Background and release

The song was written by Bob Crewe and Kenny Nolan after Crewe visited New Orleans. A demo of the song was first recorded by The Eleventh Hour, a disco group made up of studio musicians fronted by Nolan on vocals.^[5] It was added in 1974 as a track on the Eleventh Hour's Greatest Hits LP, which did not chart.^[6][7] Crewe showed the song to producer Allen Toussaint in New Orleans, and Toussaint then decided to record the song with Labelle.^[8]

Labelle's version of "Lady Marmalade" was produced by Toussaint and Vicki Wickham, with the former also playing an RMI Electra-Piano on the recording. The rhythm section on the recording was New Orleans-based funk band The Meters. "Lady Marmalade" was released as a single in November 1974 from the Nightbirds album released that September, their first album after signing with Epic Records.^[9] Patti LaBelle sang lead vocals on "Lady Marmalade" with backing vocals being contributed by bandmates Nona Hendryx and Sarah Dash. The song is best known for the suggestive French lyric "Voulez-vous coucher avec moi ce soir?" ("Do you want to sleep with me tonight?") in the refrain.^[10] "Lady Marmalade" is about a man's sexual encounter with the titular prostitute, but Patti LaBelle was completely oblivious to its overall message, saying: "I didn't know what it was about. I don't know French and nobody, I swear this is God's truth, nobody at all told me what I'd just sung a song about."^[11]

Reception

Steve Huey of AllMusic selected the song as one of the best tracks on Labelle's 1995 compilation Lady Marmalade: The Best of Patti and Labelle.^[12] Critic Robert Christgau described it as "great synthetic French-quarter raunch."^[13]

"Lady Marmalade" is billed as the song that made Labelle one of the "hottest girl groups" of the 1970s.^[14] It was a number-one hit for one week on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart in the United States during the early spring of 1975, and charted at number one for one week on the Billboard Top Soul Singles chart.^[15] Along with the track, "What Can I Do for You?", "Lady Marmalade" peaked at number seven on the disco/dance charts.^[16] The single was also a major hit in the United Kingdom, where it charted at number seventeen . "Lady Marmalade" replaced another Crewe/Nolan composition, Frankie Valli's "My Eyes Adored You", as the Billboard Hot 100 number-one single. This feat made Crewe and Nolan the third songwriting team in Billboard history (after Lennon–McCartney and Holland–Dozier–Holland) to replace themselves at number one.^[4] Billboard ranked it as the No. 22 song for 1975.^[17] Labelle performed "Lady Marmalade" on Soul Train on December 7, 1974.^[18]

"Lady Marmalade" debuted at number 92 on the Canadian RPM singles chart on February 1, 1975.^[19] It subsequently peaked atop the chart on March 29, 1975, after five weeks on the chart.^[20] Labelle's version of "Lady Marmalade" was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2003.^[21] and was ranked number 479 on Rolling Stone's list of The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time in 2004 and number 485 in 2010. The Labelle version also appears in several films, including The Long Kiss Goodnight, Dick, and Jacob's Ladder. It was used in the video game Karaoke Revolution Volume 2 in a new version performed by Patti LaBelle.

Billboard ranked the song at number sixteen on their list of the "100 Greatest Girl Group Songs of All Time".^[22] In 2021, the Library of Congress selected the song for preservation in the National Recording Registry for being "culturally, historically, or artistically significant".^[23][24]

Track listings

• US 7-inch single

1. "Lady Marmalade" – 3:14
2. "Space Children" – 3:04

• Europe 7-inch single

1. "Lady Marmalade" – 3:14
2. "It Took a Long Time" – 4:04

Credits and personnel

• Lead vocals by Patti LaBelle
• Backing vocals by Sarah Dash and Nona Hendryx
• Instrumentation by The Meters
  • Allen Toussaint – RMI Electra Piano, percussion, arrangements
  • Art Neville – Hammond organ
  • George Porter Jr. – bass guitar
  • Leo Nocentelli, Rev. Edward Levone Batts – guitar
  • Herman "Roscoe" Ernest III – drums
  • James "Budd" Ellison – piano
  • Earl Turbinton – alto saxophone
  • Alvin Thomas – tenor saxophone
  • Clyde Kerr Jr. – trumpet
  • Lester Caliste – trombone
  • Carl Blouin – baritone saxophone
  • Clarence Ford – alto saxophone

