The night Patti LaBelle upstaged and humiliated Diana Ross-1985 Motown Flashback!

FYI the video I posted is not the original, which had a few million views lol for whatever reason, the original was taken down but luckily someone put it back up again.

Here's Patti talking about some of the shit Diana pulled back in the day (yes they're friends now but that's only thanks to Oprah):

Here is Diana dissing Patti several years later on the Arsenio Hall Show (and the shady poster includes Patti's reaction lol)

Diana Ross has always shown good taste: she was making the song about the lyrics and telling the story.

Patti LaBelle, on the other hand, makes the song all about the notes she can hit.

but now they're friends

Patti did not upstage Diana. Patti sounded like one of those midnight cat fights.

Patti had the much stronger voice, but she always overdid everything. In general, I prefer Diana, who had a much weaker (although pleasant and unique) voice, but knew how to use it.

Patti SLAYED.

Diana sounded like the final gasps of a dying white woman.

well said R3! labelle sings AT YOU, AT people, getting off on her vocal gymnastics.... i find her annoying as hell, like nails on a chalkboard! the ONLY song i can listen to her sing is her classic duet with michael mcdonald "on my own" where she tones it down... not a big fan of diana's voice either but it doesn't offend or annoy me....

LOL at R1's video.

Patti re Diane: "That li'l heffa..."

I can't BELIEVE so many people are on Team Diana.

She is hands down the most overrated singer ever to walk the face of earth. Bitch has a range of eight notes, and has been wearing that same tired hair for 30 years. No, no, no, no and NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO.

Patti LaBelle's caterwauling singing style is for people with unsophisticated, infantile tastes.

Of course she can be subtle with nuanced phrasing, but she knows her audience is stupid.

R11 totally wrong of course. Patti's amazing style is for people who appreciate REAL singers who have powerful, full voices. People who simply hum out lyrics are boring and not talented. Anyone can make your preferred but dull elevator music or cheesy show tunes. Most singers can't reach the notes that the supremely talented Patti has been hitting for over 50 years. You obviously don't know anything about singing.

All Patti Labelle does is scream through every song she performs.

I remember this as a kid. It was not Diana's song but Patti took it over. It took Patti 30 years to forgive Diana for stealing former LaBelle member Cindy Birdsong who jumped ship to join bigger group The Supremes.

R12 I agree that Patti LaBelle is supremely talented.

It's a shame that she wastes her talents by being a sort of dog act: yes, she can go through the hoops (hit those high notes).

But there is no phrasing there. No story telling. No nuance. She's a sledge hammer. It's a bore.

There seems to be a "who's who" of popular song (and a lot of Motown acts) at that Apollo special. Where can I find the list?

Diana was actually flown in for the finale at the last minute. She had a show in Atlantic City earlier that evening, hence why she is hoarse when speaking at the beginning. Diana actually wanted Patti and Jennifer Holliday to appear alongside her during this song, but Holliday was nowhere to be found at the time. Diana gestured Patti to come over, Patti took the mic and history was made. Of course the media had a field day the following day saying Patti deliberately oversang everyone.

R10=Mary Wilson

Another example is the story of Dionne Warwick, Gladys Knight and Patti performing a cover of Karyn White's "Superwoman" and Dionne asked Patti to tone it down and Patti was not pleased.

God I feel so old. I was 19 in 1985 and i recognize so many of the faces on that stahe in The Dianna Ross Apollo video.

[quote] Patti's amazing style is for people who appreciate REAL singers who have powerful, full voices.

YASSSSS HUNTY

[quote] Patti LaBelle's caterwauling singing style is for people with unsophisticated, infantile tastes.

Ah, nope! People who appreciate Gospel stylized singers recognize Patti LaBelle to be one of the best in the business. Of course, Patti can give you a mellow interpretation (her signature song "If Only You Know" exhibits this until the final part of the song where she belts the fuck out of it). Patti is a Gospel belter, and if you don't like it, then fine, but don't act as if her singing is horrible because it's not the style that you prefer. I can revere Billie Holiday, Ella Fitzgerald and Sarah Vaughan while also appreciating Patti LaBelle because I know they're completely different kinds of vocalists.

Anyway, I remember this televised concert like it was yesterday! Patti got all the press the following day, and it was one of the reasons why she was big in the 80s (her album "The Winner in You" went platinum). Vocally, Aretha's voice was on the decline, so she couldn't give the electrifying performances she was known for in the 60s and 70s. Patti filled the void that was missing in the 80s. She was on FIYAH that night!

Patti got an Emmy nomination for her performances on this special, but there was a lot of negative feedback. Even more after her appearance during the We are the World finale at Live Aid a few months later. She started to get a reputation as a showboater. So much so that Dionne took her aside when they were filming Sisters in the name of love a year later and told Patti to tone it down for the special.

Patti refrained from doing these types of finales for many years afterwards because of this.

It's so funny that George Michael was there - they always had, like, a token white person on these shows.

I remember Boy George on a Stevie Wonder special singing "Part Time Lover" with Stevie, shortly before it was released as a single. Odd choice of pairing.

Lol. That was great. Diana may not have the best range but she does bring something special to her performances. I was thrilled to see little Webster up there!

Patti LaBelle butchers every song with her screeching. She also seems crazy and full of hatred.

Mariah screeches. Patti belts.

