Patti LaBelle
Appearances
Wiser Than Me with Julia Louis-Dreyfus
Julia Gets Wise with Patti LaBelle
And he said, no, that's for your Tupperware that you gave me back in the day. So he paid me with a beautiful ring.
Wiser Than Me with Julia Louis-Dreyfus
Julia Gets Wise with Patti LaBelle
I have it upstairs in my box upstairs.
Wiser Than Me with Julia Louis-Dreyfus
Julia Gets Wise with Patti LaBelle
Do you know what that ring is, Kim? I could show you. Would you show me? Could you get it? Sure. I would love to see it. It's so beautiful. It's so manly. So I never wear it. Yeah. But I have it.
Wiser Than Me with Julia Louis-Dreyfus
Julia Gets Wise with Patti LaBelle
It's because I love to get my shopping bags, if I give you food, and my Tupperware back.
Wiser Than Me with Julia Louis-Dreyfus
Julia Gets Wise with Patti LaBelle
I love my Tupperware and my shopping bag, good shopping bags. Yeah, so he did pay me back that day at Caesars when we were recording. After the recording session, he gave me the ring that he had taken off to play the song. And he's a good friend. Yeah.
Wiser Than Me with Julia Louis-Dreyfus
Julia Gets Wise with Patti LaBelle
I have so many friends in this business of prints. who wanted me to cook for him. So he took me to his home and they went grocery shopping for me, his people. And when I made about eight items or more, the only thing he ate were the biscuits. Was he not a big eater? What's the deal? Well, he was kind of a small man. He was small, so he made me cook all that food and he ate a biscuit.
Wiser Than Me with Julia Louis-Dreyfus
Julia Gets Wise with Patti LaBelle
I said, what's up? He said, that's all I wanted. I just wanted to see you cook. Oh, my God. And then he took me to his, it was a disco, a club. Before that, he had outfits made for me at his studio because he had a tailor shop in his building. Is this in Minneapolis? In Minneapolis. And he had four outfits made for me. And then I cooked for him that day.
Wiser Than Me with Julia Louis-Dreyfus
Julia Gets Wise with Patti LaBelle
And then that night, he took me to the club. And we danced and we drove in the alphabet car. You remember the alphabet car? Sure, I do. So many wonderful memories with those guys.
Wiser Than Me with Julia Louis-Dreyfus
Julia Gets Wise with Patti LaBelle
It was more than that. And the thing is, sometimes producers make you record a song like 20, 30, 40, 50 times for that one song. When we did our song, You'll Missed Her, He said, that's it on the first take. No way. He did not want a second take. He said, because the first take was magic. And I appreciate that so much because sometimes you get in a studio and they make you work, work, work, work.
Wiser Than Me with Julia Louis-Dreyfus
Julia Gets Wise with Patti LaBelle
When you think you had it in the first five takes. And sometimes you'll continue to record and continue it. And then they end up using maybe the first or the second. But Prince knew he wanted that one take.
Wiser Than Me with Julia Louis-Dreyfus
Julia Gets Wise with Patti LaBelle
It's so heavy and just so beautiful.
Wiser Than Me with Julia Louis-Dreyfus
Julia Gets Wise with Patti LaBelle
It doesn't really fit on the fingers that I... Like this finger is too small. This one... It's kind of big on it. It's a big ring. It's a little too big for my fingers. And it doesn't fit on this one.
Wiser Than Me with Julia Louis-Dreyfus
Julia Gets Wise with Patti LaBelle
You're in favor of me wearing it? Well, I'll get it fitted.
Wiser Than Me with Julia Louis-Dreyfus
Julia Gets Wise with Patti LaBelle
I will. Yes. So I still have your ring, Elton. I have it. That's beautiful.
Wiser Than Me with Julia Louis-Dreyfus
Julia Gets Wise with Patti LaBelle
Oh, my gosh. In season, I travel with habanero peppers because they're the hottest. And monkey peppers, bird peppers, anything that's- Hot. Hot. Jalapenos are not so hot, but the habaneros are- Crazy. Blazing hot. So I carry those. I carry fresh garlic. I carry certain sea salts and grapeseed oil I travel with. Oh, interesting. And when we get to the town-
Wiser Than Me with Julia Louis-Dreyfus
Julia Gets Wise with Patti LaBelle
We'll find a farmer's market to get the fish and fresh foods, fresh meats and fresh vegetables.