Charts and certifications

Background and release

"Lady Marmalade" was covered by Italian pop star Sabrina on her eponymous album. It was released in 1987 as the album's second single by Baby Records. In some countries, including France and the Netherlands, the song was known as "Voulez-vous coucher avec moi? (Lady Marmalade)" and was released in 1988. Author James Arena named the cover among Sabrina's "relentlessly catchy" singles.^[42] The song charted at number 36 on the Belgian Flanders Singles Chart, number 40 on the Dutch Single Top 100, and number 41 on the French Singles Chart.^[43]

Track listings

• 7-inch maxi^[44]

1. "Lady Marmalade" – 3:55
2. "Boys, Hot Girl, Sexy Girl" (7-inch megamix) – 4:10

• 12-inch maxi^[45]

1. "Lady Marmalade" (12-inch remix) – 5:57
2. "Boys, Hot Girl, Sexy Girl" (12-inch megamix) – 6:04

• CD maxi^[46]

1. "Lady Marmalade" (12-inch remix) – 6:08
2. "Boys, Hot Girl, Sexy Girl" (megamix) – 6:04
3. "Lady Marmalade" – 3:55

• Remixed by Peter Vriends, produced by Claudio Cecchetto

Charts

Credits and personnel

Credits for Sabrina's version are adapted from CD liner notes:^[51]

• Written by Bob Crewe and Kenny Nolan
• Design – Bart Falkmann
• Producer – C. Cecchetto
• Remix – Peter Vriends

Background and release

In 1998, English-Canadian girl group All Saints recorded a cover version of "Lady Marmalade" as part of the double A-sided single "Under the Bridge" / "Lady Marmalade". In Europe, only the "Lady Marmalade" single was released. The All Saints version contains different lyrics for its verses; the only lyrics retained from the original composition are the chorus. A version remixed by Timbaland appeared on the Dr. Dolittle soundtrack.

Reception

Daily Record described All Saints' version as a "passable version of LaBelle's disco classic."^[52] "Lady Marmalade" was the third single taken from their self-titled debut studio album; it contained the "Marmalade" cover and a cover version of "Under the Bridge" by Red Hot Chili Peppers. The single reached number one on the official UK Top 40 chart, becoming the group's second number-one hit. A total of 424,799 singles have been sold in the UK, with proceeds from the single going to breast cancer charities.^{[citation needed]}

Music video

The music video for the song shows the band members and other people having a dance party on one of the floors of a skyscraper in New York City at night. British actress Kathryn Allerston appears in the music video.^{[citation needed]}

Track listings

Charts

Certifications

Release history

Background and release

In 2001, "Lady Marmalade" appeared as part of a medley in the Baz Luhrmann film Moulin Rouge!. For the film's soundtrack album, Christina Aguilera, Lil' Kim, Mýa, and Pink recorded a cover version; it was released as the soundtrack's first single in April 2001.^[75] Produced by Missy Elliott and writing partner Rockwilder, it includes an intro and outro by Elliott. Lyrics were changed from the original version, transferring the song's setting from New Orleans to the titular Moulin Rouge in Paris.

Aguilera said she embraced the idea of collaborating with Elliott, Pink, Mýa and Lil' Kim on the track as soon as it was pitched to her. "I'm a fan of all of theirs, and just to be in the same song doing something with them—collaborating, which I love to do, is a really big thing for me," she said. "And it's cool to be out there before my next album comes out there, too."^[76]

