INTRODUCTION

HER STORY

QUOTES

The emotional ballad "Nobody's Supposed to Be Here" was written especially for Patti. She decided not to record it. Deborah Cox didn't turn the song down. The song went platinum shortly after it was released and spent weeks at the top of the charts.

Patti can't sleep if there is any light anywhere. She has special black-out drapes in her bedroom at home. On the road, she stuffs towels at the bottoms of doors, tapes garbage bags on the windows, and then puts on a sleeping mask before she can drift off.

As a teenager, Luther Vandross, cofounded the first Patti LaBelle and the Bluebelles fan club.

"Priscilla" is the name she has given to the mean, selfish diva-bitch who lives inside her.

Patti had already recorded the number-one pop and R&B single "On My Own" by herself when it was decided it would sound better as a duet. Michael McDonald was brought in later to blend his voice with her recording. They even shot the video on separate coasts. Patti and Michael would not meet until they performed the song together on Johnny Carson's "Tonight Show."

Patti is the only entertainer in the History of "The Tonight Show" with Johnny Carson to be asked to sing twice in the same week.

She is the only entertainer to have a Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame that was paid for by her fans, not her record label.

Patti has appeared on Oprah more times than any other guest in the history of the show, a record 10 times.

Was given the name LaBelle (which in French translates to The Beautiful) by a record executive who originally thought she was too dark and unattractive to head the then all girl group called The Blue Belles.

Was once engaged to Otis Williams of the long time R&B singing group, The Temptations.

LaBelle has won just about every honor and award that can be bestowed upon an entertainer: 10 Grammy award nominations; the 1998 Grammy for Best Traditional R&B Vocal and the 1992 Grammy for Best R&B Vocal Performance; 7 NAACP Image Awards (including "Entertainer of the Year"); 3 Emmy nominations; 2 American Music Awards; 1 Cable Ace Award; Essence magazine Triumphant Spirit Award; an honorary doctorate from Boston's Berklee College of Music and a star on Hollywood's "Walk of Fame."

Laura Randolph Lancaster is a writer and editor-at-large at Ebony magazine, where she originated the "Sisterspeak" column. She has co-authored each of LaBelle's books.

Within a 10-year period, she lost her mother, three sisters and best friend to diabetes and cancer.  Her three sisters all died of cancer before the age of 45.

She serves as a spokeswoman for the National Medical Association that administers a scholarship in her name, the National Minority AIDS Council's “Live Long, Sugar” campaign and the American Diabetes Association.  Patti also serves on the Boards of the National Alzheimer Association and the National Cancer Institute and the University of Miami's prestigious Sylvestri Comprehensive Care Center dedicated a special research laboratory in her honor for her work on behalf of cancer awareness.

Patti has three Honorary Doctorate Degrees from Cambridge University, Drexel University and the Berklee School of Music, among a host of other accolades.

She was diagnosed with diabetes eleven years ago, is vociferous about her disorder and a welcome spokesperson for the American Diabetes Association (ADA). She found out she had diabetes when she had a fainting attack on stage.  Patti is a type 2 diabetic.

She has been known to give her devoted fans one of her fake eyelashes when performing in concert.