Patti LaBelle on being called a legend: "I have earned it"

Sunday Morning Patti LaBelle on being called a legend: "I have earned it" .chip { background-image: url('/fly/bundles/cbsnewscore/images/chip-bgd/chip-bgd-sunday-morning.jpg'); } By Tracy Smith Tracy Smith Correspondent. "CBS News Sunday Morning" and "48 Hours" Tracy Smith is an award-winning correspondent for "CBS News Sunday Morning" and "48 Hours," who joined CBS News in 2000. Smith has covered a wide range of subjects, producing revealing interviews with news-making artists to moving, in-depth reporting. Read Full Bio Tracy Smith May 24, 2026 / 1:16 PM EDT / CBS News Add CBS News on Google Patti LaBelle has been singing for six decades, earning hit records, Grammys and the nickname the "Godmother of Soul." As she celebrates her 82nd birthday on Sunday, she said she's "having fun living it down." "At 82, I am really living it down, not up. But having fun living it down. I play cards. We have card games on Saturday nights," LaBelle said. "How easy is it to play cards and take other folks' money? That's what I do, and I love it."Just like her high notes, she has staying power. LaBelle is still professionally singing, something she said she has to do."Singing is my life," she said, adding that her voice is "big. It's loud. It's soft. It can rap. It can do opera, on a good day." LaBelle spent her childhood in Philadelphia, a place she still calls home. Back then, she was a shy girl named Patsy Holt."My mother had to pay me to go outside. I was very, very, very shy. I would sing in my bedroom with the broom as a microphone. So I knew I had a voice and my mother and father loved my voice," LaBelle said. At age 10, she joined a church choir where a duet unlocked the magic of performing. She said she still remembers getting the chills the moment when everyone stood up and said, "Hallelujah." As a teen, she started singing with a group. A record label executive suggested she change her name to LaBelle, which means beautiful, but with that advice came a nast...