel means nothing if i'm not here and he said you are one lady thank god he said who can stay here for a long long time if you do the right thing so you think i'm not living my life like it's platinum right now that's really good so were you in denial about it though heck yes yeah you were just in denial but yeah cause i've heard people even say well it's just a little sugar and i think you having it uh you having it can be such a powerful force for other people who not don't recognize yeah look at me yeah and say if patty can do it well i can do it better i'm doing it so well now oprah it's like i'm not afraid i was afraid to tell zuri what the doctor said to me and he said mom i know you're going to tell me the truth it hurts if you say to your son that i'm almost not going to make it for some stupid reason that i can control oh i'm so good and so so much [Music] better [Music] so as we sit here in the apollo you know i was as i was preparing to talk to you today one of the producers said you know patti labelle was the original gaga and i'd never thought of it that way before and here look at this look at these photos when you look at oh heck yeah oh heck yeah look at that work that we're working it look at that look at that before the madonnas before the gagas look at this larry look at and look at those bodies look at work it girls look at girls let me see oh look at that look at the boobs i am scared of me look at the boobs right oh my gosh beautiful look at nona and sarah look at sarah's lips legs and you know she was the first to wear those silver breastplates before madonna i'm trying to say somebody better recognize somebody oh look at that what was that i don't know it looks like i have a tree on my freaking head [Laughter] beautiful but what where was this isn't that something that's different look that's halloween come earl oh my goodness oh my god oh that's funny yeah what did that feel like when you're in the heat of it i mean when uh voulez-vous couches became the was on everybody's lips and the whole world seemed to be singing it and not even you at the time knew knew what it was you were singing [Music] we recorded the song knowing that it was a hit never knowing what buli wuku shiva was saswa meant we knew it had a hook and that it would sell a lot of records honey when they told us about two months ago your record is like two months later yeah and it's all about hookers i said what did they do he said they sell themselves on the streets and we didn't know and so i said i'm not taking it back not just saying it's what you're gonna get and every show since then over if we don't sing that song the people will get angry but you have so much fun up there on this girl it's more fun than most people could possibly imagine fun because it's it's when you go to a patti labelle show it's like seeing you and then the audience is also a part of the performance they are yeah and if you don't include your audience you're a very silly performer yeah you have to see them and you're you're one of those celebrities who always had real affection you take the flowers that the people give you you actually collect the flowers and take them on the plane and you're going to have too many for the plane i'll give them to the homeless shelters and to uh but i've seen you but i take like about six bunches on the plane love you too baby all right that's my book do you remember the first song that you sang as a girl when you were miss uh patty louise holt and i read it was on for mrs chapman in your oh in the choir in your choir yeah where i was afraid to be anything i i wanted to stay it was like about 20 choir members i wanted to be hidden in in the middle or on the end i didn't care never to sing lead and she heard my voice she said patty no patsy you're going to come out and you're going to sing i said no i'm not she said yes you are so she had a son who could sing really well she'll say let's do this do it with my son who sounds like luther and so we did this do it god specializes and i specialize is god god specializes god specialize and he will do he will do whatever don't get me gospel word you want to do i don't know words i remix all the time but god specializes and we had the audience saying hallelujah not hallelujah hallelujah and we loved i love the feedback so that's when i first realized i could do solo wow mm-hmm so i i read someplace that you call uh singing your blood supply that you need to sing i have to sing i was singing on the way here in the car songs come on like i said i remix all the time because i don't know lyrics to songs so have you been on stage and forgotten your own lyrics what and we'll say to you on us sing and they'll i love you i need you honey but i know that one but there are many times when i forget the lyrics and i'm not ashamed to say to you and i forgot that song and i keep going you know it's fun i'm human very much so and i am not going to say that i you're not going to pretend i didn't mess up i messed up are you still in the audience they're still there so i got time to make it up got time to make it out yes yeah but it's your blood supply it is it keeps me going music is my life that's what i do not for a living but for a life it's for my life i don't seem to make money i sing because i i really love it i'll sing on the street right down 125th street for free any time that's how you know i often say to young people that that's how you know when something is your passion and your purpose