Wiser Than Me with Julia Louis-Dreyfus
Julia Gets Wise with Patti LaBelle
And I make sure I have those and I carry my pots and pans on the road.
Wiser Than Me with Julia Louis-Dreyfus
Julia Gets Wise with Patti LaBelle
Never know. No, you never know.
Wiser Than Me with Julia Louis-Dreyfus
Julia Gets Wise with Patti LaBelle
So I'm very spontaneous when it comes to cooking and having to go to a store if they don't have what I really need. I'll find it. Yeah. And if not, I'll improvise, you know.
Wiser Than Me with Julia Louis-Dreyfus
Julia Gets Wise with Patti LaBelle
What was this evolution for you? I don't remember how old I was when I became not so shy. But it was so bad, my mother would pay me a quarter to go out and play with kids right and the quarter wore out and I wore out with people so I said I'm coming back home oh I was just too shy to um to deal with people of course that changed in years because now I'm
Wiser Than Me with Julia Louis-Dreyfus
Julia Gets Wise with Patti LaBelle
around so many wonderful people and so many things that I do now include people. So I was just born a shy girl. Do you ever feel that shyness coming back, Patty? Yes. Every now and then it comes back. And how do you manage it? And tell me how it comes back. I'm so curious. It comes back at moments, and I can't explain why it comes back at times.
Wiser Than Me with Julia Louis-Dreyfus
Julia Gets Wise with Patti LaBelle
But when it does, it leaves quickly because I can't handle it. I know that I have to be out of that shy state to do what I do. Before we go on stage, we pray. And when I see the audience, that brings me back to not being so shy because they're so giving.
Wiser Than Me with Julia Louis-Dreyfus
Julia Gets Wise with Patti LaBelle
I feel the energy from the audience. And when you go out, you never know what audience you're going to have. You don't know if they've never seen you before, if they're scared. trying to say, okay, we're going to give this chick a try. And then when I get out, one of the things that I say in the middle of the show, how many people are seeing me for the first time?
Wiser Than Me with Julia Louis-Dreyfus
Julia Gets Wise with Patti LaBelle
And maybe 80% of the audience raised their hand. And so then I said, well, fasten your seatbelts because it's going to be a bumpy ride. And I hope you will come back to see me once you see me tonight.
Wiser Than Me with Julia Louis-Dreyfus
Julia Gets Wise with Patti LaBelle
Yes. He was a Nina Simone, James Moody fanatic. And I... Learned to love jazz. I mean, because of him. Right.
Wiser Than Me with Julia Louis-Dreyfus
Julia Gets Wise with Patti LaBelle
Oh, she was my good friend. Yes. We would talk maybe once every two weeks. Goodness. She was just a wonderful friend. And we talked about food. She talked about everything with me. What did you learn from her? What did you learn from Nina Simone? Well, there was a time we were doing a show at Carnegie Hall with Sting, Elton. Oh, my God. A few wonderful people. And she was with me.
Wiser Than Me with Julia Louis-Dreyfus
Julia Gets Wise with Patti LaBelle
And I asked for a glass of wine, and they brought it to me in a plastic cup. She said, oh, no, darling, you never drink out of plastic. Crystal only. Crystal only. You know, it's just, she was just like a teacher. But that can't be the only thing you learned from her to drink out of crystal. Her music. I mean, she was one of a kind.
Wiser Than Me with Julia Louis-Dreyfus
Julia Gets Wise with Patti LaBelle
She was way ahead of most people for the rights of the right people. That's right. Yeah, so, I mean, I learned that I just stayed with her whenever she would call or I would call her. And it was just like mother lessons, you know, that she was just— Mother lessons. Yeah, just her. Her period was a blessing to me. Yeah. I can just say she was like one of my better friends in life.
Wiser Than Me with Julia Louis-Dreyfus
Julia Gets Wise with Patti LaBelle
Not just musically, just life, things that happen in life. And just a strong, strong woman she was. And I believe you cooked for her too, particularly like at the end of her life. I did. I was at, I think we were at the London Hotel in New York. I can't remember the name of the hotel. We were staying at the same hotel because we were doing the Carnegie Hall show. Yes. And she was in my hotel.
