Patti LaBelle

She tied the nuptial knot with Armstead Edwards in 1969. The couple was blessed with a child. They adopted two boys and raised a girl. However, the couple separated in 2003.

Patti LaBelle was born as Patricia Louise Holte to Henry Holte and Bertha Holte in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. While her father was a railroad worker and lounge singer, her mother was a housewife. She was the third of the four daughters born to the couple.

Following the separation of her parents, she was raised by her mother single-handedly. As a child, she was reserved and coy but made great friends with Claudette Grant whom her mother had adopted.

Gifted with a soulful voice, she actively participated in the church choir group. Two years later, at the age of twelve, she sang her first solo at the Beulah Baptist Church.

She did not concentrate on gospel music alone and listened to jazz, rhythm and blues. As she entered teenage, she was called by the nickname, Patsy.

Eager to form a girl group, in 1958, she realized this dream by forming The Ordettes, along with three friends. Started informally, the group reduced to two as two of its members willingly dropped out. However, the scenario soon changed as singers Nona Hendryx and Sarah Dash joined The Ordettes.

The Blue Belles gave their first single hit, ‘I Sold My Heart to the Junkman’. Though the song peaked at the Billboard top 20, it stirred a controversy behind its credit.

After the success of its first song, the group however could not replicate the success and survived merely by touring. Adding to the woes, Robinson was sued for using the name Blue Belles which was previously being used by another group.

It was due to legal complications that Robinson changed her name to Patti LaBelle and the group name to ‘Patti La Belle and Her Blue Belles’ in 1963. The following year, the group terminated its contract with Newtown and instead signed up with Cameo-Parkway Records.

The group recorded their first song for Cameo-Parkway Records, ‘Down the Aisle’ which went on to become a huge hit. The song starred in the top 40 list. It was followed up by two more hit tracks, ‘You'll Never Walk Alone’ and ‘Danny Boy’.

In 1965, they left Cameo-Parkway Records to sign a deal with Atlantic Records for a year. It was while working under Atlantic Records that the group came up with their debut studio album, ‘Somewhere Over the Rainbow’ in 1966. The album was a modest hit.

She twice won the Grammy Award in Traditional R&B Vocal Performance and Best Female R&B Vocal Performance in 1991 and 1998.

She has been inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame, Legends Walk of Fame, and BET Walk of Fame.

She has received numerous awards in various categories, some of which include, Lifetime Achievement Awards, Best Soul/R&B Artist & Gospel Artist. She even won an award for her acting abilities.