when you do it for free i do it just be so happy to do it yes and thank god i can still do it yes oh i i'm i'm happy and i'm blessed and i'm singing does it still feel good to be recognized i make sure people notice me when i go out because when they stop noticing you it's over and i have a lot of people to come up to me can we take this photo can you talk to my mother on the phone i said i don't do the phone cause i don't want no germs baby but tell her i said hey hey hello mother i'll yes and i don't even have a cell phone you know i'm not gonna talk to somebody else i read that you don't have a cell phone i don't tweet twitter email facebook lookbook none no kind of book no nothing i have a landline phone at my home you have that number that's the only phone i have that's the only phone i want do you feel like you're removed from the world heck no you don't why should i if my phone rang every day like everybody else around me i would lose my mind really yeah i don't i don't play that you don't play that me don't play that no no no cell phones was there [Music] anything there is to know about the apollo theater i know it ladies and gentlemen you are now uh entering the apollo theater stage i've been working here off and on for more than 50 years imagine seeing a 15 year old stevie wonder years later i saw michael jackson and his brothers when they first did amateur night michael was nine years old i remember when patti labelle and the blue bells were here [Music] there's no number of how many times patti labelle has played the apollo i can't even count them we have a saying be good or be gone where stars are born and legends are made and patti labelle is a legend so when you see people really enraptured by your voice like you're singing you are my friend and you hit that note when you do that thing [Music] [Applause] when you do that and you see the way your voice affects other people what is that it's a turn-on i would think it would girl i am so happy it's like it's a turn-on it's a turn-on i mean i'm i'm seeing someone's expression sometimes they're like this and then they go and then they stand up i said oh i got you because you were a doubter when you came in so whenever i can make someone like that it's a turn on i said i got you standing now boo and it's such a it's my pleasure to to see people react to anything i sing even when i sing softly they don't expect that mm-hmm so that's another are you singing softly are you always holding yourself back no no no no because sometimes you it's i like i know when somebody is going to be with me you know sometimes i hold back singing with someone else because i never want to try to upstage anyone that's not my position in life for decades rumors swirled that patty and diana ross were in a major feud especially after cindy birdsong left the bluebells to join the supremes the controversy bubbled up again in 1985 when critics accused patty of upstaging diana during a performance at the [Music] i want apollo to show me was there a famous rift between you and miss ross i don't know why because of that because of us on stage singing is that a rumor or is that true or whatever some of it is like we were at the apollo together okay so is that a urban myth or what is that no let me tell you the truth and when we finally got back together was at the legends ball at your house in my house things for years it would be the supremes are fabulous and they're the best uh and we were patti labelle and the bluebells and we were performing here on stage and we wore these golem a beautiful suits and the supremes came on right after us we had two songs they had about three or four with the same goal of made they went to woolworths or wherever we went and bought those suckers and bought the same freaking outfit so it was always an in-n-out thing i would hear things that diana might have said about me and she probably didn't you know how people keep stuff going i know and i said i'm not gonna let that be until one day something really laid on my my heart and i said maybe she doesn't really like me and i just we went years without seeing each other talking on the phone or anything because the reason for that was when i went to your house and diana was there for the legends ball yes we set at the luncheon at the same table i said in all these years people are starting it's around us making me think that the costumes and all that so be it the cindy bird song so be it but i never wanted a riff with her because i love her talent she's one of the best out there and so when we exchanged phone numbers and started talking to each other after the legends of all i had no idea oh it was not cute i had no i never really knew i would not have sat you at the same table head i know i'm glad you did i did not because it was mariah mary jay uh and then diana and i looked up and said oh you look beautiful and she said oh you do too and we're buddies now wow the thing is it all ended well but yeah there was a big mess about people thinking that she didn't like me and i didn't like her i love her wow can i have swiggle water take take some water okay keep going okay in 1969 when patty was 25 she married armstead edwards four years later they had a son zuri in 2000 after nearly 32 years of marriage they divorced so let's talk about i think when was about 2 000 something you came on the show and all of a sudden you were single and we talked briefly about this and you had a problem with that i i don't you had an attitude