Name	LatinLatin abecedarium
Type	Alphabet
Languages	Latin
Time	~700 BC–present
Fam1	Egyptian hieroglyphs
Fam2	Proto-Sinaitic
Fam3	Phoenician alphabet
Fam4	Greek alphabet
Fam5	Etruscan alphabet
Sisters	CyrillicCopticArmenianRunic/Futhark
Children	Numerous Latin alphabets; more divergent derivations such as Osage
Sample	Calligraphy.malmesbury.bible.arp.jpg
Unicode	See Latin characters in Unicode
Iso15924	Latn
Ipacharteng	1 }}

The Latin alphabet, also called the Roman alphabet, is the ancestor of most of the alphabets used in the world today. It evolved from a western variety of the Greek alphabet called the Cumaean alphabet, which was adopted and modified by the Etruscans who ruled early Rome. The Etruscan alphabet was in turn adopted and further modified by the ancient Romans to write the Latin language.

During the Middle Ages, the Latin alphabet was adapted to Romance languages, direct descendants of Latin, as well as to Celtic, Germanic, Baltic, and some Slavic languages. With the age of colonialism and Christian evangelism, the Latin script was spread overseas, and applied to indigenous American, Australian, Austronesian, East Asian, and African languages. More recently, western linguists have also tended to prefer the Latin alphabet or the International Phonetic Alphabet (itself largely based on the Latin alphabet) when transcribing or creating written standards for non-European languages, such as the African reference alphabet.

The term ''Latin alphabet'', used to write Latin, may be distinguished from other alphabets based on the Latin script, which is the basic set of letters common to the various alphabets descended from Latin, such as the English alphabet. These Latin alphabets may discard letters, like the Rotokas alphabet, or add new letters, like the Danish and Norwegian alphabet. Letter shapes have changed over the centuries, including the creation for Medieval Latin of lower case forms which did not exist in the Classical period.

History

Origins

It is generally believed that the Romans adopted the Cumae alphabet, a variant of the Greek alphabet, in the 7th century BC from Cumae, a Greek colony in Southern Italy. (Gaius Julius Hyginus in ''Fab. 277'' mentions the legend that it was Carmenta, the Cimmerian Sibyl, who altered fifteen letters of the Greek alphabet to become the Latin alphabet, which her son Evander introduced into Latium, supposedly 60 years before the Trojan War, but there is no historically sound basis to this tale.) The Ancient Greek alphabet was in turn based upon the Phoenician alphabet. From the Cumae alphabet, the Etruscan alphabet was derived and the Romans eventually adopted 21 of the original 26 Etruscan letters:

𐌂 B

+ Archaic Latin alphabet

𐌀

𐌁

|

𐌃

𐌄

𐌅

𐌆

𐌇

𐌈

𐌉

𐌊

𐌋

𐌌

𐌍

𐌎

𐌏

𐌐

𐌑

𐌒

𐌓

𐌔

𐌕

𐌖

𐌗

𐌘

𐌙

𐌜

𐌚

A

|

C

D

E

F

Z

H

I

K

L

M

N

O

P

Q

R

S

T

V

X

The letter ‹C› was the western form of the Greek gamma, but it was used for the sounds and alike, possibly under the influence of Etruscan, which lacked any voiced plosives. Later, probably during the 3rd century BC, the letter ‹Z› — unneeded to write Latin proper — was replaced with the new letter ‹G›, a ‹C› modified with a small vertical stroke, which took its place in the alphabet. From then on, ‹G› represented the voiced plosive , while ‹C› was generally reserved for the voiceless plosive . The letter ‹K› was used only rarely, in a small number of words such as ''Kalendae'', often interchangeably with ‹C›.

After the Roman conquest of Greece in the 1st century BC, Latin adopted the Greek letters ‹Y› and ‹Z› (or readopted, in the latter case) to write Greek loanwords, placing them at the end of the alphabet. An attempt by the emperor Claudius to introduce three additional letters did not last. Thus it was that during the classical Latin period the Latin alphabet contained 23 letters:

cē /keː/ el /ɛl/ tē /teː/

+ Classical Latin alphabet
style="text-align:left"	Letter	A	B	C	D	E	F	G	H
Name	ā	bē	|	dē	ē	ef	gē	hā
style="text-align:left">Pronunciation (help:IPA	IPA)	/aː/	/beː/	|	/deː/	/eː/	/ɛf/	/ɡeː/	/haː/
colspan="8" style="font-size:3px;line-height:1"
style="text-align:left"	Letter		I !! K !! L !! M !! N !! O !! P !! Q
Name	ī	kā	|	em	en	ō	pē	qū
style="text-align:left">Pronunciation (help:IPA	IPA)	/iː/	/kaː/	|	/ɛm/	/ɛn/	/oː/	/peː/	/kʷuː/
colspan="8" style="font-size:3px;line-height:1"
style="text-align:left"	Letter	R !! S !! T !! V !! X !! Y !! Z !! rowspan="3">
Name	er	es	|	ū	ex	ī Graeca	zēta
style="text-align:left">Pronunciation (help:IPA	IPA)	/ɛr/	/ɛs/	|	/uː/	/ɛks/	/iː ˈɡrajka/	/ˈzeːta/

The Latin names of some of these letters are disputed. In general, however, the Romans did not use the traditional (Semitic-derived) names as in Greek: the names of the plosives were formed by adding to their sound (except for ‹K› and ‹Q›, which needed different vowels to be distinguished from ‹C›) and the names of the continuants consisted either of the bare sound, or the sound preceded by . The letter ‹Y› when introduced was probably called "hy" as in Greek, the name upsilon not being in use yet, but this was changed to "i Graeca" (Greek i) as Latin speakers had difficulty distinguishing its foreign sound from . ‹Z› was given its Greek name, zeta. For the Latin sounds represented by the various letters see Latin spelling and pronunciation; for the names of the letters in English see English alphabet.

