Patti LaBelle at Festival in the Desert.....Read the Q & A Session....
Story By: Larry Rodgers; Story From: The Arizona Republic
When she helps inaugurate the Festival in the Desert in north Phoenix Oct. 10-12, R&B star Patti LaBelle will be in heady company.
Joining the Grammy-winning singer will be R&B's Smokey Robinson and the Temptations, rockers Pat Benatar, Los Lobos, Boz Scaggs and Dr. John, blues standouts Buddy Guy and Jonny Lang, reggae's Ky-Mani Marley and jazz acts Euge Groove, Brian Culbertson and Guitars & Saxes.
La Belle, who rose to fame in the '70s with Nona Hendryx and Sarah Dash in Labelle (Lady Marmalade), will appear solo. She is awaiting the Oct. 21 release of her group's reunion CD, Back to Now, after 32 years apart.
LaBelle, 64, covered a variety of topics in a recent phone call.
On playing outdoors at the festival:
No, honey, I don't like the bugs. When you open your mouth to hit a high note, you eat about 16 bugs.
On life in her 60s:
I feel fine, I can't complain about anything. I live each day like it's my last, and I hope that I have many more days on this Earth. I'm doing well with my diabetes and menopause.
On changes as an artist as she ages:
I haven't. For real. Whenever I'm rehearsing . . . I have to do full-out voice, full-out movements, like it's a show. . . . I have to show people who I am . . . and let them know that Patti LaBelle from back in the day is still here, but she's stronger.
On life's challenges:
With my diabetes and menopause and all that stuff that we fight . . . I think it's made me stronger. . . . I appreciate so much what I've been given and it's a blessing to still be recording and performing at 64.
On bringing audience members onstage: . It's personal, and they feel good when they leave, and I feel better. All they want is a hug most of the time.
On sharing her personal life onstage:
I've been through it all, and I know that my family and my sisters would want me to continue to be strong. Everybody in that audience has been touched by something, so I share my story with them.
On the timing of the Labelle reunion:
It was always planned for years. Finally there was a time in my schedule that I could move things around.
On teaming with Lenny Kravitz, Wyclef Jean, Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff on the LaBelle album:
Working with those guys was wonderful, they're all so totally different and giving. We recorded with Wyclef Jean sitting on the couch, we didn't go into the booth. I just sang into the mike with no headphones.
