Patti LaBelle to perform at Albany Civic Center
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From staff reports
ALBANY – Tickets go on Friday at 10 a.m. for the Patti LaBelle concert at the Albany Civic Center, scheduled for June 12.
As time passes, the influence and impact of LaBelle has grown, along with the grace, style, elegance and class that have marked her career. Belting out classic rhythm and blues, pop standards and spirituals has marked her as the musical standard-bearer of her generation of artists.
It’s a small wonder that LaBelle has time for anything else in between recording and touring, but she has made the time to pen six books: “Don’t Block the Blessings,” “LaBelle Cuisine: Recipes to Sing About,” “Patti’s Pearls,” “Patti LaBelle’s Lite Cuisine,” “Recipes for the Good Life,” and her most recent, “Desserts LaBelle.” Several years ago, she introduced Patti’s Good Life, a successful food line that includes a variety of pies, cobblers and cakes that is available at Walmart stores.
Also, LaBelle has starred in a highly rated cooking show, “Patti LaBelle’s Place,” on the Cooking Channel. In 2017, she released her first jazz album, “Bel Hommage,” and a holiday album, “Patti LaBelle and Friends — Home for the Holidays,” on her own record label, GPE Records. And most recently, the singer expanded the Patti’s Good Life line to include frozen comfort foods such as macaroni and cheese, greens, beef brisket and cornbread.
World renowned for her dynamic career as an entertainer and her entrepreneurial success, LaBelle’ss work as a humanitarian is just as legendary. She remains an advocate for adoption, diabetes, cancer, HIV/AIDS and many other causes and nonprofit initiatives. While she has reached the heights of success throughout her 50-plus-year career, the entertainer also has endured and survived personal strife. Within a 10-year period, she lost her mother, three sisters and her best friend to diabetes and cancer. In 1994, she was diagnosed with diabetes, and shortly thereafter became a spokesperson for the American Diabetes Association.
The same motivation that had Patricia Louise Holte blossom from a choir member to lead vocalist for Patti LaBelle & The Bluebelles, and later Labelle and a solo artist is the same energy that keeps her fire burning at 75.
“Each year I grow, and that’s a blessing from God,” she said. “I do what I can do. I do what I feel God has given me the energy to do, so I just go out there and I do it. It’s not about making money because I don’t need money, but I need to sing. With a voice or without, I’ve got to get on that stage.”
Tickets for the Albany concert go on this Friday and can be purchased online through ticketmaster.com or by visiting the Georgia’s Own Credit Union Box Office located at the Albany Civic Center.
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