Why Labelle Matters
by Adele Bertei
Description
Performing as the Bluebelles in the 1960s, Patti LaBelle, Nona Hendryx, and Sarah Dash wore bouffant wigs and chiffon dresses, and they harmonized vocals like many other girl groups of the era. After a decade on the Chitlin Circuit, however, they were ready to write their own material, change their name, and deliver--as Labelle--an electrifyingly celestial sound and styling that reached a crescendo with a legendary performance at the Metropolitan Opera House to celebrate the release of Nightbirds and its most well-known track, “Lady Marmalade.” In Why Labelle Matters, Adele Bertei tells the story of the group that sang the opening aria of Afrofuturism and proclaimed a new theology of musical liberation for women, people of color, and LGBTQ people across the globe.
With sumptuous and galactic costumes, genre-bending lyrics, and stratospheric vocals, Labelle’s out-of-this-world performances changed the course of pop music and made them the first Black group to grace the cover of Rolling Stone. Why Labelle Matters, informed by interviews with members of the group as well as Bertei’s own experience as a groundbreaking musician, is the first cultural assessment of this transformative act.
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Author Biography
Adele Bertei is the author of Peter and the Wolves, as well as a singer/songwriter and founding member of the Bloods, the first out, queer, all women-rock band. Beyond appearing in indie films, including Lizzie Borden’s Born in Flames, she has worked with musical artists such as Tears for Fears, Culture Club, Whitney Houston, and the Pointer Sisters.
University of Texas Press
View all titlesBibliographic Information
- ISBN/Identifier 9781477320402
- FormatPaperback
- Publish StatusPublished
- Copyright Year2021
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