Wiser Than Me with Julia Louis-Dreyfus
Julia Gets Wise with Patti LaBelle
And so she called me and said, Patty, what are you doing? So I said, I'm making lunch. And so she said, what are you making? I said, I'm making hot sausage. I mean, they were really hot from the farmer's market in Philly. I brought them with me to New York. And she said, I would like one. And so I went up to her room and she was there in her way of being at that time.
Wiser Than Me with Julia Louis-Dreyfus
Julia Gets Wise with Patti LaBelle
And my friend Norma, who does my hair, came up with me. She said, no, no, not Norma, just you. So I went in and gave her the hot sausage, and she just showed me what she was going through. It was very personal. And she just opened up to me. And when she ate it, I said, now you're going to need a lot of water to go after that hot, hot.
Wiser Than Me with Julia Louis-Dreyfus
Julia Gets Wise with Patti LaBelle
So she said, after she finished, she said, go make me another one. And they were on fire. I said, oh, you're my kind of girl. Yeah. So we had quite great personal moments just as a friend. That's just so beautiful.
Wiser Than Me with Julia Louis-Dreyfus
Julia Gets Wise with Patti LaBelle
The dynamic with my sisters, we fought. You did. We loved. We hugged. We loved. We had issues with crabs, hard-shelled crabs. What do you mean issues? Issues because we all loved hard-shelled crabs, male crabs, the gigantic ones. Yeah. So we would get bushels of crabs on the weekend. And so whenever they were cooked... I would go in the pot first and take the bigger ones.
Wiser Than Me with Julia Louis-Dreyfus
Julia Gets Wise with Patti LaBelle
And my sisters would hate me for this. Why do you always have to get the big ones? And they would say a few curse words to me. I said, because I can, you know. So we would have fights about my taking the big crabs. And it always ended up that I got the bigger ones because I was a I was a picker. I knew how to get in that pot and pick before they got in the kitchen.
Wiser Than Me with Julia Louis-Dreyfus
Julia Gets Wise with Patti LaBelle
Just crazy things, but we loved each other, but we fought like sisters. And they were very fashionable too, I understand, right? Your sisters, weren't they? Oh, I used to wear my sister's Vivian. When she went to work, I would get her clothes and wear them to school. And she would come back and say, somebody's been in my clothes because I never put them back properly.
Wiser Than Me with Julia Louis-Dreyfus
Julia Gets Wise with Patti LaBelle
You know, so, yeah, we had fights about that. But she was a dressing woman. Yes. Really? Yeah, she knew how to dress.
Wiser Than Me with Julia Louis-Dreyfus
Julia Gets Wise with Patti LaBelle
Oh, God. They were ahead of time. Yes, they were.
Wiser Than Me with Julia Louis-Dreyfus
Julia Gets Wise with Patti LaBelle
We were Gaga and Madonna before they were Kiss.
Wiser Than Me with Julia Louis-Dreyfus
Julia Gets Wise with Patti LaBelle
They wanted to dress like our outfits. So they got in touch with our designer, Larry Legaspi, and said, we want to have some things like LaBelle. And so he made things for them. It was such a compliment. It was a compliment when Gaga or Madonna, like Sarah Dash wore the beautiful silver breastplates, Madonna wore them. And it was after they saw Sarah with them.
Wiser Than Me with Julia Louis-Dreyfus
Julia Gets Wise with Patti LaBelle
And it was so many compliments thrown our way because we did it first.
Wiser Than Me with Julia Louis-Dreyfus
Julia Gets Wise with Patti LaBelle
Well, thank you. I never saw myself as beautiful. I saw myself as a real woman. Looking the way I look, not wanting to make any difference on my face, but I did. I had a nose job, you know, and that didn't make me any prettier. It just took away some of the nose. But I've learned lately that it doesn't really matter what you look like.
Wiser Than Me with Julia Louis-Dreyfus
Julia Gets Wise with Patti LaBelle
It doesn't, you know, I dress up and get made up and haired up for the shows because I'm in show business. But if not, I'll be just like right now, I'm not really basically made, made up or haired up. I'm Julia up, you know, so this is kind of kind of quiet.
