Sarah Dash, a powerful R&B singer and actress, died at the age of 76, according to Trenton, New Jersey Mayor Reed Gusciora.“Our resident legend and Trenton’s first music ambassador, Sarah Dash, has passed away,” Gusciora announced today on Facebook.Dash, a Trenton native, was a founding member of Patti LaBelle & The Bluebelles, a band that opened for The Rolling Stones in the 1960s. Dash went on to form the pioneering R&B/rock group LaBelle, which was more daring musically and aesthetically than its predecessor.
The group peaked in the mid-1970s with the song “Lady Marmalade,” which peaked at number one on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.When Christina Aguilera, Ma, Pink, and rapper Lil’ Kim re-recorded the song for the Moulin Rouge! soundtrack, it shot back to the top of the charts.Dash appeared in The Beatles’ Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band in 1978 after working with The Stones.Dash reunited with LaBelle for the song “Turn It Out” on the To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything! Julie Newmar soundtrack in 1995.
That song eventually peaked at number one on the dance chart.
Grammy winner LaBelle paid tribute to her friend and collaborator on Twitter, saying they had just performed together this weekend.“We just performed on stage together on Saturday, and it was such a powerful and special moment,” LaBelle wrote. “Sarah Dash was an incredibly talented, beautiful, and loving soul who enriched my life and the lives of so many others in more ways than I can express. And I knew I could always rely on her to have my back! That’s exactly who Sarah was… a devoted companion and a voice for those who lacked one.”LaBelle concluded, “I am heartbroken…My dear sister, may you rest in peace.”
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