did i have an attitude girl you were about to cut him down uh was i you i don't remember i really don't ever you were my buddy buddy and you didn't want to see me divorced okay and you were saying well i'm gonna i said no no no he's fine and you said okay if you're gonna accept it yeah if i was fine then you were fine with the divorce yes we were married for 32 years yes we have one beautiful son zory who's 40. yes i don't know if i should have said his age but i did yeah um and we live 10 minutes from each other now that we're divorced did you stay for zory did you stay in the middle i stayed some years because of zoro yeah but armstrong had never done anything awful to me right yeah i just couldn't get along with anybody for 32 straight years it was just that i was a witch sometimes yeah not easy to get along with really imagine this he lives 10 minutes away from me when he's sick i make sure he gets the right medicine i don't drive i can't drive so i have zory you never learned to drive never smoke never learn how to smoke never learn how to swim never learn how to drive never did drugs never learned never want to but i now make sure he's okay and he comes around and makes sure i'm okay when i have to have him take me someplace or something so we're best of friends it was friendly oh yes yeah very friendly yeah did you spin i read where you had said that you spent many years pretending that things were okay when they really were oh heck yes yeah yeah girl like how many years i don't know but i pretended a lot and you know i'm an actress too okay so i've seen you yeah i was acting you know many years and arms is a straightforward man and i'm a wild child and i didn't want to be married anymore and nor did he so is mutual do you think you'd ever get married again you know i just was at tina's wedding i it was beautiful her green under yes lace on top or something yeah it's beautiful beautiful congratulations tina darling but patty's not going to go there ever again ever ever never why would i at 69 well she was 73. 73. i know but i don't want that you don't want it no if you have someone in your family who might be going through some illness you say to them today how much you love them and kiss them and hold them because tomorrow is not promised and i let one of my sisters get away from me by not saying to her how much i loved her and the day that i was about to say it she slipped away [Music] so when you have three sisters who die before the age of 44. yes mother died of diabetes after being amputated early um uh and my father of alzheimer's alzheimer's yeah that's a lot yeah and i think about how did that fear of dying affect you i was petrified i thought that i was gonna leave the planet before my time and as i said i'm i'm here i'm 69 and i'm still i'm still working i'm still living i'm still happy i take care of my niece and my nephew uh jackie's two kids billy lives with me you took care of the neighbor's children yes the two brothers who we adopted when i was so you ended up with five children five children and zory said it was okay i said zory do you mind if i bring other kids in the house no mom he he didn't mind sharing me with others that's great he's such a not uh hold on kid and now he's your manager how does that oh that's awful girl if only you knew he's the best manager businessman that i've ever met but when you're managing your mother i'm like his mother his daughter his everything his client yes but first of all i'm his mother and then i'm his how do you all separate that we fight you do we just fought last night about something crazy but zory is my love a love of my life and the best manager i've ever had and we have this new company with my uh lady marmalades yeah businesses and sauces so he's busy doing that and i'm busy asking crazy questions but he's so wonderful he's classy you raised a good son yes yeah and i'm i'm his mother and what you see is what you get i wanted to ask you how much did so much loss in your from your family members passing away sisters mother father how did that impact your faith i think it made it stronger really yeah because i knew that because they're gone i have to have heavy faith and heavy belief and knowing that i'm still here and i can't depress myself about that any more than i did when it happened to them i can't stress myself anymore the only thing that i could do is make my life better and to be here forever not forever for a long long time making my friends happy my children my me my me what makes you happy oh now i guess flowers and walking my little too and walking in my pool i can't swim but i walk for the it makes me happy now and there was a time in my life so you just get in the pool and walk i'm not swimming i don't even have a bathing suit so what are you walking in a t-shirt and my my pants okay my short pants okay and i'm in who's gonna see me okay it's your poo nobody's there i walk the little dog i clean my house although i have help i was gonna say you cleaned your house what i'm on the floor getting spot i can't stand a dirty house so i'm a cleaning fanatic you know i had the legends ball and honored you and others you know great african-american women who had impacted my life as legends do you see yourself as one as a legend do you do you recognize yourself as a yes i really do you do because have you accepted it what girl i accepted it i put i'm putting light around it bright light around it because to be a living legend you can't beat that and like