Wiser Than Me with Julia Louis-Dreyfus
Julia Gets Wise with Patti LaBelle
Because I realize what I am inside. I am a person with a good heart. And makeup and the hair is not going to make me a better person. It's not going to make me a better person. As I've gotten older, I've realized that that does not make me. It doesn't make me. As long as I can sing and perform and make somebody happy, that's good.
Wiser Than Me with Julia Louis-Dreyfus
Julia Gets Wise with Patti LaBelle
Sometimes I say I could just do it with a pair of jeans, not with a... awesome costume or something because they came to see Patti LaBelle. They didn't come to see the costume, although I'm a dressing drag queen. I do dress up. I do, I do, I do. And it feels good, but I realize that we can't put all that emphasis on how we look all the time.
Wiser Than Me with Julia Louis-Dreyfus
Julia Gets Wise with Patti LaBelle
When it happened, it shook my confidence because it happened. It did. It was not knowledge of our group that she was leaving to go with the Supremes. So we were performing in Cleveland, I think, and we were waiting for her to come down. And she never came down, you know, to go to the dressing room. And so... Somehow we found out. I think it was the next night that she had joined the Supremes.
Wiser Than Me with Julia Louis-Dreyfus
Julia Gets Wise with Patti LaBelle
You didn't even find out from her. You just found it out from some other way? We found out at the time. I don't remember exactly how, but it wasn't from Cindy. No, she did not call us. And I just felt so betrayed and just so sad. Sure. And then I thought about it.
Wiser Than Me with Julia Louis-Dreyfus
Julia Gets Wise with Patti LaBelle
I said, maybe if I were in her position and one of the best selling female groups asked me to join them, I might have said yes because they were making much more money than we were. Yes. So I kind of understood her reasoning after a while. And then I prayed for her and I said, wish you the best of luck. You know, so I had to take it and I had to not dislike her for that.
Wiser Than Me with Julia Louis-Dreyfus
Julia Gets Wise with Patti LaBelle
It was the way that it was done, yes.
Wiser Than Me with Julia Louis-Dreyfus
Julia Gets Wise with Patti LaBelle
So it was something that at the time Diana wanted to do and Barry Gordy or whoever, they wanted to replace Florence Ballard. And she was very close to looking like Florence Ballard. And sounding like Florence Ballard. I see. So after a while, I realized that they did what they had to do. Right. And I did what I had to do, and that was to keep on keeping on. Keep on keeping on.
Wiser Than Me with Julia Louis-Dreyfus
Julia Gets Wise with Patti LaBelle
Yeah, I couldn't hold that anger. I couldn't hold it any longer. Yeah, because it'll eat you up. Yes. And since then, we've talked. Diana and I have talked. We're friends. Good. You know, so there's no hard feelings at this time. So it's a done deal.
Wiser Than Me with Julia Louis-Dreyfus
Julia Gets Wise with Patti LaBelle
No, I went to therapy after the group broke up.
Wiser Than Me with Julia Louis-Dreyfus
Julia Gets Wise with Patti LaBelle
Okay. With me, Sarah and Nona. When we broke up as a group, I didn't want to be blamed as the one who left the group. I didn't want to be. Sometimes they said Diana Ross was. the reason they broke up, the Supremes or whatever. Yes. I didn't want it to be said that Patti LaBelle broke the group up. I see.
Wiser Than Me with Julia Louis-Dreyfus
Julia Gets Wise with Patti LaBelle
So I had to go to therapy because it was hard for me to go out on that stage some nights solo without them. But the reason we broke up is because the three of us wanted to do different music. Sure. And so to stay together as a group, we'd be lying to the public. So we had to make that move. And like I said, we're still talking yesterday, me and Nona. We lost Sarah, which is so sad.
Wiser Than Me with Julia Louis-Dreyfus
Julia Gets Wise with Patti LaBelle
But we're still the best of friends. But at that time, I needed help. I needed a shrink.
Wiser Than Me with Julia Louis-Dreyfus
Julia Gets Wise with Patti LaBelle
Because you don't know who's going to blame you for the breakup. You know, at that time, I didn't know.