Old Roman cursive script, also called majuscule cursive and capitalis cursive, was the everyday form of handwriting used for writing letters, by merchants writing business accounts, by schoolchildren learning the Latin alphabet, and even emperors issuing commands. A more formal style of writing was based on Roman square capitals, but cursive was used for quicker, informal writing. It was most commonly used from about the 1st century BC to the 3rd century, but it probably existed earlier than that. It led to Uncial, a majuscule script commonly used from the 3rd to 8th centuries AD by Latin and Greek scribes.

New Roman cursive script, also known as minuscule cursive, was in use from the 3rd century to the 7th century, and uses letter forms that are more recognizable to modern eyes; ‹a›, ‹b›, ‹d›, and ‹e› had taken a more familiar shape, and the other letters were proportionate to each other. This script evolved into the medieval scripts known as Merovingian and Carolingian minuscule.

Medieval and later developments

It was not until the Middle Ages that the letter ‹W› (originally a ligature of two ‹V›s) was added to the Latin alphabet, to represent sounds from the Germanic languages which did not exist in medieval Latin, and only after the Renaissance did the convention of treating ‹I› and ‹U› as vowels, and ‹J› and ‹V› as consonants, become established. Prior to that, the former had been merely allographs of the latter.

With the fragmentation of political power, the style of writing changed and varied greatly throughout the Middle Ages, even after the invention of the printing press. Early deviations from the classical forms were the uncial script, a development of the Old Roman cursive, and various so-called minuscule scripts that developed from New Roman cursive, of which the Carolingian minuscule was the most influential, introducing the lower case forms of the letters, as well as other writing conventions that have since become standard.

The languages that use the Latin script today generally use capital letters to begin paragraphs and sentences and proper nouns. The rules for capitalization have changed over time, and different languages have varied in their rules for capitalization. Old English, for example, was rarely written with even proper nouns capitalized; whereas Modern English of the 18th century had frequently all nouns capitalized, in the same way that Modern German is written today, e.g. "Alle Schwestern der alten Stadt hatten die Vögel gesehen".

See also

Alphabets derived from the Latin

Beghilos (Calculator spelling)

Calligraphy

Collation

Euboean alphabet

Keyboard layout

Latin characters in Unicode

Latin-1

Legacy of the Roman Empire

List of Latin letters

Palaeography

Penmanship

Phoenician alphabet

Pinyin

Roman letters used in mathematics

Typography

Western Latin character sets (computing)

Further reading

. Transl. of , as revised by the author : Peter Lang.

External links

Lewis and Short ''Latin Dictionary'' on the letter ''G''

Latin-Alphabet

Latin alphabet at omniglot.com

Category:Typography

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name	Chubb Rock
background	solo_singer
birth date	May 28, 1968
origin	Brooklyn, New York
genre	East Coast hip hop
years active	1988–present
label	Hyztory RecordsSelect RecordsChampion Records
height	6 ft 4 in (1.9 m)
notable instruments	}}

Chubb Rock (born Richard Simpson on May 28, 1968 in Jamaica) is a New York-based rapper who released several commercially successful hip hop albums in the early 1990s. A former National Merit Scholar, Chubb Rock was a pre-med student who dropped out of Brown University to pursue his musical career.

Biography

Discovered and produced by his first cousin DJ / Producer Howie Tee, Chubb Rock first appeared on the national scene with his 1988 self-titled debut "Chubb Rock" and 1989's "And the winner is..." The latter produced the minor hit "Ya Bad Chubbs" which garnered air play on Yo! MTV Raps during that time.

His 1991 release entitled The One, reached #13 on Billboard's "Top Hip-Hop/R&B;" chart for that year. Three singles from that release, "Treat'em Right", "Just The Two Of Us" and "The Chubbster", made it to #1 on Billboard's "Top Rap Single" chart list for the same year.

The following year saw the release of ''I Gotta Get Mine Yo'', a release which features guest performances from Grand Puba Maxwell, Poke, and Rob Swinga. This release also helped fledgling music producers Trackmasters, on their rise to prominence, as they handled production duties on the recording. Chubb Rock also makes an appearance on MC Serch's 1992 song, "Back to The Grill."

Chubb Rock was a member of the 1995 incarnation of the Crooklyn Dodgers, a rap act that also featured O.C. and Jeru The Damaja. His backup dancers started their own group, A.T.E.E.M, and released their debut ''A Hero Ain't Nothin' But A Sandwich'' in 1992 on Select Records.

In 1996, he appeared on the Red Hot Organization's compilation CD, America is Dying Slowly, alongside Wu-Tang Clan, Coolio, and Fat Joe, among others. The CD, meant to raise awareness of the AIDS epidemic among African-American men, was heralded as a masterpiece by The Source magazine.

Chubb Rock's work in the 2000s has been limited to only a few songs. He appears on a song for Raptivism Records' "No More Prisons" project with Lil' Dap of Group Home and Ed O.G., and also worked with Mr. Len on the song "Dummy Smacks", where he says, ''"Some people thought I was gone... never that!"'' He made an appearance alongside Vast Aire on the 2007 Zimbabwe Legit album ''House of Stone'' with the song "Wake Up".

In 2008, his single "Treat em right" was ranked number 82 on VH1's 100 Greatest Songs of Hip Hop. Chubb Rock also released Obama We Believe in support of President Barack Obama. His most recent appearance was on the K'naan single "ABC's". He also collaborated with famous Polish rapper eMCeeM on revolutionary track for his album "To dopiero poczatek".

