Patti LaBelle Was Afraid of What Her Mother Would Think After Recording This “Taboo” Song

In 1974, Patti LaBelle had her first and only No. 1 hit with her group, Labelle, on the Billboard Hot 100 chart with “Lady Marmalade”. The song was released as part of the band’s Nightbirds album.

“Lady Marmalade” was written by Bob Crewe and Kenny Nolan. The song starts with, “Hey sister, go sister / Soul sister, go sister / Hey sister, go sister / Soul sister, go, sister.“

The group’s biggest hit, LaBelle later admits she had no idea what the song was about when she decided to record it.

“Well, she’s a hooker. ‘Voulez-vous coucher avec moi?’ means ‘Will you sleep with me tonight?’” LaBelle explains, citing one of the lyrics in the song. “When we recorded this song, we had no clue what it was about until the song came out and was selling and doing really well.”

Why Patti LaBelle Was Later Worried About “Lady Marmalade”

LaBelle later defended the message in the song, even if some people didn’t approve of the meaning of “Lady Marmalade”.

“That song was taboo,” LaBelle acknowledges. “I mean, why sing about a hooker? Why not? I had a good friend who was a hooker, and she died. She never took the mic out of my mouth, and I never took the mattress from under her. She was a friend, doing her thing. It’d be like discriminating because you’re white and I’m Black, or you’re gay and someone’s straight. I don’t believe in separating people. If your job is as a hooker, more power to you.”

Labelle proudly stood by the song. Still, she later admitted she was worried about one person hearing “Lady Marmalade”: her own mother.

“I thought people would boo us because we’d gone too far. I was afraid of change,” LaBelle says. “But when we went out and did it, I said, ‘Good!’ Three outrageous black women who wore and said anything onstage. … Although with ‘Lady Marmalade’ I swear I had no idea for a while what it meant, until I asked Bob Crewe.”

LaBelle adds that when she found out the true meaning of “Lady Marmalade”, she immediately said, “‘Oh gosh. … What will my mother think?’”

In 2001, Christina Aguilera, Mýa, Pink and rapper Lil’ Kim recorded “Lady Marmalade” for the Moulin Rouge soundtrack. Their version stayed at the top of the charts for five weeks. Nightbirds also includes “What Can I Do for You?”, a Top 10 hit for Labelle.

Photo by Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images

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