Wiser Than Me with Julia Louis-Dreyfus
Julia Gets Wise with Patti LaBelle
So many things. So many things go through your mind. Right. And so you have to, like, deal with it. And my way of dealing was to see somebody. I had to get help.
Wiser Than Me with Julia Louis-Dreyfus
Julia Gets Wise with Patti LaBelle
We traveled in a station wagon, you know, throughout the South. And there were times when we couldn't get a hotel. So we stayed in the station wagon. We would buy our tuna and— chocolate candy bars and whatever and just stay in the station wagon because there were no hotels that were going to really let us board. Wow.
Wiser Than Me with Julia Louis-Dreyfus
Julia Gets Wise with Patti LaBelle
In the South, there were some black hotels, you know, that we would find, but we were not allowed to dwell in those, the white hotels. So we spent a lot of time in the station wagon and we realized that for us, that was all there was. And so you take it or you leave it. You fight it or you settle. So we had to settle because we couldn't change the laws.
Wiser Than Me with Julia Louis-Dreyfus
Julia Gets Wise with Patti LaBelle
And it didn't take anything away from us as far as our performance. We still worked. But you really have to know that there was a big, big, big difference in white acts and black acts. And what it did for us was just grew us up.
Wiser Than Me with Julia Louis-Dreyfus
Julia Gets Wise with Patti LaBelle
It did. Really quickly. It grew us up. So when we did our thing, we did it with knowing that there was going to be a lot of rejection. And you live with it or you fight it. It made us stronger. That's what I'm saying. Every lesson wasn't a negative ending. Yes. Every lesson that we dealt with grew us up. Yeah.
Wiser Than Me with Julia Louis-Dreyfus
Julia Gets Wise with Patti LaBelle
You know, so the way you're treated is the way you're going to live with and the way you're going to expect. And then when it changes, that's like a big old rose. Oh, it wasn't so bad that night. But, you know, that wasn't often. So we did that and we did it knowing what we're going to go into. Yeah. We knew it wasn't going to be great all the time.
Wiser Than Me with Julia Louis-Dreyfus
Julia Gets Wise with Patti LaBelle
We created this love for each other, I mean, that we weren't going to get from most people traveling. So we just grew to hold on to each other and to make each other laugh and play jokes on each other and Just have fun.
Wiser Than Me with Julia Louis-Dreyfus
Julia Gets Wise with Patti LaBelle
You know, because what we had to do to get there wasn't always great.
Wiser Than Me with Julia Louis-Dreyfus
Julia Gets Wise with Patti LaBelle
Of course, I share with all of them what we went through at the beginning of our careers, LaBelle, Patti LaBelle and the Blue Belles, the things that we went through in the South, the things that we took for granted would come for us and it never did.
Wiser Than Me with Julia Louis-Dreyfus
Julia Gets Wise with Patti LaBelle
But you tell all these, like I talk to them, Fantasia, Jennifer, Mariah, like you said, all my little girls, and they will call me every now and then for information, for just some kind of, something that I've gone through that they might be going through. Interesting. And so I'm like a godmother. Yeah. Godmother. Yeah.
Wiser Than Me with Julia Louis-Dreyfus
Julia Gets Wise with Patti LaBelle
And Elton John, yeah. It's Luther was our first fan club president, but he would come to the Apollo Theater with clothes for us. So I said, oh, who is this man with all these gowns? He had like four gowns. They were pink and gray, beautiful gowns. And so, of course, he had all of our sizes and everything. And so I said, well, what else do you do other than bring clothes? He said, I sing.
Wiser Than Me with Julia Louis-Dreyfus
Julia Gets Wise with Patti LaBelle
I said, oh, really? And so I said, sing. And he sang. I said, honey, you shouldn't be peddling these clothes. You should have a microphone. and go out and make yourself a living with your voice. And then we became good friends, and he became our first fan club president.
Wiser Than Me with Julia Louis-Dreyfus
Julia Gets Wise with Patti LaBelle
Yeah, because he was singing a lot backgrounds with different people at the time, I think, that we met him. I'm not sure. But he ended up making his own life the best life for him. Singing not background, but singing lead.
