Me and Miss Patti LaBelle Part II

We drove 3 hours to San Diego, listening to Patti’s music, my adrenaline gearing up, singing and preparing…

Got to the theatre, found my seats and as I sat in the audience, wondering how in the world I would get Patti to let me sing with her again, I saw her makeup artist, Deborah, sitting in front of me. I caught her attention.

 “Whoa! I’ll tell Patti you’re here,” she told me, rushing away immediately. She returned several moments later with waving her hand…like, no worries, it’s on!

At a similar point in the show to the previous night, Patti asked people to come on stage with her again. 

“Who can rap? Sing? Anything?” I approached the stage. Ever the discreet one, Patti pretended not to know me, pulled me onstage, and we did it again! The guys in the band gave me a nod. I sang with her again that night, to a three-tiered audience in San Diego. It was so much fun! My heart knows how much I love being on stage.

This is 1990, and I’m a white girl singing R&B, who, at the time, probably looked to be no older than thirteen. There weren’t many young people performing at this time, either-- Tiffany and Debbie Gibson were just starting out. The market was dominated by the likes of Stephanie Mills, Luther Vandross, and, of course, Miss Patti LaBelle. Patti‘s audience was surprised and incredibly receptive. I had a blast riffing and singing both commanding the stage + enjoying every joyful goosebumps in my body!  

I pursued her and her husband as potential management for a while. I sent them my demos-- it wasn’t something that worked out, and that’s okay. What I did find was a certain kind of magic. There’s a lot of confidence-building when you take big risks, and they pay off. When you just go for something, miracles can happen and doors can open. It gave me great courage simply in continuing my career. If YouTube or iPhones existed, that may have been a whole other story, but I only have a couple photos from the San Diego performance as evidence of any of this ever happening. Thanks Jill for the pix!

Now, the a wacky part 3 came eight years later. I was in LA and caught the tail end of a commercial and heard… “Patti LaBelle LIVE at Universal amphitheater!”  I thought, “did I just hear that?! Should I do that again?!”

And y’all know what I did!

I listened to the current record she toured with. I figured out, at about the ninth song she would ask people to come on stage with her. I didn’t care where my seat was. I knew I would just walk down to the front with flowers, and make my way to the stage.

I actually rehearsed that time. What do I say when I get on stage? What do I want to do? I rehearsed one of my favorite songs of hers: “If Only You Knew.”  

At this part of the show, she faced centerstage. I came down from stage left. I was the only person walking to the stage, as Patti spieled: 

“Can anybody out there rap? Or dance? Or something? Who wants to get up here on stage and do something? I want 3 people up here!” There weren’t any crowds or groups of dancers approaching her. At that point, Universal had a barricade around the front of the stage. I was further back and could not approach the center stage, where she stood. She had a few people up there to sing with her and asked for one more. I thought she’s not going to see me, I need to get her attention, so I sang: 

“Oh oh oh oh oh oh oh oh oh oh oh oh oh, feels like another one!” 

Patti said, “Oh, someone’s being cute.” And she tiptoed stage right in her high heels, all the while saying: 

“Who is being cute? Who is being cute over here? Oh, little white girl, can you sing?” and I said, “Yes Patti, I can sing!” The audience is screaming at this-- the way I tried to get her attention. 

She asked, 

“Do you swear to God you can sing?” I answered, 

“Patti, I swear to God I can sing.” She smiled at this.  

“Alright little girl, come on up here.” 

The crowd went nuts! I had to make my way all the way to stage left to the stairs to come to the stage, and they went bananas cheering for me!

Once onstage, she pulled me into a hug, repeating: 

“Can you really sing?” 

“Patti, it’s Wendy!” She pulled away, eyes wide, and gripping my shoulders warmly. 

“Oh, Wendy!” Then, almost a whisper, “Girl! OK!” and she moved toward center stage.

Her musical director recognized me and smiled from his spot at the piano. 

She had the others on stage sing a line, pretending still not to know me. When she came to me and handed me the mic as they vamped over another song, I sang

“If only you knew how much we do do love you…” rephrasing to go with the vamp of a different song underneath it, then signaled to the audience,  

“Everybody say, Patti!” Everyone  in the audience yelled: “Patti!”

My response:  “Say Patti!”  6000 people in the universal amphitheater shouted Patti’s name, and then I started singing/improvising the song I rehearsed over the beat of the song they were vamping:

“If only you knew how much we do, we do love you...Patti, if only you knew how much we do, we do love you...” 

Patti on stage right, me on stage left--  we started trading licks! She’s oh-oh-oh-ing, and I’m repeating what she is doing. I’m changing another oh-oh, and we’re just trading off riffs to the song till its end. What a magical moment!

I know that singing with my hero was a joy. It’s a great story to tell today. I’ve always thought this would be a story I’d tell on late-night TV. And maybe Patti and I will then sing together again. I still don’t know why it happened — it didn’t lead me to what I thought it would lead me to. But, I know where I belong: using my voice in the world. Whether I’m working as a coach, songwriter, or a singer on stage; as I write and tell the story, it fills me with joy. And pride, for the risks I took, for the fun that it was, and for the moments that existed — moments that the universe and I co created. Maybe it was to give me the joy of singing to 2000, 6000+ people knowing that would not be my course in life as a performer — which is cool by me. I LOVE coaching from the audience, front of stage, & cheering for the artists I work with who are on stage. I got a taste of that joy, and don’t need it all the time. And maybe there are reasons still to be discovered.

It’s certainly is a great story to tell.

I hope it inspires you to take the leap, take the risk. Do the WORK so when preparation meets opportunity you are free to jump! And savor the magic in life. 

It truly is the experience. Not the outcome.