R16 if you click on the video link and scroll down, the youtuber who posted it lists the people on stage in the video in the order they appear.

lmfao at Diana's comment in R2 's link. Such a bitch! I knew that niceness thing was an act. Arsenio was messy as hell for bringing up Diana's comment the next time Patti appeared on his show!

R26 = Aretha who is jealous that Patti is a better singer and has retained her voice despite being 70

Why was Webster there? As Michael Jackson's pet?

Hi Vanessa Williams I see you with that orange headdress on!

El DeBarge was pitchy as fuck!

I love how Patti sang right in Diana's face lol get that heffa!

Hush now.

Patti is taking us to church.

Everyone can yell but not many can sing. Barbra, Whitney or Céline are some of the best vocalists out there.

Anyway, I’ve always preferred this classic sing off between Aretha and Céline. Sorry Mariah, I know why you should back off.

Most people resented Diana for trying to control everything and always be center stage. For years she took advantage of her relationship with Barry to get her way and most Motown contemporaries were tired of her antics. The night was supposed to be Motown 25, not Motown 25 feat Diana Ross. Patti was just one star that subtlety checked her that night.

[quote]People who appreciate Gospel stylized singers recognize Patti LaBelle to be one of the best in the business.

That's fine. But this was not a gospel song. It was supposed to be an ensemble piece. Patti sounded like that kid on the airplane. SHHHRRRIIIIEEEEEEEEEKKKKK!!!!

[quote]That's fine. But this was not a gospel song. It was supposed to be an ensemble piece. Patti sounded like that kid on the airplane. SHHHRRRIIIIEEEEEEEEEKKKKK!!!!

1. the original song has a gospel choir and Jennifer Holliday doing a gospel solo at the end

2. they had a gospel choir on stage so clearly they were going for the original gospel feel.

I stand corrected.

Patti sip SSSSHHHRRRRIIIIEEEEEEKKKEEEEDD!!!!!!

Still^^^^^^

Patti is an angry, unsophisticated woman who can only express herself by screaming.

[quote]Aretha who is jealous that Patti is a better singer

Aretha will always be the queen of soul, Patti never achieved anything with all that screaming.

Patti, PATTI!!!

Diana = apples / Patti = oranges. When all is said and done, Diana has the more epic, towering career when you factor in both her solo and Supremes work. Patti is a more acquired taste and she has had minimal crossover success. Diana is Mcdonald’s, Patti is Church’s Chicken. Patti will be played at the bbq over Diana, but when Diana dies- she is getting every commemorative issue and lead story on any nightly newscast. As for their vocals, Patti nails the calisthenics time and time again, but really- who do we want to hear on a road trip, in a dentists chair, on the treadmill, at a bar...? Diana.

Gladys Knight sounds better than either of them, but the Supremes had HDH.

Isn't Patti Labelle the one who travels with thugs who beat up anyone who get what she deems as too close to her?

More importantly, Emanuel Lewis was there.

I remember at the time Patti said in some interview, “this is stupid. If someone’s gonna give me a mic I’m gonna use it”

Patti was also having a bit of a career renaissance so she needed all the exposure she could get.

Patti can sing the phone book.

Patti shut her down.

(Disclaimer: I am not the Janet Jackson troll.)

I was born in mid-1978, so I really missed the Diana and Patti zeitgeist. Given that, I’ve never understood the worshipping of Diana Ross. Her voice to me is like Janet Jackson’s—just fine, thin, serviceable—except Janet also dances well. I just don’t get how among all the vocal talent (some surely with pretty faces) Diana rose to the top. It has to have been her willingness to cut throats of competitors. I love Patti LaBelle because I grew up watching her on A Different World as Dwayne Wayne’s mother and I loved that character and Patti’s performance of it. Her style of singing is difficult for me to listen to (same with Christina Aguilera), but I admit she can blow a house down with the power of her voice.

Not having lived through their heydays, Patti seems like a greater natural talent to me, and Diana more of a model.

Diana has always been more commercial than Patti, and her voice and technique improved over the years. Diana was more a vocalist and artists like Patti, Aretha and Gladys are what people considered singers. And although she got flack for being driven—and sleeping with Barry G and having his kid didn’t hurt—she worked her ass off to become a star. Barry also made most of the career decisions which helped a lot.The truth is, Mary and Florence were talented but didn’t take their careers as seriously as Diana did and weren’t as committed. They liked to party and have fun. If I remember right, they didn’t even do the backups on a couple of the Supremes last tracks because couldn’t be bothered. But it was easier to blame Diana for their woes Diana was and is a pushy diva, but you don’t become a star of her caliber by by accident. She did the work.

[quote]I love Patti LaBelle because I grew up watching her on A Different World as Dwayne Wayne’s mother and I loved that character and Patti’s performance of it.

It's a good performance, but it's not much of a stretch for Patti. If you've seen her in concerts and in interviews, that's how she acts. It's her schtick.

Watch Diana do Harpo Marx, WC Fields, or her impressions of Josephine Baker and Ethel Waters. Watch Lady Sings the Blues. There was a natural talent there that was never milked for all it was worth. Had she chosen her film projects more wisely, she easily could have rivaled Streisand as the premier movie star of the 70's.

Gladys Knights criticisms have never made much sense. She had huge success after leaving Motown. The problem was that she was asked to become a solo act, but refused because of her loyalty to the Pips. Even Patti didn't become huge until after leaving Labelle.

For years, she has insulted Diana in public, while Diana has not said one unkind word about her. Meanwhile Aretha has humiliated her many times, and Gladys kisses her ass.

Such a great link.