Wiser Than Me with Julia Louis-Dreyfus
Julia Gets Wise with Patti LaBelle
And my father. Yes. They were very giving people.
Wiser Than Me with Julia Louis-Dreyfus
Julia Gets Wise with Patti LaBelle
And my sisters were also very, very much givers. And so I took a lot of that from them. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
Wiser Than Me with Julia Louis-Dreyfus
Julia Gets Wise with Patti LaBelle
I knew it was going to be a hit. But I didn't know what Bully Ruka Sheva Gua meant. Get out of town. I'm serious, honey. I had no clue it meant, will you sleep with me tonight? So when we heard it, when we went to Alan Toussaint to record Night Verse, I said, let's make this our first song to record for this album. As the song was recorded, we knew it was a hit.
Wiser Than Me with Julia Louis-Dreyfus
Julia Gets Wise with Patti LaBelle
And after it was out, we had some interesting people saying, wow, why are they singing about a hooker? It was nuns talking about, ooh. That group is not nice. We're singing about hookers. I had no clue what Fooley Voo meant. Amazing. We got a little moment. A little blowback for that.
Wiser Than Me with Julia Louis-Dreyfus
Julia Gets Wise with Patti LaBelle
A little bit. Yeah. Who cares?
Wiser Than Me with Julia Louis-Dreyfus
Julia Gets Wise with Patti LaBelle
Yes. So it was a very interesting song.
Wiser Than Me with Julia Louis-Dreyfus
Julia Gets Wise with Patti LaBelle
Oh, gosh. We were at the Metropolitan Opera House, the first black group to play. Yes. And the show was called Wear Something Silver. And so everybody came with silver outfits. The cycle sluts, they came. I don't know if Cher was there that night, but that's when I think I came from the ceiling flying down. singing Nightbirds.
Wiser Than Me with Julia Louis-Dreyfus
Julia Gets Wise with Patti LaBelle
And we just had a crazy, wonderful night at the Metropolitan Opera House. And we did play the bathhouses. I know. You and Bette Midler did it. Bette Midler.
Wiser Than Me with Julia Louis-Dreyfus
Julia Gets Wise with Patti LaBelle
And so we put money in and it was condoms. They looked like bubble gum things falling out.
Wiser Than Me with Julia Louis-Dreyfus
Julia Gets Wise with Patti LaBelle
No, but it was Sarah. They laughed. They laughed so hard. Yeah, we were putting money in the machine getting bubble gum, I thought. Did you get blowback for that, for playing in bathhouses? Never did we get blowback for playing in bathhouses. Good. At least I don't know about it.
Wiser Than Me with Julia Louis-Dreyfus
Julia Gets Wise with Patti LaBelle
Yeah, I have had a gay following from the beginning, Sarah Nona. And myself and Cindy, we had a gay following, which I take as a compliment.
Wiser Than Me with Julia Louis-Dreyfus
Julia Gets Wise with Patti LaBelle
Because of all my sisters, yeah, I thought— All your sisters. That it wouldn't last long.
Wiser Than Me with Julia Louis-Dreyfus
Julia Gets Wise with Patti LaBelle
Of course you would think that. I mean, after I turned a certain age, I would say, well, am I next?
Wiser Than Me with Julia Louis-Dreyfus
Julia Gets Wise with Patti LaBelle
As far as going through what my sisters went through. That's right. And when I turned a certain age, I just said, well, God is with me. When it's my turn, it's my time.
Wiser Than Me with Julia Louis-Dreyfus
Julia Gets Wise with Patti LaBelle
Is that right? After I turned 50, yes. And I just said every day something could happen, and it didn't. It didn't. And I'm still standing. So I just thank God for all the time that I have and all the time that I have left.
Wiser Than Me with Julia Louis-Dreyfus
Julia Gets Wise with Patti LaBelle
It left. It just left. Yes. That's good. The anxiety left.
Wiser Than Me with Julia Louis-Dreyfus
Julia Gets Wise with Patti LaBelle
Oh, the same ages as mine.
Wiser Than Me with Julia Louis-Dreyfus
Julia Gets Wise with Patti LaBelle
That's why. Yeah. It's natural. It's natural.