Critical reception

The Moulin Rouge! version of "Lady Marmalade" received mixed-to-positive reviews. AllMusic's Brand Kohlenstein praised the song, saying that "the ladies teamed up for a surefire hit with their naughtier version of Patti Labelle's 'Lady Marmalade.'"^[77] Slant Magazine praised the collaboration as well, describing it as "an accolade to the performers' various distinctive styles, with Lil' Kim trashing it up and Aguilera caterwauling her way through the second half of the song."^[78] However, Rob Sheffield of Rolling Stone called the cover "god-awful".^[79] The Sun Journal opined that the Moulin Rouge! version helped the song "find a new life."^[80] In a retrospective review, journalist Bianca Gracie noted that the song "highlighted each artist’s signature style: Lil Kim’s raunchy raps, Pink’s soulful tone, Mya’s sultry coos, and Aguilera’s theatrical vocal runs".^[81]

MTV ranked "Lady Marmalade" at number six on the list of the best 2001 songs,^[82] and LiveAbout.com placed it at number 21 on its list of the hundred best pop songs of the year.^[83] Entertainment Weekly's Andrew Hampp named it the best all-female collaboration of the time span 1998–2018.^[84] The song won the 2002 Grammy Award in the category of "Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals".

Chart performance

This version of the song reached number-one in its eighth week on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 and spent five weeks at the top of the chart, 26 years after Labelle's version had reached number-one, making "Lady Marmalade" the ninth song in history to top the U.S. chart as performed as different artists.^[85] It was the third airplay-only song in Billboard chart history (after Aaliyah's 2000 single "Try Again" and Shaggy's 2001 single "Angel") to hit number one without being released in a major commercially available single format.^[86]

The song also holds the record for the longest reigning number one on Billboard's Mainstream Top 40 chart for an all female collaboration, topping the chart for nine consecutive weeks.^[87] "Lady Marmalade" is the best-selling single for Lil' Kim and Mýa. Lil' Kim also held the record for having the longest number one single on the Billboard Hot 100 for a female rapper, with "Lady Marmalade" being on the top of the charts for five consecutive weeks, until Australian rapper Iggy Azalea's "Fancy" surpassed the record by holding on to the number one position for seven weeks in 2014. The song was included on non-US versions of Aguilera's first greatest hits album, Keeps Gettin' Better: A Decade of Hits. "Lady Marmalade" was the top selling song of 2001 and has sold 5.2 million copies worldwide as of December 2001.^[88]

Music video

The music video, directed by Paul Hunter, shows all four performers in lingerie in a cabaret-style video (with rapper Missy Elliott giving an introduction) and was filmed on sets built to resemble the actual Moulin Rouge nightclub around the turn of the 20th century. Interviewed by MTV News, the singers expressed their excitement about the video. Pink predicted the clip would be like a "circus on acid". Aguilera said, "The video's going to be dope," while elaborating on the video's concept: "We're going to be having cabaret costumes. It's something you've never seen from us before. So, it's going to be fun."^[76]

The video's art direction anachronistically merged hip-hop sensibility with the film's French cabaret setting, thanks to some props and costumes actually used in the movie, according to Hunter's office. Choreographer Tina Landon was hired to choreograph the video. The video won the MTV Video Music Awards for "Best Video of the Year" and "Best Video from a Film". In March 2021, Glenn Garner of the People magazine noted that "Lady Marmalade" "remains one of the most iconic music videos of our time".^[89] The video received a Vevo Certified Award on YouTube for over 100 million views.^[90]

Legacy

According to Kelley Dunlap of BuzzFeed, "Lady Marmalade" influenced Jessie J, Ariana Grande and Nicki Minaj's song "Bang Bang".^[91] It was featured in the music montage at the 92nd Academy Awards, which covered iconic movie soundtrack songs.^[92] It was also featured in the episode of the thirteenth season of RuPaul's Drag Race, where contestants Tina Burner, Elliott with 2 Ts and Kahmora Hall had to lipsync to it.^[93]

Track listing

• CD maxi

1. "Lady Marmalade" (edit) – 4:24
2. "Lady Marmalade" (Thunderpuss radio mix) – 4:09
3. "Lady Marmalade" (Thunderpuss club mix) – 9:48
4. "Lady Marmalade" (Thunderpuss Mixshow mix) – 6:21

Personnel

Charts

Certifications

Release history