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Patti LaBelle Gives Update on Her Life and Upcoming Album After Turning 80: ‘Age Is Just a Number’
Patti LaBelle celebrated her 80th birthday at a special bash in New York City and revealed that her next album is on the way.
“I haven’t had an album out in 20 years, so I’m working on that now,” she told Entertainment Tonight on Thursday, May 23. “It should be out at the end of this year, and it’s called 8065. I’m 80 years young and 65 years in show business. So that’s what the project will be called, and that’s what my tour is called. 8065!”
The “If Only You Knew” singer shared how she was feeling about her milestone 80th birthday.
“I’m still talking, I can still hear, I can see, I can walk, so what a blessing! I’m still standing, you know?” she told the outlet. “I tell all the young girls, ‘It’s all good, when you get to be 80.’ Because they’re all afraid of telling their age and stuff. Like, that honey, is a graduation … Age is just a number. I’m 80 and still good!”
“My sisters all died before they turned 50,” she reflected. “So I was praying to turn 50, really,” she added. “And then after that 60, 70 and now 80. I’m blessed. I’m truly blessed.”
Among the A-list attendees at her party were Whoopi Goldberg, Mika Brzezinski, Gladys Knight, Sherri Shepherd, Tamron Hall, Andy Cohen and Debbie Allen.
“Everybody in the industry that I know were here, and I had a lot of tears, but I had to keep on my lashes, so I couldn’t cry too much,” she told People during the celebration.
Patti also shared one of the biggest lessons she learned before turning 80.
“I’ve learned to be kind when people are not kind,” the Dancing With the Stars alum said. “You always take the high road, and I’ve known that for a long time, but as I mature in age, I know how to do it even better now, how to take the high road and meet all of my bad feelings and just pray for those who make me feel less.”
She is optimistic about the future and what’s to come in her life and career, inspiring her millions of fans across the globe.
“I just hope to continue living and as I’m living I hope I can inspire and put some good vibes in the air,” Patti shared. “Like I said, I’m working on new music, gonna put some good music in your ear pretty soon, so I’m gonna keep on rolling.”