Wiser Than Me with Julia Louis-Dreyfus
Julia Gets Wise with Patti LaBelle
it's natural to be frightened because it's so unnatural, unnatural and never know when it's going to happen.
Wiser Than Me with Julia Louis-Dreyfus
Julia Gets Wise with Patti LaBelle
Exactly. Right. Well, I'm sorry.
Wiser Than Me with Julia Louis-Dreyfus
Julia Gets Wise with Patti LaBelle
Um, Egg sandwich, fried egg sandwich, because I made great sandwiches. And she was around the corner at the hospital where I lived at the time. I've moved since then. And my aunt was at the hospital with her. And so that's the day I had gotten back from touring. And so I was kind of tired. I said, can I make it tomorrow?
Wiser Than Me with Julia Louis-Dreyfus
Julia Gets Wise with Patti LaBelle
And she said yes, and tomorrow comes and my aunt calls and says, your sister's gone. Oh, God. So I didn't get a chance.
Wiser Than Me with Julia Louis-Dreyfus
Julia Gets Wise with Patti LaBelle
Yeah. It's hard to talk about. I think I can talk about it. Then I realize I really can't.
Wiser Than Me with Julia Louis-Dreyfus
Julia Gets Wise with Patti LaBelle
At age 21, I would have said to myself, don't be so afraid. Don't be so shy. Don't be so scared. Not scared, but scared. Don't be so scared. Just know that your life is going to turn out all right. You know, and I have lived to see that. Yeah, you have. That I'm all right. Yeah, you're all right. Yes, baby.
Wiser Than Me with Julia Louis-Dreyfus
Julia Gets Wise with Patti LaBelle
Because everything that I say yes to made me feel good, and it was age-appropriate yeses.
Wiser Than Me with Julia Louis-Dreyfus
Julia Gets Wise with Patti LaBelle
Don't be afraid of turning whatever you're going to turn to be older. Some people live to be nervous about turning certain ages. Don't. Just accept it. You made it.
Wiser Than Me with Julia Louis-Dreyfus
Julia Gets Wise with Patti LaBelle
See, I think you've had the perfect life. I can't say that I've had the perfect life, Julia. I can say that I've had a nice life. And a life that I don't regret.
Wiser Than Me with Julia Louis-Dreyfus
Julia Gets Wise with Patti LaBelle
I know it. A lot of people are.
Wiser Than Me with Julia Louis-Dreyfus
Julia Gets Wise with Patti LaBelle
Yeah, I can say it and mean it.
Wiser Than Me with Julia Louis-Dreyfus
Julia Gets Wise with Patti LaBelle
I had a feeling that it would be like this with you and I. And I'm so pleased to have spoken with you. And thank you so much, honey. Thank you.
Wiser Than Me with Julia Louis-Dreyfus
Julia Gets Wise with Patti LaBelle
Oh, thank you so much, Joy. It's giving me goosebumps talking to you.
Wiser Than Me with Julia Louis-Dreyfus
Julia Gets Wise with Patti LaBelle
Yeah, a good 80. How old do you feel, Patti? I feel 30. You do? Yes, I feel 30. And the 80 is working. It's working. I've never been ashamed of saying my graduation. Whenever I turn 75, that's a graduation. I graduate each day in age, which some ladies and men are afraid to say how old they are. And my sisters all died in the early 40s. Yes. So whenever I made 50, I knew I had graduated.
Wiser Than Me with Julia Louis-Dreyfus
Julia Gets Wise with Patti LaBelle
You know, and every other year was just like putting on another year that they didn't make it. So I'm honored to be 80.
Wiser Than Me with Julia Louis-Dreyfus
Julia Gets Wise with Patti LaBelle
Oh, it does. A true education. I have learned at every age something great and something that you say to yourself, well, maybe because my family died young, I might not make it to 70. Mm-hmm. And I did, and I'm 80 and still striving and still realizing it's a blessing.
Wiser Than Me with Julia Louis-Dreyfus
Julia Gets Wise with Patti LaBelle
I knew at 80 I was going to have a big, big party.
Wiser Than Me with Julia Louis-Dreyfus
Julia Gets Wise with Patti LaBelle
So my friend Zhang Toy made a beautiful dress for me. Before I knew where the party would be or any details. Yes. But I knew I had to celebrate with a beautiful dress. Yeah. So I got the dress and I kept saying to my son, why don't you just tell me? He said, tell you what? I said, just tell me where it's going to be. Yeah. Because I know it's going to be. Yeah.