February 2009 Chubb Rock can be heard on his new single "Back In" featuring Wordsmith and Kimia Collins.

His latest album "Bridging The Gap", a collaboration with Wordsmith, was released on July 14, 2009.

Chubb Rock is featured in the new single "Summertime Anthem" by Eric Roberson in which they filmed the video on the streets of Bed-Sty Brooklyn, New York where he credited his wife/manager KeKe Simpson for putting the duo together.

Chubb Rock also has a new EP to be released this September 2011 and a new TV show; let's just say Chubb Rock is back with a pocket full of green.

In 2011 Chubb Rock appeared with his wife and childhood sweetheart of 24 years, Mrs KeKe "Diamond" Simpson on the NBC game show "The Marriage Ref."

Discography

Albums

Year	Album	Chart positions
! Billboard 200	! Top R&B;/Hip Hop Albums
1988	''Chubb Rock''
1989	''And the Winner Is...''
1991
1992	''I Gotta Get Mine Yo''
1997	''The Mind''
2009	''Bridging The Gap (feat. Wordsmith)''

Singles

Year	Song	Chart positions
! Billboard Hot 100	! Hot R&B;/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks	! Hot Rap Singles	! Hot Dance Music/Club Play
1989	''Ya Bad Chubbs''
	''Stop That Train''
''Robocop''
	''The Chubbster''
''Treat Em Right''
''Just Ask Me To'' (Tevin Campbell featuring Chubb Rock)
	''Just the Two of Us''
''Lost in the Storm''
''The Big Man''
1993	''Yabadabadoo''

References

External links

Discogs: Chubb Rock

Category:1968 births Category:African American rappers Category:American people of Jamaican descent Category:Jamaican hip hop musicians Category:Rappers from New York City Category:Living people Category:Brown University alumni Category:Select Records artists

es:Chubb Rock it:Chubb Rock

name	India.Arie
background	solo_singer
landscape	yes
birth name	India Arie Simpson
born	October 03, 1975Denver, Colorado.
instrument	Vocals, guitar, flute, keyboard
genre	Soul, R&B;, neo soul, blues, folk, pop
occupation	Musician, songwriter, record producer
years active	2000–present
label	Motown (1999–2007)SoulBird / Universal Republic (2007–present)
website	www.indiaarie.com www.soulbird.com }}

India.Arie (born India Arie Simpson; October 3, 1975) is a Grammy Award-winning American soul, R&B;, and neo soul musician, songwriter, and producer. She has sold over 3.3 million records in the U.S. and 10 million worldwide. She has won four Grammy Awards and received 18 nominations, including Album of the Year, Record of the Year, Song of the Year, Best New Artist.

Background

Simpson was born in Denver, Colorado. She absorbed musical skills early in life as she was encouraged by both parents. Her mother Joyce is a former singer (she was signed to Motown as a teenager and opened for Stevie Wonder and Al Green) and is now her stylist. She has an older brother named J'On. After her parents divorced, Simpson's mother moved the family to Atlanta, Georgia when she was thirteen. Simpson had taken up a succession of musical instruments throughout her schooling in Denver, but her interest in the guitar while attending the Savannah College of Art and Design, in Savannah, led to a personal revelation about songwriting and performing. "When I started tapping into my own sensitivity, I started to understand people better. It was a direct result of writing songs", she said at the press release of her debut album, ''Acoustic Soul''.

Co-founding the Atlanta-based independent music collective Groovement EarthShare (Groovement was the collective artists' name and EarthShare was their independent label name), her one-song turn on a locally-released compilation led to a second-stage gig at the 1998 Lilith Fair. In 1999, a Universal/Motown music scout spotted her and made an introduction to former Motown CEO Kedar Massenberg. Arie currently resides in Atlanta, Georgia.

Musical career

''Acoustic Soul'' (2001)

''Acoustic Soul'' was released on March 27, 2001 and debuted at number ten on the U.S. ''Billboard'' 200 and number three on the Top R&B;/Hip-Hop Albums. Within months, without the concentrated radio airplay that typically powers pop and rap albums, ''Acoustic Soul'' was certified double platinum, selling 2,180,000 copies in the U.S. and 3,000,000 copies worldwide. While Arie and the album were nominated for seven Grammy awards in 2002, they won no awards, losing in five of seven categories to Alicia Keys. She closed the ceremony with a performance of her song "Video".

''Voyage to India'' (2002)

Arie followed the success of her debut on 24 September 2002 with the release of ''Voyage to India''. It debuted at number six on the ''Billboard'' 200 and number one on the R&B; chart. In 2003 it won her two Grammy Awards in 2003—"Best R&B; Album" and Best Urban/Alternative Performance" for the song "Little Things". Soon after its release, ''Voyage to India'' was certified platinum selling 1,400,000 copies in the U.S. and 2,300,000 worldwide .

''Testimony: Vol. 1, Life & Relationship'' (2006)

Arie's third studio album, ''Testimony: Vol. 1, Life & Relationship'', was released on June 27, 2006. It gave Arie her first number-one spot on the ''Billboard'' 200 and was her second chart-topper on the R&B; chart. This album was also the first number-one album for Motown in twelve years . Its first-week sales of 161,000 copies are Arie's best sales week to date and was certified gold in August 2006, selling 730,000 in US and 1,300,000 worldwide. "I Am Not My Hair" was the most successful release from ''Testimony: Vol. 1.'', reaching the U.S. ''Billboard'' Hot 100 at #97 and the UK Singles Chart at #65.

Her cover of Don Henley's "The Heart of the Matter" from Testimony: Vol. 1 was used in 2008 as a feature in the trailers to the film ''Sex and the City: The Movie''.

