Editing Labelle (section)

{{Short description|American funk rock band}}
{{other uses}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=December 2020}}
{{Multiple issues|
{{More citations needed|date=August 2023}}
{{More footnotes needed|date=July 2021}}}}
{{Infobox musical artist
| name              = Labelle
| alias             = The Ordettes<br />Patti LaBelle and the Blue Belles<br />Patti LaBelle and Her Blue Belles
| background        = group_or_band
| image             = Labelle 1975.JPG
| landscape         = yes
| caption           = Labelle in 1975. L-R: [[Nona Hendryx]], [[Patti LaBelle]], [[Sarah Dash]].
| origin            = [[Philadelphia]], Pennsylvania, U.S.
| genre             = {{Hlist|[[Funk rock]]<ref name=Huey>{{cite web |url=https://www.allmusic.com/artist/labelle-mn0000118289/biography |title=Labelle Biography |last=Huey |first= Steve|work=[[AllMusic]]|access-date=2023-08-12}}</ref>|[[progressive soul]]<ref name=Armonaitis>{{cite web |url=https://www.goupstate.com/story/entertainment/local/2017/10/05/patti-labelle-to-perform-saturday-at-spartanburg-memorial-auditorium/18595525007/ |title= Patti LaBelle to perform Saturday at Spartanburg Memorial Auditorium|last=Armonaitis |first=Dan |date=October 5, 2016|work=GoUpstate |access-date=2023-08-12 |quote=The group morphed into the eponymously-named LaBelle in 1971, reinventing itself as a progressive soul unit and eventually helping push funk and disco into the mainstream with "Lady Marmalade."}}</ref>}}
| years_active      = {{Hlist|1960–1976|2005–2009}}
| label             = {{hlist|Newtown|[[Cameo-Parkway Records|Cameo-Parkway]]|[[Atlantic Records|Atlantic]]|[[Warner Bros. Records|Warner Bros.]]|[[Epic Records|Epic]]|}}
| past_members      = * [[Patti LaBelle]]
* [[Nona Hendryx]]
* [[Sarah Dash]]
* [[Cindy Birdsong]]
}}

'''Labelle''' was an American [[funk rock]] band that originated out of '''the Blue Belles''', a [[girl group]] who were a popular [[vocal group]] of the 1960s and 1970s. The original group was formed after the disbanding of two rival girl groups in the area around [[Philadelphia]], in [[Pennsylvania]], and [[Trenton, New Jersey|Trenton]], in [[New Jersey]]: ''the Ordettes'' and ''the Del-Capris'', forming as a new version of the former group, then later changing their name to '''the Blue Belles''' (and further '''Bluebelles'''). The founding members were [[Patti LaBelle]] (born Patricia Louise Holt), [[Cindy Birdsong]], [[Nona Hendryx]], and [[Sarah Dash]].

As the '''Bluebelles''', and later '''Patti LaBelle and the Bluebelles''', the group found success with ballads in the [[doo-wop]] genre: "[[Down the Aisle (The Wedding Song)]]", "[[You'll Never Walk Alone]]", and "[[Over the Rainbow]]". After Birdsong departed to join [[The Supremes]] in 1967, the band, following the advice of [[Vicki Wickham]], changed its look, musical direction, and style to re-form as the [[progressive soul]] group '''Labelle''' in 1971. Their recordings of that period became cult favorites for dealing with subjects not typically addressed by female black groups. Finally, after adapting [[glam rock]] and wearing outlandish space-age and glam costumes, the band found success with the proto-[[disco]] smash hit "[[Lady Marmalade]]" in 1974, leading to the album ''[[Nightbirds]]'' achieving [[Gold record|gold success]]. They were the first contemporary pop group and first black pop band to perform at the [[Metropolitan Opera|Metropolitan Opera House]]. They were also the first black vocal group to appear on the cover of ''[[Rolling Stone]]'' magazine.

Each of the band members later went on to begin solo careers after the end of a tour in 1976, going on to have significant solo success. Nona Hendryx followed an idiosyncratic muse into a solo career that often bordered on the avant-garde;<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.vh1.com/artists/az/labelle/bio.jhtml |title=Labelle &#124; View the Music Artists Biography Online &#124; VH1.com |access-date=December 12, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100413014447/http://www.vh1.com/artists/az/labelle/bio.jhtml |archive-date=April 13, 2010 |url-status=dead }}</ref> but reaching a new audience with the respected 2017 release "Shine", by Soul Clap, which was a widely played in clubs in the UK, US clubs and Ibiza while being picked and released by the famous record label [[Defected Records]].<ref>[https://www.discogs.com/master/1428166-Soul-Clap-Feat-Nona-Hendryx-Shine-This-Is-It "Soul Clap Feat. Nona Hendryx – Shine (This Is It)"], Discogs.</ref> Sarah Dash became a celebrated [[Session musician|session singer]]; and Patti LaBelle enjoyed a very successful [[Grammy Award|Grammy]]-winning career, with several top-20 [[Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs|R&B]] hits between 1982 and 1997, a number-one [[Billboard Hot 100|pop]] hit with "[[On My Own (Patti LaBelle and Michael McDonald song)|On My Own]]", and lifetime-achievement awards from the [[Apollo Theatre]], [[World Music Awards]], and [[Black Entertainment Television|BET]] Awards.

The group reunited for their first new album in 32 years, ''[[Back to Now]]'' in 2008. They performed together regularly until the death of Dash on September 20, 2021, at the age of 76.<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2021/09/21/arts/music/sarah-dash-dead.html |title=Sarah Dash, the 'Glue' of the Vocal Trio Labelle, Is Dead at 76 |work=The New York Times |date=September 21, 2021 |access-date=October 31, 2021 |last1=Pareles |first1=Jon }}</ref>