Labelle was the first Black vocal group to be on the cover of Rolling Stone magazine.
The one and only singer Patti LaBelle called “silver throat” has died. Sarah Dash, a vocal powerhouse who gained international fame in the 1970s with the groundbreaking R&B trio Labelle, was 76. The Trenton, New Jersey, native’s death was unexpected and the cause was unknown. Dash’s death was confirmed to media outlets on Monday afternoon, with close friend, Trenton Mayor Reed Gusciora, posting on Facebook: “Trenton lost a star today with Sarah Dash’s passing. She is now with the angels.” The politician revealed to the Trentonian newspaper the beloved singer had complained to family that she was not feeling well in the days before her passing. LaBelle, who remained close friends with Dash since the group disbanded in the mid-1970s, revealed the two last performed over the weekend. “We were just on stage together on Saturday and it was such a powerful and special moment,” LaBelle said in a statement obtained by the Daily News. “Sarah Dash was an awesomely talented, beautiful, and loving soul who blessed my life and the lives of so many others in more ways than I can say. And I could always count on her to have my back! That’s who Sarah was… loyal friend and a voice for those who didn’t have one.” During the early 1960s, Dash became a co-founder of Patti LaBelle & The Bluebelles, after a few earlier iterations didn’t materialize.