''Testimony: Vol. 2, Love & Politics'' (2009)

Her highly anticipated next album, ''Testimony: Vol. 2, Love & Politics'' was released on Tuesday, February 10, 2009. It debuted at No. 3 on the ''Billboard'' 200, and No. 2 on the R&B; chart. Within this CD, Arie collaborated with such artists as Sezen Aksu, Keb Mo, Gramps Morgan and Musiq Soulchild to fulfill her self-proclaimed desire to "do projects with people who are making music that is meaningful, with a lot of integrity and a lot of sonic diversity". Arie, in the cited interview, also identified this CD as the first of her collection to come directly from her own point of view, without feeling any necessity to fulfill fan or media needs. Arie was able to achieve this newfound ability to write and sing songs without worrying about public opinion after a much-needed vacation to Hawaii. This CD was Arie's first CD produced after her change from Motown to Universal Records.

''Open Door''

India.Arie's new album, a work produced in collaboration with Israeli singer Idan Raichel is due to be released in October 2011.

Collaborations

Arie performed a duet with rock singer-guitarist John Mellencamp on the song "Peaceful World" for his 2001 album ''Cuttin' Heads''.

Arie performed a duet with jazz singer Cassandra Wilson on the song "Just Another Parade" for her 2002 album ''Belly of the Sun''.

On the September 12, 2005 premiere of ''The Tyra Banks Show'', Arie performed "Just 4 2day", a song she wrote especially for Tyra's show. She also performed "What About the Child", a song that did not air but was made available as a one-dollar Internet download to support child victims of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.

Arie is also featured on Stevie Wonder's album ''A Time to Love'', released on October 18, 2005. Arie and Wonder duet on the title track "A Time to Love", written by Arie, which was nominated for "Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals" at the 2006 Grammy Awards. Three years earlier, their rendition of Mel Tormé's 1944 classic "The Christmas Song", recorded for the holiday TV commercial for retailer Target, had been nominated for the same category, making it the first song created and financed exclusively for a commercial to be nominated for a Grammy Award.

Arie performed a duet with Brazilian musician Sérgio Mendes on the title song "Timeless" for his 2006 album ''Timeless''.

Arie performed the vocals for "It Might Be You" on Dave Koz's 2007 album ''At the Movies''.

Arie collaborated with Akon for her song "I Am Not My Hair". On the April 16, 2007 episode of ''The Oprah Winfrey Show'' entitled "After Imus: Now What?", Arie guest-starred as a panelist. She stated that she was not completely crazy about the duet partner, but the label suggested that it would make the album more commercial. Versions without Akon on the song were made available.

Arie performed the song "She Is" for Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, inspired by the PBS Independent Lens documentary ''Iron Ladies of Liberia''.

Arie performed a duet with singer Anthony David for his song "Words" for his 2008 album ''Acey Duecy''.

Arie performed "Self-Fulfilling" in duet with Beate S. Lech of Beady Belle on the band's 2008 album ''Belvedere''.

Arie sang the Alphabet song with Elmo on ''Sesame Street''.

Arie appeared with Leona on ''Between the Lions'' singing a song about outlaw words.

Arie performed "Video" with British singer Adele at the 2009 VH1 Divas

Arie is one of over 70 artists singing on "We Are the World: 25 for Haiti", a charity single in aid of the 2010 Haiti earthquake.

Arie performed a duet with Marc Cohn on the song "Make It With You" for his 2010 album ''Listening Booth: 1970''.

Arie collaborated in 2010 with Santana for the Beatles' cover, While My Guitar Gently Weeps.

Arie contributed vocals to "Imagine" for the 2010 Herbie Hancock album, ''The Imagine Project'' along with Seal, P!nk, Jeff Beck, Konono N°1, Oumou Sangare and others.

Arie collaborated with Idan Raichel to create a series of different songs including a performance at the Noble Peace Prize

Discography

Studio albums

2001: ''Acoustic Soul''

2002: ''Voyage to India''

2006: ''Testimony: Vol. 1, Life & Relationship''

2009: ''Testimony: Vol. 2, Love & Politics''

2011: ''Open Door''

Awards

;Grammy Awards

Year	Category	Genre	Recording	Result
	align="center"		align="center"
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	align="center"
align="center"		align="center"
	align="center"
	align="center"		rowspan="2" align="center"
align="center"

;BET Awards :2002 - ''Best Female R&B; Artist'' (Won) :2003 - ''Best Female R&B; Artist'' (Won) ;'''MTV Video Music Award'' :2001 - ''MTV2 Award for "Video"'' (Nominated) ;'''Soul Train Music Award'' :2003 - ''Female R&B;/Soul Single'' for "Little Things" (Nominated)

Filmography

2002: ''Soul Food - Herself "Lovers and Other Strangers"

2003: ''American Dreams'' - ....Nina Simone "Act of Contrition"

2003: ''The Bernie Mac Show'' - Herself "Raging Election"

2004: ''Tinseltown TV'' - Herself

2006: ''One on One'' - Herself "I Love L.A"

