NJPAC to Present Patti LaBelle, Today

Celebrate Thanksgiving weekend with Patti LaBelle, the Grammy®-winning queen of rock and soul, and her special guest, R&B hitmaker Will Downing at New Jersey Performing Arts Center (NJPAC) on Friday, November 28, 2014 at 8PM. Get your tickets now at NJPAC.org or 888.GO.NJPAC(888.466.5722)

If the definition of a diva is someone who is a perfectionist, then this versatile Philadelphia singer, best-selling author and three-time Emmy® Award nominee lives up to that description.

Hear "If Only You Knew," "Lady Marmalade" and more of her greatest hits. During a career spanning more than 50 years, LaBelle has topped the charts with such smashes as "When You Talk About Love," "New Attitude," "Somebody Loves You Baby" and her duet with Michael McDonald, "On My Own."

Often referred to as "the Prince of sophisticated soul," R&B song stylist Will Downing is one of contemporary music's leading purveyors of unapologetic, unabashedly romantic music.

Will Downing's breakout album A Dream Fulfilled showcased his distinctive signature baritone vocals but also his excellent skills as a song interpreter as he deftly handled such diverse songs as War's "The World Is A Ghetto", Paul Davis' "I Go Crazy" and a stunning, definitive version of Angela Bofill's "I Try". Both the "I Try" single and album hit the Urban Top 25 Charts and earned critical acclaim.

He became a regular at the top of the contemporary jazz charts and released a number of solid albums. Arguably the best effort of this era was a jazz infused album of duets with saxophonist Gerald Albright, Pleasures of the Night, while his lone album on Motown All the Man You Need was considered an ill-advised attempt at an "urban" sound but nonetheless received a 2001 Grammy Nomination for Best Traditional R&B Album.

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