Patti LaBelle & Gladys Knight’s Verzuz felt like a warm hug from talented aunties
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Two weeks ago there was an epic Verzuz live stream between 90s darlings Monica and Brandy which had the largest streaming audience Verzuz has seen. This past weekend, Verzuz enlisted veteran divas Patti LaBelle and Gladys Knight to battle their hits out.
In true diva fashion, Patti and Gladys started in on each other early. Gladys released a video of her making banana pudding throwing down the gauntlet. And in true Gemini style, Patti responded with a video of her baking her famous sweet potato pie and a whole damn feast. You can tell the two are good friends but extremely competitive. To be fair Gladys started it but Patti finished and won that part of the battle.
— Gladys Knight (@MsGladysKnight) September 13, 2020
Patti ‘Sweet Potato Pie’ LaBelle vs. Gladys ‘Vanilla Wafer Puddin’ Knight ?
Sunday, 5PM PT/8PM ET on @AppleMusic in HD or on our IG. Drinks by @Ciroc #Verzuz pic.twitter.com/9OisWvZzPM
— Verzuz (@verzuzonline) September 12, 2020
For the Black community these two women are like everyone’s very talented aunties. Both Gladys and Patti have had very prolific careers dating back to the sixties when Gladys was the front woman for Gladys Knight and the Pips and Patti fronted Patti LaBelle and the Bluebelles. So it is amazing that this went down.
— Oya the Huntress (@tanisha_feve) September 14, 2020
I made myself some southern style cheesy grits and shrimp and a virgin mixed drink. Don’t at me, I don’t need the extra calories of alcohol. Anyhoo, the show was amazing and I wanted to share a few highlights and reactions that were hilarious and heartwarming.
First of all, Gladys and Patti’s energy felt like a warm hug turning the night into a love fest. There wasn’t any bad energy, just a whole lot of love and two musical queens supporting and uplifting each other.
— UrbanNoizeRmx (@UrbanNoize2) September 14, 2020
Of course Auntie Patti wouldn’t be Patti without several shoe changes and a gold mirror to check her hair and makeup. The gold mirror was a moment along with her bright yellow nails. Gabrielle Union said she wanted one of the mirrors too.
— Verzuz (@verzuzonline) September 14, 2020
Kelly Rowland from Destiny’s Child noted the several shoe changes and asked in the chat how many times Patti changed shoes. Someone commented, “As many times as Destiny’s Child changed members.” I hollered.
— #InspiredByHarry #InspiredByMeghan (@freepeeper) September 14, 2020
Gladys aka Auntie Gladys was giving some fantastic pep talks throughout, encouraging the youth to follow their dreams while staying out of trouble. At one point she went into full auntie mode when she heard some of the people in the studio giggling in the background. I cackled when she asked, “Whatcha’ll doing back there? I hear you.”
At one point when Forever First Lady, Michelle Obama, popped into the chat, Gladys and Patti started talking about how much they love Michelle and Barack and how Michelle had the best husband in the world. They went on to say how proud of Michelle they were and the work she was doing with getting people to vote.
— Miss Ris (@Rissa4BK) September 14, 2020
Gladys and Patti also gave a shout out to Swizz Beatz a co-creator of the Verzuz platform who was in the chat on his birthday. Of course he received a lot of birthday love from everyone’s aunties. They thanked him and Timbaland for starting Verzuz and thanked Tim Cook, Apple’s CEO, whom Patti hilariously called Tim Coo Coo. Mariah Carey, Oprah Winfrey, Missy Elliot, Gabrielle Union, and Brandy were just a few of the celebrities in the chat.
The teleprompter, sound and microphone kept glitching throughout and several people tweeted that it was Aretha Franklin’s ghost being salty.
— King Jaffe Joffer (@ChristianoLoso) September 14, 2020
— The Force Sensitive FinnPoelorian (@PhillipGBurke) September 14, 2020
I was thoroughly entertained by Patti’s dance moves and joy throughout the night.
GIFs from tonight's #Verzuz are up!! ⬇️✨⬇️https://t.co/by6PxoW1e2 pic.twitter.com/2c8sgpd8VV
— GIPHY Pop (@GiphyPop) September 14, 2020
One of the best moments of the two hour evening was when Dionne Warwick showed up to sing “That’s What Friends are For” with Patti and Gladys. I literally teared up because it dawned on me that these women, along with Stevie Wonder and Chaka Khan, were the only musicians living from my childhood. All the rest have since passed. It was also noted that you can feel Whitney’s presence missing from the moment.
Thank you @_DionneWarwick for making our night with your surprise appearance!!
? @benselkow pic.twitter.com/tGawXvrqUW
— Verzuz (@verzuzonline) September 14, 2020
I still can’t believe that Dionne is 80 and both Patti and Gladys are 76 years old. It is as if they haven’t truly aged as they had such a youthful energy throughout the night. All in all, Patti vs Gladys was a night to remember. It was uplifting and joyous and a reminder of how great the music was. Great music evokea emotions and that is exactly what happened last night. We were transported by these legends.
Note by CB: The official Verzuz video isn’t up yet but here’s a good segment of the it and you can see the part where Dionne Warwick comes on at about an hour in!
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Sisterhood ✨ ? @benselkow
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