2011: ''Pastor Brown'' - Lateefah

References

External links

Official website

India.Aire interview by Pete Lewis, 'Blues & Soul' April 2009

India.Arie on Motown Records website

India.Arie at NPR Music

Category:1975 births Category:African American female singer-songwriters Category:American contraltos Category:American female guitarists Category:American flautists Category:American record producers Category:American songwriters Category:American rhythm and blues guitarists Category:American rhythm and blues singer-songwriters Category:American soul singers Category:Musicians from Colorado Category:English-language singers Category:Feminist musicians Category:Grammy Award winners Category:Living people Category:Motown artists Category:Neo soul singers Category:People from Atlanta, Georgia Category:People from Denver, Colorado Category:People from Savannah, Georgia

de:India.Arie es:India.Arie fa:ایندیا.ارای fr:India.Arie he:אינדיה ארי nl:India.Arie pl:India.Arie pt:India.Arie sv:India.Arie zh:印蒂雅·艾瑞

name	Patti LaBelle
background	solo_singer
birth name	Patricia Louise Holt
birth date	May 24, 1944
origin	Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
alias	Patricia Edwards
genre	R&B;, pop, soft rock
occupation	Singer-songwriter, actress
years active	1958–present
label	Epic (1977-1980)Philadelphia Int'l (1981-1984)MCA (1984-2001) Def Soul Classics (2003-2005, 2007-present)Umbrella / Bungalo (2006)
associated acts	Labelle, Michael McDonald
website	}}

Patricia Louise Holt Edwards (born May 24, 1944), better known under the stage name, Patti LaBelle, is an American singer, author and actress. LaBelle spent sixteen years as lead singer of Patti LaBelle and the Bluebelles, who changed their name to Labelle in the early 1970s and released the disco song, "Lady Marmalade".

LaBelle started her solo career shortly after the group disbanded in 1977 and crossed over to pop music with "On My Own", "If Only You Knew", "If You Asked Me To", "Stir It Up" and "New Attitude". She has also recorded R&B; ballads such as "You Are My Friend" and "Love, Need and Want You".

Biography

Early years

Patricia Louise Holt was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on May 24, 1944. Her father, Henry Holt, was a railroad worker and lounge singer. Her mother, Bertha Holt, was a domestic and housewife. Holt was one of four daughters (Vivian, Barbara, ''Patricia'' and Jacqueline). Holt recalls having a happy childhood but said being sexually molested at the age of seven led her to be shy and withdrawn. Holt's parents had an unhappy marriage. When Holt was twelve, her parents split up and Bertha Holt raised her daughters as a single mother. Holt's mother later adopted Claudette Grant, who would become one of Holt's closest friends.

Despite her shyness, Holt was known for her gifted voice even as a child. After first joining her church choir at ten, she sung her first solo at the Beulah Baptist Church at the age of twelve. Growing up, Holt listened not only to gospel, but jazz and rhythm and blues. By her teens, "Patsy", as friends and family called her, also began listening to doo-wop and was encouraged to form a girl group in the late fifties. In 1958, she formed The Ordettes with three other friends. The following year, when two members of the group dropped out, singers Nona Hendryx and Sarah Dash, from a former rival group, joined them. Eventually with Cindy Birdsong included in the lineup by 1961 and with respected music impresario Bernard Montague managing them, the group gained a reputation around Philadelphia and soon caught the eye of a record scout, who introduced them to Newtown Records president Harold Robinson.

After hearing Holt's voice during an audition, Robinson, who nearly ditched the group due to their looks - he allegedly thought Holt was "too plain and dark" to lead a singing group, agreed to sign the group, renaming them The Blue Belles (the name would simply be The Bluebelles by the mid-1960s), after a Newtown subsidiary label.

Early career

Not long after signing, the group was credited for the hit single, "I Sold My Heart to the Junkman", though the song was recorded by another girl group, the Chicago-based The Starlets. This led to a lawsuit by a manager of the group and its record label boss, later resulting in the group winning $5,000 in damages. "I Sold My Heart to the Junkman" eventually reached the Billboard top 20. Despite this credited success, the group could not follow up with any other hit. The Blue Belles supported themselves by constantly touring including an appearance at the Apollo Theater.

In 1963, a record label executive sued Harold Robinson for use of the name Blue Belles, since another group was using the name. As a result, Robinson gave Holt the nickname, Patti La Belle (La Belle is French for "the beautiful one") and the group's name was altered to Patti La Belle And Her Blue Belles. A year later, the group left Newtown switching over to Cameo-Parkway Records. Their first hit for Cameo-Parkway was the top 40 hit, "Down the Aisle (The Wedding Song)". Their follow-ups included "You'll Never Walk Alone" and "Danny Boy".

In 1965, Atlantic Records president Ahmet Ertegun signed the group to the label, working with the group for a year. The group issued their first studio album (as Patti LaBelle and The Bluebelles) titled ''Somewhere Over the Rainbow'' in 1966. While they had a modest pop charted hit with "All or Nothing" and its b-side, a pop cover of Judy Garland's "Over The Rainbow", the group was not as successful as the label predicted. In 1967, their second release, ''Dreamer'', issued two singles, "Take Me For A Little While" and the Curtis Mayfield standard, "I'm Still Waiting". In the middle of touring for that album, Cindy Birdsong suddenly left the group to join The Supremes after replacing Florence Ballard. The remaining trio of LaBelle, Nona Hendryx and Sarah Dash struggled with subsequent recordings and by 1970, Atlantic had dropped the group from its roster, as had longtime manager Bernard Montague, who had by now focused his full energy on more successful Philly groups such as The Delfonics and The Stylistics.

After almost signing a management deal with Frankie Crocker and Herb Hamlett, the group settled on British manager Vicki Wickham (producer of the UK pop show, ''Ready, Steady, Go!'') after Dusty Springfield had mentioned signing them. Wickham advised the group to perform in London and work on a brand new image and sound. LaBelle would later have disagreements with Wickham over changes often saying in interviews that she liked things the way they were. This led to some musical disagreements between LaBelle and Nona Hendryx.

Labelle

In late 1970, the group returned to the U.S. changing their name to Labelle and signing a contract with Warner Bros imprint, Track Records. Wickham then had the group open for rock group The Who. In mid-1971, the group released their Warner debut, ''Labelle''. The record mixed harder-edged soul music with rock music elements, a marked departure from the pop sound of the Blue Belles. The album failed to catch on, as did their 1972 follow-up, ''Moon Shadow''. The group, however, did find success singing alongside Laura Nyro on her acclaimed album, ''Gonna Take a Miracle''. The group would tour with Nyro off and on for the next couple of years.

