Powerful R&B belter who moved from girl group to soul and funk to '80s ballad and dance music, all with enormous success. Soul diva Patti LaBelle has enjoyed one of the longest-lived careers in contemporary music, notching hits in a variety of sounds ranging from girl group pop to space-age funk to lush ballads. Born Patricia Holt in Philadelphia on May 24, 1944, she grew up singing in a local Baptist choir, and in 1960 teamed with friend Cindy Birdsong to form a group called the Ordettes. A year later, following the additions of vocalists Nona Hendryx and Sarah Dash, the group was rechristened the Blue Belles. With producer Bobby Martin at the helm, they scored a Top 20 pop and R&B hit in 1962 with the single 'I Sold My Heart to the Junkman,' and subsequently hit the charts in 1964 with renditions of 'Danny Boy' and 'You'll Never.

Find Patti LaBelle discography, albums and singles on AllMusic. Download Free Glo Modem Software. Apr 28, 1986 The discography of Patti LaBelle, an R&B singer, consists of eighteen studio albums, three live albums, fourteen compilation albums, and forty-seven singles.

Patti LaBelle & the Bluebelles had a minor Top Twenty R&B/pop hit with 'I Sold My Heart to the Junkman' in 1962 and, after signing with Atlantic Records, continued to score hits in a variety of sounds, ranging from girl group pop to '70s funk ('Lady Marmalade') to disco to lush pop and R&B ballads while going through a visually stimulating metamorphosis from the Bluebelles to LaBelle. Soul diva Patti LaBelle - the group's longtime leader - continues to enjoy one of the most successful solo careers in contemporary R&B. With producer Bobby Martin at helm, the quartet - now known as Patti LaBelle and the Bluebelles - earned a minor hit with their version of the Harold Arlen-penned standard “Somewhere Over the Rainbow.” They had only a handful of minor R&B hits and near misses with Atlantic, including “I'm Still Waiting,” “Take Me for a Little While,” and “Down the Aisle (The Wedding Song)” which made full use of Patti LaBelle’s powerful gospel-derived lead vocals and harmonies. Other highlights from this period include the original version of “Groovy Kind of Love” (a big hit for Wayne Fontana & the Mindbenders), the Supremes-like “Tender Words,” the dramatic “All or Nothing,” and the moody Spooner Oldham/Dan Penn ballad “Dreamer.”. They were fortunate to have the talents of some of the top songwriters of the day; in addition to Oldham and Penn, the Bluebelles performed material written by Carole Bayer, Pam Sawyer, Lori Burton, Bert Berns, Jeff Barry, Bacharach-David, Lorraine Ellison, and Curtis Mayfield (who produced some of the act’s later sides), as well as songs written by both Nona Hendryx and Sarah Dash - but nevertheless, the group preferred more aggressive and assertive material and were never quite comfortable with most of these songs. Halfway through their Atlantic Records period (1965 to 1969), Cindy Birdsong left to join the Supremes (replacing Florence Ballard).