Patti LaBelle's Gospel Tour Hits Philly in 2006, Newark in 2007
All proceeds from Patti LaBelle's gospel CD will go to cancer research according to an interview she did with Naomi Judd earlier this year. Check the second video in this post.Like many old-school R B performers, Patti LaBelle, age 62, mentions God and prayer often.
If you've paid attention, you've heard her speak of how her relationship with God helped her through the loss of her sisters to cancer, dealing with the loss of her close friend Luther Vandross, and taking charge of her life when challenged by diabetes. So, it's not surprising that she's gotten around to releasing her first gospel CD, "The Gospel According to Patti LaBelle."
Her website says that "Ms.
LaBelle’s long awaited CD “The Gospel According to Patti LaBelle” is a testimony to the power of prayer and the effect that God has had on her life." With the release of the CD, Patti embarks on a Chrysler-sponsored promotional tour. The interesting aspect of this tour is that it will not be a tour of concert halls only.
According to the project's website, her venues include the sanctuaries of mega-churches where she will perform with church choirs and sometimes have special guests, perhaps, like Yolanda Adams and CeCe Winans. The tour is billed as the "church tour."
Later in this article you may view video of Patti LaBelle singing "You Are My Friend" and "What a Friend We Have in Jesus," on Fox at the in 2000.
One reason Patti LaBelle is special to me, other than that I grew up hearing her, is that my mother is ill and watching Patti LaBelle concerts soothes her. I think it's because Patti emanates a loving spirit.
However, I am a big fan of her classics like "Over the Rainbow," and as a New Orleanian, how could I not enjoy " " made so popular by Patti with Nona Hendryx and Sarah Dash in the group LaBelle?
That song came out while I came of age in the and was still playing in the discos when I ran the streets wild at 18.
If you don't remember or know little about the group LaBelle, then click to listen to the story on a BET clip behind the break-up of LaBelle and the beginning of Patti LaBelle's solo career as well as the story behind the song "You Are My Friend" that she wrote with the late James "Bud" Ellison. The late and legendary Luther VanDross is also in the BET clip.
In a recent interview with Cathy Hughes on TV One, Ms. Patti said her heart's no longer in performing "You Are My Friend" since the death of Bud Ellison. It's possible she may retire the song, which was written for her son Zuri, from her performance repetoire.
However, the song is included on her gospel CD. She also told Hughes that she's planning a tour and reunion of LaBelle with Nona Hendryx and Sarah Dash. The three women worked together in the movie , and Patti LaBelle says they have remained close friends despite artistic differences and residual bitterness following the group's break-up.
Eartha Kitt and Ben Vereen also appear in the movie, which TV One broadcasted this month.
Check below the following video for concert dates for Philly and Newark.
Patti LaBelle will be in our neck of the woods Saturday, December 16, in Philadelphia, Pa., at .
On January 7, 2007, she performs in Newark, NJ, at . Check for more cities, dates, and ticket information.
No matter how you feel about religion, Patti LaBelle is sure to inspire millions through her gospel music project, and inspiring others is nothing new for the singer.
For instance, the singer wrote a book with Laura Randolph called Patti's Pearls, offering bits of wisdom she's garnered from life experience. Not only does she have a physical singing gift, but her life and performances possess the spiritual power borne of pain and suffering. She's experienced tremendous losses in her life, but she's risen above them again and again.
And as she said in her TV One interview, she's been hurt and rejected, "dogged" badly over the years, sometimes by people who profess Jesus as savior. She recalled when Diane Sawyer began researching her life for a PrimeTime segment. Sawyer called the singer and said she'd talked to Patti's minister in Pennsylvania and he'd refused to discuss Patti.
He said she sang "devil" music. She said you mean the same minister of the church where I send my checks every month? Yes, that was the one.
"He dogged me so bad I started barking," said Patti.
Telling the story behind how she got the name LaBelle, she said that when she was young she went to audition for a white car dealer. He looked at her and said "You're too ugly to be a lead singer.
" Patti opened her mouth and sang "You'll Never Walk Alone" a capella after which the man was stunned. She then said to him, "You want to put a bag over my head now?"
The car dealer responded, "I think I have to call you la belle," which means "the beautiful one.
" Her given name is Patti Louise Holt, born in Philadelphia, Pa., May 24, 1944.
More video, Patti discusses her gospel CD, diabetes, losing loved ones, and holding onto life with Naomi Judd.
All proceeds from the CD go to cancer research according to this interview taped earlier this year.
Per The Washington Post:
Gerald LeVert's survivors include his parents (Eddie and Martha LeVert) and siblings and four children.
(Another source says he had .) The singer was .
UPDATE, November 12:
Patti LaBelle, who had worked and recorded with Levert, said he "was like a son" to her."He was such a great entertainer. It's not for real to me that he is gone … Nobody was prepared for this."
LaBelle added that she hopes to sing at Levert's funeral.( )
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Update 6:57 p.m.
, EST, 11/10
: I've confirmed that it's true and not a cruel rumor. Sadly, singer Gerald LeVert died today of a heart attack, per and other news sources And as I supspected (see final comment of this blog written earlier today), when I got in my car and turned the radio to my local R B station, , the group LeVert's crossover hit "
" played followed by DJ commentary. A listener called in to say that she worked at one of the hotels and had met Gerald LeVert. She described him as being very down-to-earth.That's what his music was, down-to-earth.
Following is what I wrote earlier today before I could confirm his death. It includes links to video and music by Gerald LeVert.
I was reluctant to believe that the singer passed away at first, one because I love much of his music and two, because celebrity deaths have been reported before that turned out to be false.
Somebody please tell me that this isn't true. of a heart attack today ( ).
I had to try to log into my account here three times, kept getting my password wrong, because I'm so shaken up by this news.
While looking this up on the web, I came across ironically shows Gerald LeVert getting into a car crash while trying to talk to a woman on his cell phone and then struggling for breath and life at the bottom of a river..
I bought his CD The G Spot for the song "Funny" but fell in love with the whole CD. The song summed up how I knew felt about me, one I asked to cool down because he'd gotten himself married off to someone else since the good old days. Married men are hands off!
I haven't heard from that old love since he called to let me know he'd survived the flooding of New Orleans following Katrina.
I didn't start talking about Gerald LeVert just because I heard about his death. I've been praising him for years as can be seen here Whether he's the romantic he seems in his songs, I don't know, but Gerald LeVert songs always get to your heart with the nitty gritty of love and passionate obsessions.
His music is a blend of old school honied romance, which honors the tradition of his father Eddie LeVert, a founder of the righteous O'Jays, and the whipped raw flavor of today's madness. If this rumor of his death is true, then we've lost another great singer of the love song.
I guess I'll know if it's true shortly if I turn on my favorite R B station and the airwaves are flooded with Gerald LeVert music.
As I said in my update, I did hear his music as soon as I turned to my local R B station.
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Labels collect a selection of posts from Goddess Blogs on the same subject according to post date. Undulating Curves, Bellydancers.
..Still a hot ticket!
I created a webpage featuring a video of the phenomenal Aziza, the bellydancer, more than a year ago. Suddenly the page is getting blasted with hits. Hmmm, could it be Beyonce and Shakira fever?
No, I don't think so. These hits are coming from countries where bellydancing is as old as the hills, an art appreciated for centuries.
Click here to see
or here for
Beyonce shares a few belly dance moves here in the "Baby Boy" music video with Sean Paul.
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