In 1973, Wickham had the group signed to RCA Records, where they recorded the ''Pressure Cookin' '' album. In the middle of recording, LaBelle gave birth to her only child, Zuri. While promoting the album opening for The Rolling Stones, Wickham advised the group to adapt the same flamboyant costumes of rock artists such as T. Rex, Elton John and David Bowie. Soon, their own stage entrances started to take a life on its own, at one point the group members flew into the concert stage, while singing. Despite this change in direction, their third album failed to become a success. However, a scout for Epic Records advised the group to sign with them in 1974 at the end of the Rolling Stones tour.

Later that year, Labelle issued their most acclaimed album, ''Nightbirds''. In October 1974, the group made history by becoming the first pop group to perform at the Metropolitan Opera House. In late December, Epic issued the single, "Lady Marmalade". Within six months, the record became a smash and reached number-one on the Billboard Hot 100, the group's first to do so. This helped their album sell over a million copies. Their fame was so massive during this time that they made the cover of ''Rolling Stone'' later in 1975.

Later in 1975, the group issued their follow-up, ''Phoenix'', which did not quite catch on as fast though it was critically raved. They had a little more success with the ''Chameleon'' album in 1976, with the songs, "Get You Somebody New" and "Isn't It A Shame", the latter song Patti LaBelle would say was "the last record we ever did together". Despite her success, LaBelle was not pleased at the group's direction and by late 1976, neither LaBelle, Dash and Hendryx could agree on a musical direction. Following a concert in Baltimore in December 1976, LaBelle advised the others to break up. LaBelle began having anxiety attacks following the group's split and was arguing constantly with her husband at the time. After seeing a shrink for psychological evaluation, LaBelle began to let her husband manage her affairs as she reluctantly soldiered on with a solo career.

Solo career

LaBelle released her self-titled album in 1977 on Epic. The record was a critical success, with the highlights being the dance singles, "Joy To Have Your Love" and "Dan Swit Me" and the pop-R&B; ballad, "You Are My Friend", a song she and her husband co-wrote. Her subsequent follow-ups, however, 1978's ''Tasty'', 1979's ''It's Alright with Me'' and 1980's ''Released'', failed to be as successful. Though well-established in some circles, LaBelle never follow her live performance success with hit records, which was often the case with the Bluebelles. In 1981, she was switched to the CBS subsidiary, Philadelphia International Records, issuing the album, ''The Spirit's In It''. That record also proved to be unsuccessful.

LaBelle found success outside music, performing in the Broadway revival of ''Your Arm's Too Short to Box with God'', with Al Green. However, the play was criticized mainly because of what critics felt was vocal showboating by Green and LaBelle, criticism that LaBelle did not take lightly. In 1982, she recorded the Grover Washington ballad, "The Best Is Yet To Come", which led to her first top 20 R&B; hit and her first Grammy nomination in the spring of 1983. Later that year, LaBelle appeared in the PBS-produced play, ''Working''. In October 1983, the mid-tempo love song, "If Only You Knew", was released. The parent album, ''I'm In Love Again'', was released the following month. In January 1984, "If Only You Knew" reached number-one on the Hot R&B; Singles chart, where it stayed for four weeks. The song became LaBelle's first charted hit on the Billboard Hot 100 as a solo artist, reaching the lower regions of the top fifty, peaking at number 46. The success of that single and its similar-sounding follow-up, "Love, Need and Want You", which reached number ten on the R&B; chart, helped ''I'm in Love Again'', reached gold in the U.S.

Later in 1984, LaBelle appeared in her first film, ''A Soldier's Story''. Her appearance in the film later led to Steven Spielberg handpicking her for the role of Shug Avery on ''The Color Purple'', but she turned it down due to hearing that there was a nude scene and same-sex kissing. LaBelle would later regret her decision to turn down the role, after Margaret Avery won an Academy Award nomination for her role as Shug. In the fall of 1984, LaBelle recorded the songs, "New Attitude" and "Stir It Up", later issued for the soundtrack of ''Beverly Hills Cop'', released in December 1984. The soundtrack became a hit, thanks to the releases of "New Attitude" and "Stir It Up". The former single reached as high as number seventeen on the Hot 100 and was number-one on the Hot Dance Club Songs chart in the spring of 1985, introducing LaBelle to pop audiences. In 1985, LaBelle left Philadelphia International signing a lucrative contract with MCA. PIR issued the final contractual LaBelle album, ''Patti''. The album was not successful.

LaBelle garnered headlines in 1985 for her showstopping, and some say, purposely show-stealing performances, first at ''Motown Returns to the Apollo'' engaging in the so-called "infamous mic toss" between her and Diana Ross during the show's finale, to the Foreigner song, "I Want to Know What Love Is". LaBelle later alleged that Ross grabbed the microphone away from LaBelle following her taking over the lead, though someone else gave LaBelle another microphone where she finished singing. That same year, LaBelle was accused again of showboating, after singing in the finale of Live Aid to "We Are the World" so loud that she sounded as the only audible singer. Due to this press, she was given her own television special later that fall. In 1986, LaBelle released her eighth album, ''Winner in You'', which peaked at number-one on the Billboard 200 on the strength of the pop hit, "On My Own", a duet with singer Michael McDonald. The song became LaBelle's first number-one hit since "Lady Marmalade". ''Winner in You'' eventually sold a million copies, becoming platinum. It remains her best-selling album. LaBelle took a break in 1988, re-emerging with ''Be Yourself'', in 1989. The album failed to match the success of ''Winner in You'' though it eventually went gold thanks to LaBelle's soft rock ballad, "If You Asked Me To".

