Patti LaBelle Shares The Tragic Reason She Feels 'truly Blessed' To Have Made It To 80

Patti Labelle feels "truly blessed" to have made it to 80 - because her siblings didn't.

The soul singer hit the milestone age on Thursday (23.05.24) and admitted that following the deaths of her sisters Vivian, Barbara and Jackie - all between the 1970s and 1980s - she just felt lucky to have "made it".

She told 'Entertainment Tonight': "Yeah, 80 is good. Just that I made it. Vivian, Barbara and Jackie. My sisters all died before they turned 50. My sisters all died before they turned 50. So I was praying to turn 50, really. So I was praying to turn 50, really. And then after that 60, 70 and now 80. I'm blessed. I'm truly blessed."

The 'Lady Marmalade' hitmaker noted that she can still get around in life and is "still standing" as she explain that she always reassures young girls that everything will be "all good" when they reach that age themselves.

She added: "I'm still talking, I can still hear, I can see, I can walk, so what a blessing! I'm still standing, you know.

"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!"

The former Patti LaBelle and the Bluebells star is also looking forward to returning to the studio and hitting the road again after 20 years away.

She said: "I haven't had an album out in 20 years, so I'm working on that now. 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!"