*Patti LaBelle kicked off her “8065 Tour” on July 7 at the Hollywood Bowl in Hollywood, California.
As Billboard reports, “the numbers refer to LaBelle’s double celebration this year: her 80th birthday in May and 65-year career in entertainment,” the outlet writes.
“I’m very eclectic and very spontaneous,” LaBelle told Billboard in a new interview. “I will do a whole lot of different kinds of music,” she said of what fans can expect when they catch her on tour.
“You never know what I might do, but it’s going to be nice,” she continued.
“They [the shows] will be about who I am: a Bluebelles girl, a member of Labelle and then Patti LaBelle. It will be a reminder of what I’ve done all my life, you know? I just want to give a public thank you for all the years that people have been on my page with me,” the music icon added. “I can’t take that for granted because people can spend their money in other places, on other entertainers. But when they decide to see a Patti LaBelle show or to buy a Patti LaBelle record, I feel blessed.”
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Elsewhere in the Billboard interview, the superstar reflected on her career, retirement, and the new wave of R&B female artists. Check out a few excerpts below.
Did you ever envision having a 65-year career? A lot of people can’t say that.
Because of my three sisters dying before they turned 50, I would always pray that I could make 50. When I did, it was like a miracle. God has given me grace and I’m still here. And to say that I’m still here at 80, still doing what I did when I was 20, 30 and 40 … it’s another blessing. Because you can’t always take for granted that you’re going to be here at the age of 80, still performing and still in your right mind. So every day I say, “Thank you God for another day.”
What one life lesson have you embraced during your 80 years? And what one music career lesson do you still carry with you after 65 years?
For the first: to not hold grudges. In 80 years, you can have a lot of things that could set you off or put you in a place where you say, “I hate this. I hate that.” But I don’t have hate in my life. I’ve learned to forgive those who have put me in such awful positions that you can’t think a person will forgive someone for doing that. But I’ve always taken the high road. So the older I get, the more I’ve become a forgiver. Because I always say there must be a real reason why a person is hurting, why they’re so ugly inside. So those people you pray for, and I sometimes bring them closer to me. It’s not going to hurt you to be nice to someone who’s not nice to you.
And for the second: that not everyone is going to accept me. There have been times in my 65 years of being in show business when there’s been a lot of rejection for Patti LaBelle: for my music, for my shows, for my acting, for whatever I’ve done in life. I know that everybody’s not going to accept it; that I’m going to get no’s and sometimes I’ll get some yeses. All of that stuff has happened in my life and will continue to happen because everybody’s not going to love Patti LaBelle.
What do you think about the new wave of female singer-songwriters in R&B right now?
There are a lot of great singers in young women such as Coco Jones and Victoria Monét. I continue to bless them on, honey. Don’t stop; don’t stop. And of course Beyoncé, my girl. I’m just happy for her period for everything she’s doing and will continue to do. I’m seeing a lot of goodness in these young ladies performing and selling the way they’re selling. When Beyoncé did her country album, I said, “You go, girl” because music is music. And she is from Texas and she’s holding them. I just want her to continue to do any type of music that she wants to do. Music doesn’t have a color; it doesn’t have a race. Music is music period.
When I was coming up, it [the industry climate] was nowhere near what it’s like now. It’s a much better place being a Black female performer; much more so than when we – Sarah, Nona, Cindy [Birdsong, a member of the Bluebelles] and I – were doing it at the time. So I’m very happy about the climate where Black women are singing anything they want. I wish it had been like that when we were coming up. But then again, if it was like that I might not appreciate what I have now as much as I do. We paid our dues.
Is the R word – retirement – in your vocabulary?
How do you spell it? [laughs]. That’s not in my book. No way. I’m going to keep on going. There’s no reason to stop unless you just can’t do anything anymore, right? And how can you retire from something you love?
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