Her 1991 album, ''Burnin''', resulted in LaBelle's first Grammy win for Best Female R&B; Vocal Performance, and spawned three top ten hits on Billboard's R&B; chart also selling half a million copies becoming her third gold album. Her 1994 album, ''Gems'' and 1997 follow-up, ''Flame'', also were certified gold and LaBelle's 1990s singles, "The Right Kinda Lover" and "When You Talk About Love" hit number-one on the dance charts. She won a second Grammy in 1998 for her live album, ''For One Night Only!'' Following the announcement of the end of her marriage to her husband, Armstead Edwards, who also dismissed himself as LaBelle's manager after more than 20 years, LaBelle released the ballad-heavy ''When A Woman Loves'' album in 2000. The album became her first since 1985's ''Patti'' to not be certified gold due to poor response to its one single, "Call Me Gone". LaBelle would not release another album until, after signing with the Def Jam Records imprint, Def Soul Classics, she released ''Timeless Journey'', in 2004. The album became her highest-charted album in eighteen years though it also failed to become a success. The 2005 follow-up, ''Classic Moments'', was another flop, and LaBelle abruptly left Def Jam Records in 2006 over a public dispute with Antonio "L.A." Reid. She released her first gospel album, ''The Gospel According to Patti LaBelle'', on the Bungalo label. She returned to Def Jam in 2007 and released her second holiday album, ''Miss Patti's Christmas'', which barely charted. As of 2011, LaBelle has yet to release a new solo album. In 2008, LaBelle briefly reunited with Nona Hendryx and Sarah Dash as Labelle on the group's first new album in over thirty years, ''Back to Now''.

Following her roles in ''A Soldier's Story'' and ''Sing'', LaBelle won a recurring role as Kadeem Hardison's mother on the hit show, ''A Different World''. In 1992, following her success on the sitcom and responding to the success of rapper Will Smith's ''Fresh Prince of Bel-Air'', LaBelle starred in her own sitcom, ''Out All Night''. The show was cancelled after only 19 episodes. In 1993, she earned a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and two years afterwards, performed at the Super Bowl half time show. For a period, LaBelle's theme song for ''The Oprah Winfrey Show'', titled "Get With the Program", proved to be popular along with its catchphrase. In 2003, she starred in her own lifestyle show, ''Livin' It Up With Patti LaBelle'', which aired for three years on the TV-One channel. In 1996, LaBelle issued her autobiography, ''Don't Block the Blessings''. She released her first of five cookbooks in 1997, and in 2006, released the book, ''Patti's Pearls''. In addition, LaBelle began to sell collections of spices, lipstick and even wigs on her website. Her "Patti Labelle"wig collection,-featured in ''Especially Yours wig catalogs-'', discontinued in 2010.

On September 14, 2010, LaBelle made a return two decades after her last Broadway performance to star in the award-winning musical Fela! about Afrobeat legend Fela Anikulapo-Kuti. LaBelle replaced Tony Award-nominee Lillias White as Fela's mother, Funmilayo Ransome-Kuti, and remained with the production through the end of its run on January 2, 2011.

On May 23, 2011, LaBelle appeared on "Oprah's Farewell Spectacular, Part 1” the first show in a series of three shows constituting the finale of ''The Oprah Winfrey Show,'' singing "Over the Rainbow" with Josh Groban.

LaBelle was honored with the Lifetime Achievement Award at the BET Awards on June 26, 2011.

Personal life

A longtime resident of Philadelphia, LaBelle currently lives in the Philly suburb, Wynnewood, Pennsylvania. In 1969, she married Armstead Edwards. In July 1973, their first and only child, Zuri Kye Edwards, was born. In the late 1970s, Labelle and Edwards adopted Stanley and Todd, the children of their next-door neighbor, after their mother died of cancer. Following the death of her youngest sister Jackie Padgett, Labelle raised Padgett's teenage children. Following the disbanding of the group Labelle in 1976, Edwards, who was a schoolteacher, took over as his wife's manager. In 2000, the couple announced their separation. Their divorce was finalized in 2001. LaBelle's son Zuri has since taken over as her manager.

Her youngest sister Jackie Padgett became president of her sister's fan club in the early 1980s. When Jackie later died of lung cancer in 1989, LaBelle dedicated her 1991 album, ''Burnin''', to Padgett and filmed the video for "If You Asked Me To" a day after her funeral. Her two other sisters, Vivian and Barbara preceded Jackie in death, dying of cancer themselves. LaBelle was diagnosed with diabetes in 1992. Prior to her marriage to Edwards, LaBelle was once engaged to Temptations singer Otis Williams breaking it off due to conflicting schedules.

In June 2011 a West Point cadet filed civil suit against LaBelle after he was allegedly assaulted by her bodyguards at Bush Intercontinental Airport, Houston in March. Houston police department is reviewing the conduct of officers responding to the incident after they posed for photographs with the singer, but also filed assault charges against members of her entourage and warrants were issued.

