As her mega-hit Lady Marmalade celebrates 50 years on the dancefloor, we count down the artist’s top tracks – from doo-wop to trailblazing 70s funk-rock to smooth R&B
Her breakthrough hit with pop and doo-wop quartet the Blue Belles (also Patti LaBelle and the Blue Belles, plus various other spellings) was mired in controversy – there’s a school of thought that says the most often heard version doesn’t actually feature LaBelle or the Blue Belles at all. But let’s go with what it says on the label and delight in the sheer post-Please Mr Postman early-60s girl-group joy of the whole enterprise.