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A Decade-by-Decade Spin Through the Careers of Gladys Knight and Patti LaBelle
Two lifetimes of Number 1 hits, TV shows, chicken, waffles, and pies led us to this historic soulstress song battle
“Leave ya church clothes on all Sunday and pull up to the affair of all affairs. Y’all gotta get dressed up in ya Sunday’s best for this one.”
Verzuz made the announcement via Instagram and provided us the perfect set up for the next artists to go head-to-head: Patti LaBelle and Gladys Knight, two performers that each have six-decade long careers under their belts. This promises to be an event for the culture, but unlike many past iterations of the popular IG event series, this isn’t an event built around a beef per se. It is perhaps better looked at as two contrasting vocal schools of thought: Ms. LaBelle has a dramatic soprano voice, seasoned with her signature angular staccato phrasing, while Ms. Knight’s smooth, sometimes dusky voice is punctuated by her heart-melting falsetto and the prototypical use of countermelodies.
Translation: they both can SANG, but come at it from distinct positions.
Despite these differences in technique, the two stars arguably have more in common than not. Both Gladys and Patti are survivors: Patti alleged in her 1996 memoir a backstage sexual assault, and Gladys overcame a well-publicized gambling addiction. Both stars have numerous Grammys, started singing as kids (14 for Patti and 4 for Gladys) and starred on Sesame Street (gospel ABC y’all and a soulful theme song!) They also both ascended to unimaginable career highs like attaining multiple number one hits and performing together in 2014 at The Tony Awards.
They both can SANG, but come at it from distinct positions.
But to really understand this match up, let’s take a look back at how these iconic artists impacted the culture, and how their lives run on parallel paths.
Here is a decade-by-decade spin through the careers of the Empress and the Godmother of Soul.