Discography

See also

List of number-one dance hits (United States)

List of artists who reached number one on the US Dance chart

Selective awards and recognition

Grammy history

{| class=wikitable |- | colspan=5 align=center | Patti LaBelle Grammy Award History |- ! Year ! Category ! Title ! Genre ! Result |- align=center | rowspan="1"|2004 | Best Traditional R&B; Vocal Performance | "New Day" | R&B; | Nominee |- align=center | rowspan="1"|2003 | Best Traditional R&B; Vocal Performance | "Way Up There" | R&B; | Nominee |- align=center | rowspan="1"|2003 | Grammy Hall of Fame | "Lady Marmalade" | R&B; | Inducted |- align=center | rowspan="1"|1998 | Traditional R&B; Vocal Performance | ''Live! One Night Only'' | R&B; | Winner |- align=center | rowspan="2"|1997 | Best Female R&B; Vocal Performance | "When You Talk About Love" | R&B; | Nominee |- align="center" | Best R&B; Album | ''Flame'' | R&B; | Nominee |- align=center | rowspan="1"|1993 | Best Female R&B; Vocal Performance | "All Right Now (live)" | R&B; | Nominee |- align=center | rowspan="2"|1991 | Best R&B; Vocal Performance by a Duo or Group | "Superwoman" (with Gladys Knight & Dionne Warwick) | R&B; | Nominee |- align=center | Best Female R&B; Vocal Performance | ''Burnin''' | R&B; | Winner |- align=center | rowspan="1"|1990 | Best Female R&B; Vocal Performance | "I Can't Complain" | R&B; | Nominee |- align=center | rowspan="2"|1986 | Best Female R&B; Vocal Performance | ''Winner in You'' | R&B; | Nominee |- align=center | Best Pop Vocal Performance by a Duo or Group | "On My Own" (with Michael McDonald) | Pop | Nominee |- align=center | rowspan="1"|1985 | Best Female R&B; Vocal Performance | "New Attitude" | R&B; | Nominee |- align=center | rowspan="1"|1983 | Best Female R&B; Vocal Performance | "The Best Is Yet to Come" | R&B; | Nominee |- align=center |}

Other Awards

{| class=wikitable |- | colspan=5 align=center | Patti LaBelle Awards |- ! Year ! Category ! Title ! Result ! Notes |- align=center | 2011 | Lifetime Achievement Award | BET Awards | Winner |- align=center | 2009 | Legends Hall of Fame | Apollo Theater | Winner |- align=center | 2009 | UNCF Award of Excellence | UNCF Evening of Stars | Winner |- align=center | 2008 | Legend Award | World Music Awards | Winner |- align=center | 2006 | Outstanding Actress - Television, Movie, Miniseries or Dramatic Special | NAACP Image Awards | Winner | ''Why I Wore Lipstick to My Mastectomy'' |- align=center | 2006 | Outstanding Gospel Artist | NAACP Image Awards | Nominee |- align=center | 2004 | Outstanding Female Artist | NAACP Image Awards | Nominee |- align=center | 2003 | Sammy Cahn Lifetime Achievement Award | Songwriter's Hall of Fame | Winner |- align=center | 2001 | Walk of Fame Award | BET Walk of Fame | Winner |- align=center | 2001 | Lena Horne Lifetime Achievement Award | Lady of Soul Awards | Winner |- align=center | 1998 | Triumphant Spirit Award - Career Achievement | The Essence Awards | Winner |- align=center | 1998 | Outstanding Performance - Variety Series/Special | NAACP Image Awards | Winner | ''Live! One Night Only'' |- align=center | 1996 | Outstanding Performance - Variety Series/Special | NAACP Image Awards | Winner | ''The Essence Awards'' |- align=center | 1995 | Heritage Award - Career Achievement | Soul Train Music Awards | Winner |- align=center | 1992 | Favorite Soul/R&B; Female Artist | American Music Awards | Winner |- align=center | 1986 | Favorite Soul/R&B; Female Artist | American Music Awards | Nominee |- align=center | 1986 | Outstanding Individual Performance, Variety or Music Program | Emmy Awards | Nominee | ''Sylvia Fine Kaye's Musical Comedy Tonight III'' |- align=center |}

Tours

1985: Look To The Rainbow Tour

1986-1987: Winner In You Tour

1991: Burnin' Tour

1995: Gems Tour

1997-1998: Flame Tour

2000: When a Woman Loves Tour

2005: Timeless Journey Tour

2006: Classic Moments Tour

2008: Divas with Heart Tour (w/Chaka Khan, Gladys Knight and Diana Ross)

2008/2009: Back to Now Tour (w/Labelle)

Filmography

;Film

1979: ''Richard Pryor: Live in Concert'' (documentary) (scenes deleted)

1984: ''A Soldier's Story''

1986: ''Unnatural Causes''

1989: ''Sing''

1990: ''A Different World''

2002: ''Sylvester: Mighty Real'' (short subject)

2005: ''Preaching to the Choir''

2006: ''Idlewild''

2007: ''Cover''

2008: ''Semi-Pro''

2011: ''Mama, I Want to Sing!''

;Television

1990: ''A Different World''

1992: ''Out All Night''

1994: ''The Nanny''

1997: ''Cosby''

2003: ''Living It Up With Patti LaBelle''

2007: ''The Dog Whisperer''

2008: ''An Evening With The Stars: A Tribute to Patti Labelle''

Music video

''Going Home to Gospel with Patti Labelle'' (1991) with Albertina Walker, Barrett Sisters, Ricky Dillard and many more.

Further reading

References

External links

Official website

Official FELA! Broadway website

Category:1944 births Category:Actors from Pennsylvania Category:African American actors Category:American musical theatre actors Category:African American female singer-songwriters Category:African American female singers Category:American dance musicians Category:American disco musicians Category:American pop singers Category:American female singers Category:American film actors Category:American rhythm and blues singer-songwriters Category:American sopranos Category:American soul singers Category:Ballad musicians Category:Baptists from the United States Category:Def Jam Recordings artists Category:Epic Records artists Category:Grammy Award winners Category:Labelle members Category:Living people Category:MCA Records artists Category:Musicians from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Category:Philadelphia International Records artists Category:World Music Awards winners Category:GLAAD Media Awards winners

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