Last night BET honored Patti LaBelle with a Lifetime Achievement Award for her 50 plus year career in the music industry. While Cee-Lo Green, Marsha Ambrosius, and Pastor Shirley Caesar all took part in the tribute, it felt as if numerous things were missing from the tribute. Sans Pastor Shirley Caesar's tribute to Patti with her remarkable take on "You Are My Friend," it felt to me as if Cee-Lo and Marsha came up a bit short with their performances. While I don't fault either artist as I feel song selection was the major fault in the lack of excitement built from the tribute, I couldn't help but wonder if a different tribute had taken place how the crowd and viewers would've responded.
With that in mind, below I have created my own Patti LaBelle tribute with several performances of other artists over the years who have honored the Phoenix of Philadelphia. One huge absence that was felt during the tribute was that of Fantasia. With a voice respected by the legendary Divas of soul (Aretha, Chaka, & Patti), it was a bit surprising that Fantasia wasn't involved at all. In addition to Fantasia's absence, Jennifer Hudson was another performer I was looking forward to seeing honor Patti as Hudson has been a longtime favorite of Patti's and possesses the right vocal range to take on a classic Patti joint.
With that said, check out my tribute to Patti below and Enjoy!