Wiser Than Me with Julia Louis-Dreyfus
Julia Gets Wise with Patti LaBelle
And so then he told me this big story one day about I had to get dressed because we're having a meeting with Walmart. I said, since when do I have to get dressed, dressed up for a meeting with Walmart? But I did. Wait a minute. Were you suspicious or did you buy into it? Of course I was. No, I was suspicious because I knew he was lying. I knew it wasn't going to be a party with Walmart.
Wiser Than Me with Julia Louis-Dreyfus
Julia Gets Wise with Patti LaBelle
But because I am who I am, I got dressed and put on that beautiful blue dress and said, let me let him think that I don't know any better. And then we went to the party. It was in New York because I live in Philadelphia. And so I knew it was going to be a fabulous night. And when I walked in the door, all my friends were there. Oh, God. Everybody that I loved in show business.
Wiser Than Me with Julia Louis-Dreyfus
Julia Gets Wise with Patti LaBelle
From back in the day, friends that I hadn't seen in 20 years. Just so many wonderful people who enjoyed celebrating with Patty Patty.
Wiser Than Me with Julia Louis-Dreyfus
Julia Gets Wise with Patti LaBelle
Oh, yeah. I tour all the time. A lot of people think that I've stopped singing. I said, oh, no, Google me, honey. I'm on tour a lot.
Wiser Than Me with Julia Louis-Dreyfus
Julia Gets Wise with Patti LaBelle
I have no routine to keep my voice in shape.
Wiser Than Me with Julia Louis-Dreyfus
Julia Gets Wise with Patti LaBelle
No routine. No, not at all.
Wiser Than Me with Julia Louis-Dreyfus
Julia Gets Wise with Patti LaBelle
I don't drink tea. No, I don't warm up either. I think I'm a bad person to not do the things that most singers do. I just wake up and I could sing anything. perfectly in the morning at six or seven in the morning. So that's a blessing. And I've never done anything to make this happen. I've never had lessons. I've never... I'm just a whatever I am. Do you have perfect pitch? I have perfect pitch.
Wiser Than Me with Julia Louis-Dreyfus
Julia Gets Wise with Patti LaBelle
You do? Uh-huh. Yes. Thank God.
Wiser Than Me with Julia Louis-Dreyfus
Julia Gets Wise with Patti LaBelle
I've cooked for so many. Richard Pryor for, of course, the Rolling Stones. Elton John was my piano player back in the day. Yes. And so his band would come to my flat after the shows and we'd play cards for money. And they lost every time. They didn't have any pounds. No pounds, you know. So I won all the pounds and sent them home with Tupperware with food every night.
Wiser Than Me with Julia Louis-Dreyfus
Julia Gets Wise with Patti LaBelle
We played because they couldn't afford food. Right. So here's the story with Elton. Tell. So we were buddies, buddies, buddies. And so he called me one night and said, hello, Patty. I'm not going to do his accent because I can't. He said, hello, Patty. I said, yeah. He said, this is me, Elton. No, Reggie. Oh. I said Reggie because he was Reggie Dwight. His band was Bluesology, I think.
Wiser Than Me with Julia Louis-Dreyfus
Julia Gets Wise with Patti LaBelle
And he was Reggie at that time. He was not Elton John. Was that he was born Reggie? Was that his birth name? Yes. And so he called me and said, Patty, it's Reggie. I said, oh, hey, Reg. He said, I want you to come to my show tonight. I said, a show? Where? He said, at the Spectrum in Philadelphia. So I said, oh, who are you opening for? Yeah. He said, I'm Elton John now.
Wiser Than Me with Julia Louis-Dreyfus
Julia Gets Wise with Patti LaBelle
I said, you have a... Did I tell him some bad things? I said, you made it before me, honey. Yes. And it was just a beautiful, beautiful moment. And so later we recorded together in Vegas when he did the Red Piano Show in Vegas. Yes. And we recorded a duet together. And after the song was done, he had taken his rings off. Yes. And I said, so here are your rings, Elton.