*ignores krugman and steps gently onto the timeline for LaBelle night.*

I went out and got a bottle of cheap wine for this verzuz.

consider yourselves warned.

GLADYS KNIGHT GOT ON A SEQUINNED PANTSUIT.

HAD TO.

HAD TO.

I HONOR IT.

patti labelle got a handheld mirror and didn't even know this shit was live.

BITCH.

THIS IS GOING TO BE A *NIGHT*.

i love old black women SOOOOOOOOOOOOOO much.

oh my God.

oh my GOD.

patti labelle said she's gonna give gladys knight some free patti pies after the show.

THEY ARE TALKING ABOUT SOCK IT TO ME CAKES.

AND HOW GOOD EACH OTHER LOOK.

GOD, PLEAAAAAAAAAAAAAASE LET ME MEET PATTI LABELLE BEFORE I DIE.

PLEASE, GOD.

PATTI SAID SHE HAD TO MOVE!!!

QUEEN.

true talk...

i've been singing "you're the best thing that's ever happened to me" all day...

A VERSE!!!

BUT ALWAYS, SOME. HOW. I MADE IT THROUGH!!!!!

i HOPE swizz and them told these women they didn't have to sing their songs tonight.

i don't want these queens straining themselves too much unnecessarily.

COME. ON.
PATTI.

LET THESE PPL KNOW YOU DID THIS FIRST.

(no disrespect to celine dion, obviously)

A.
LOVE.
SONG.

LISTEN.

A.
LOVE.
SONG.

YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAASSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS

I'LL GIVE YOU ANNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYTHINNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNGGGGGGGGGGG.

i love loved patti labelle my ENTIRE life.
my ENTIRE LIFE.

i am SO invested in this woman.

just SEEING her is bringing me joy.

also this wine, though.

these women are in their LATE seventies with such STRONG voices.

it is INCREDIBLE.

STIR IT UPPPPPPPPPP, GOT TO BREAK IT UP NOWWWWW

i miss being a kid.

i definitely don't miss being a kid.

but i miss the things i enjoyed as a kid.

gladys knight is in here making you wish you were barefoot on a beach, slow dancing really close to someone....

faint whispers of brown liquor on your intermingled breaths.

THIS.
IS.
MY.
SONNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNG.

(seriously. mariska hargitay had a tv movie love scene to this contempo gospel joint. hand to God.)

SING IT, MS. PATTI.

SINNNNNNNNNNNNG THE SONG.

gladys knight sounds SO good.

she has a warmed up towel wrapped around her neck at ALL times.

i just KNOW it.

my GOD.

A.

COVER.

NOBODY'S MAD, MS. PATTI.

COME ON WITH THIS

i know it's a harold melvin song, but i swear i always think of it as a neville bros/aaron neville joint.

maybe i made that up, though.

patti labelle says there are always so many better singers than her on her stage.

STOP LYING, PATTI.

STOP.
LYING.

PATTI LABELLE AFFECTIONATELY CALLING THESE WOMEN "LITTLE HEIFERS"

LMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

WHAT IS BETTER THAN THIS?

NOTHING.

NOTHING.

which bond movie was this?

LICENSE TO KILL!!!

I REMEMBER.

I SAW IT WITH MY DAD.

the first one i remember!

timothy dalton!!!

I FORGOT ABOUT THIS!!!!

YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS.

PUTTING THIS ON A PLAYLIST, RIGHT. NOW.

the "waiting to exhale" soundtrack doesn't resonate with me the way it does with everyone else.

which, i know, is a sacrilege in blackness.

but i still recognize that it's one of the best movie soundtracks there is.

this song makes me soooooooooooooooo sad.............

"i'd rather live in his world, than live without him in his mine."

see what i'm saying?
gladys knight has a habit of singing music that is super beautiful that i can't really relate to.

which is fine for me like...in rap...
but not so much in a soulful ballad.

are they messing up ms. patti's feed!?!?!

this woman is gonna GIVE us a love song, buddy.

my. GOODNESS.

chile, i'm in this kitchen three quarters drunk.

let me get a piece of bread.

i can't even IMAGINE the stories these women could tell us about love and life and making their way through.

patti labelle said her child wore old shoes and highwater pants.

lolololol

"ain't nothin' wrong with what happened yesterday."