i have some keyword living living yeah you hear a pen opera norma norma bring a hairpin [Music] we were mentioning gaga earlier i was saying that you were an original you are an original innovator yes yeah labelle we were ahead of our time um yeah we did things we sang songs political songs sexual songs black girls and no girls were singing the stuff that nona wrote known hendrix is one of the best writers ever sarah dash had one of the best and still does voice [Music] nona hendrix cindy birdsong and and patty we were singers we are singers [Music] they are singers who made history labelle was the first black act to land the cover rolling stone magazine and the first african-american group to play new york's prestigious metropolitan opera house innovators is that what you call it yes innovators and um sometimes you feel as though when you say certain things like that it's like patting yourself on the wherever yeah but if you can't do it at 69. i got a pet hey my backyard she got a fat and um so we did all of those wonderful things and we're still known as the first group to do certain things and it seems like you know watching you on stage there's a moment when you just sort of you hit a zone out there i yeah i do you hit a zone i'm not even a fly girl but yeah yeah you hit a zone you hit a zone i do and it's something that i cannot explain to you there is not one show that i've ever done that's the same as the one i did last night or last year 10 years ago never ever will i do any song the same way twice never over the rainbow has been done a billion times can i tell you i change it every time i sing it [Music] [Applause] [Music] hello [Music] you know when i did broadway that was the first time i was disciplined when i did fella arms to short the box with god and uh because you got to do it every night and do it the same way every second second second everybody's waiting to follow your lead and you better be right miss patty no freestyle on them remixing up in this use that wasn't for you was that for you i've never done that before in my shoes yeah i'm very not structured yeah the play i had to do everything on cue yeah every second otherwise you throw everybody else listen if you're going to take your shoes off and throw down the microphone you might throw up the next guy i can't do that the only thing that happened spontaneous uh when i was doing broadway phala my tooth broke and so we couldn't find it you couldn't find it to a show i told all the dancers help us if you if you're dancing if you see a tooth swear to god this happened i said it's my tooth nobody could find my teeth i said to fayla i said baby boy if you see my tooth it's just one it was right here and i had to sing without the truth it was a freaking tooth but nobody could see my mouth the dancers didn't find it you know i have beautiful teeth yes i've been blessed and i wanted to have them really cute all the time girl they were dancing around that stage i said heavens if you did if you dance on my tooth i'm gonna get you kill me the things that i love about me mm-hmm are all the funny crazy things that happens and i'm not afraid to tell people mm-hmm let me ask you this can you finish these following sentences i hope so okay i believe in miracles music to me is my lifeblood my life set so corny because i had a song called music is my life but that's how i finished that one go ahead inner peace is inner peace knowing that people will or will not accept you that's inner peace for me i cannot be accepted by everybody the thing that lasts is love love will last forever when one door closes does one always always open no maybe a window not always another door a window something but you have to hold on to your belief in life that it's not going to be dark like this with that door closed for the rest of my life if another door doesn't open let's let that window crack and you can see the light that's that's how it's been for me i've been shut down run down talked about dogged out but that never stopped me from being the true me that's here and we'll be here i could never not be happy about my life all the things that i've been in and out of and through i'm so strong now oprah i don't i don't need to worry anymore about anything nothing to prove i have nothing to prove nothing to prove how do you know who your real friends are have you been tested there oh gosh yes yes and i know who they are i know and i know why the caged bird sings [Laughter] i know my real people you yeah i know you're a very good friend to me i know that for years you've done so many wonderful things for me because you like me i care about you i know you care so much and when people say how's oprah i said meet her one day yourself i know how she is with me to me for me i'm so proud to be able to have this conversation with you thank you thank you thank you thank you you're still looking fantastic thank you honey thank you thank you so much ladies and gentlemen miss patty labelle this is mine up here uh-huh and in the middle and stuff but it's like you know some of the longer parts are other people's [Music] [Laughter] miss labelle that was some fine potato salad you made you show nothing but you had to cook i'm going through menopause but guess what what i could get pregnant now no yes i we're know start cooking with

Channel: Tony Ross Back In The Day Music Videos and Now

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Length: 39min 59sec (2399 seconds)

Published: Thu Dec 24 2020