Though Miss Patti Patti is turning 70 years old later this week, she is showing absolutely no signs of slowing down. She’s releasing an album later this year, coming to the hit, Tony-nominated Broadway play After Midnight and will be touring later too. In promotion for all those things and her line of diabetic-friendly bar-b-que sauces, which can be found at Wal-Mart, she sat down with “Access Hollywood” to chat. The legendary songstress spoke about everything from aging gracefully and how she manages to look so good after all these years, to her thoughts on Beyoncé, her nose job and that time she had to pee on stage. Lol! She touched on a little bit of everything. Read highlights from the interview below and then watch the entire thing in the video at the bottom of the page .
Access Hollywood: We heard you have a big birthday coming up…
Patti Labelle: 70. May 24. I was born in 1944 darling.
How do you look so good, what’s your secret?
God. He made me and my good genes. I have good genes from my mom and dad.
How are we celebrating?
I’m going to celebrate by being quiet. I’m just going to be a home having a dinner and some hard shell crabs from Baltimore. That’s all I need.
What artists do you think are emulating you?
Fantasia said that she was. I kick my shoes off maybe after the seventh song, she does her’s at the beginning.
A lot of young girls like Toni Braxton, Beyoncé they all called me for advice when they first started.
What did you say to Beyoncé?
I told her that she was phenomenal and she was going to be better and better and better. And she is. Like Kelly Rowland, they all call me mama. It’s like I have this thing that young girls want to talk to me about like Pink, Christina Aguilera. Cyndi Lauper, I’m her son’s godmother. I sang at her wedding so we talk a lot. It’s like they come to Patti for advice and I find that as a high compliment.
What’s the most outrageous thing you’ve ever done on stage?
I had to go to the ladies’ room and they didn’t have one. It was an outdoor gig. My friend Norma, who’s been doing my hair for 40 years, brought me a bucket to the side, where the side little dressing area is where you do your quick change. I used a bucket. Nobody knew. They thought I was going back to change clothes. I went on the side. She covered me. Everybody stood around me with their backs turned and I had to go. And kept the song going after that, honey. I kept singing.
What advice would you give to your younger self?
I would tell my younger self not to have problems with the way I looked when I was younger. Not to worry about that nose. I had a bigger nose so I had a nose job. That’s the only surgery I’ve ever had on my face or my body, nowhere. I was beating up myself for the way my nose looked and my nose was fine before I changed it. But it was my way of thinking that when I got on tv, it’s going to look bigger. Got the nose done and that’s it. But I would have said Patti back in the day, you shouldn’t have touched your nose. Be yourself.
http://c.brightcove.com/services/viewer/federated_f9?isVid=1&isUI=1