COME ON, MS. GLADYS

AYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

this GEMS album was one of my last Columbia House purchases.

lol

the breakdown of this song:

right height
right build
goes to work every day and the man pays all my bills.

YOU SEE WHAT I'M TALKING ABOUT??!?

GLADYS KNIGHT'S MO IS TO MAKE YOU MISS SHIT YOU AIN'T GOT NO BUSINESS MISSING.

got me looking wistfully into this glass of wine on a damn sunday night mid-pandemic.

everybody be quiet.

everybody be quiet.

don't nobody say shit.

everybody be quiet.

it's here.

somebody loves you baby..................

WANT AN INSTANT REPLAYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY

OF YESTERDAYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY

verzuz should let them play this whole song.

black america needs this.

wait.

i JUST realized that only famous ppl are commenting on the session.

AHAHAHAHAHAHHAHHAHAAH.

verzuz is in here filtering the thoughts of the proletariat?!?!

AHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAH

*lil duval's* thoughts are more significant than mine?

lolol.

*okay* timothy.

it's fine. lol.

i'm always super inappropriate.

it's probably for the best.

i can't believe i don't own a caftan.

critical misstep on my part.

Also...these

y'all remember that show about the hair salon with sheryl lee ralph and that other woman we used to love w/this as the theme? lol. BET used to run it.

verzuz is messing up.

the sound is funky and it's supposed to be ms. gladys's turn.

BUT "ON MY OWN" CONTINUES TO BE THE JAM

wait. i thought we already did this.

you see what a queen does when the ppl in the back up?

she keeps singing.

SHE KEEPS SINGING.

message.

WHY IS IG MESSING UP ON MY JAM!!?!?!?!!

i used to jam so harrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrd to this song in the middle of the night when my parents had gone to bed.

SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO HARD.

jumping off the step of the fireplace hearth and hammer dancing.

GLADYS HAS BEEN COMING IN WITH THE BACKGROUND SINGING ALLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL NIGHTTTTTTTTTTTTTTT. ALLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL NIGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHT.

ALLL THAT CONTRALTO FOR THE GODDDDDDDDDDDDDS

I FORGOT ABOUT LOVE OVERBOARD!!!!

i'm not one of those ppl that's great w/ the idea of aging.

and i'm actually okay with the fact that i'm not okay with it.

but i love so much that i can look at these women and know that for all its attendant bullshit, aging can actually be a good and truly BEAUTIFUL thing.

i can also look at these women and realistically appreciate that it's probably a GREAT deal better...........when you have a good bit of cash beneath your sails.

gladys knight jumping in and flawlessly singing background for ms. patti has been one of my FAVORITE things about this night.

how much i dooooooooooooooo
do love you..................

this song makes me cry.

i didn't know gladys knight did a version of this song.

OMG...

IT'S DIONNE WARWICK

SEVEN YEAR OLD ME NEVER KNEW THIS DAY WOULD HAPPEN, BUT SHE WANTED IT SO MUCH AND SHE DESERVED IT. SHE REALLY DID.

OMG.

OMGGGGGGGGGGGGGG.

THE HARMONY.

THE UNREHEARSED HARMONY.

I CANNOT EVEN.

like...

my HEART.

HOW.

HOW.

THE TALENT.

it's OBSCENE.

AND MS. WARWICK IN A WHITE PANTSUIT AFTER LABOR DAY AND BEFORE THE WINTER.

*THAT* IS WHAT BEING UNAPOLOGETIC LOOKS LIKE.

I.

LIVE.

KAREN WHITE IS SHAKING.

BOY I AM ONLY HUMMMMMMMMMMMMMANNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN

DIONNE WARWICK SOUNDS SO GOOD!!!!

THEY HAVE TAKEN SUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUCH good care of their voices.

WOWWWWWWWW

i was like, "damn, i didn't know gladys knight had a version of this song."

chile...

dionne warwick walked out on the mic.

i almost dropped dead.

gladys knight said as the years go by your voice gets lower (which is what my directors always taught me)....

but you know....

keke wyatt says you lose an octave every time you have a baby (i kinda doubt this since she's had one HUNDRED children and still reaches the rafters).

I LOVEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEED THIS.

my GOD.

i absolutely LOVED this.

this was a PERFECT night.

WOW.

WOW.

this was PERFECT.

(i want BOTH of these pantsuits by the way)