Biography
Sarah Dash, an original participant in the acclaimed 1960s soul act Patti LaBelle & the Blue Belles, later channeled her talents across an array of musical projects. Beyond issuing four well-regarded solo albums, she contributed vocals to recordings by the Marshall Tucker Band, Laura Nyro, and the Rolling Stones. Her involvement with Keith Richards' X-Pensive Winos included two American tours, and she shared duets with Richards, Doctor York, Patti LaBelle, and Ray, Goodman & Brown.
The seventh of thirteen children, Dash entered the world in Trenton, New Jersey. Her father held the position of bishop and Church of Christ father for the state of New Jersey, and her mother practiced nursing. Although gospel music marked her earliest performances, she embraced secular styles as a pre-teen by founding the vocal duo the Del Capris with schoolmate Nona Hendryx. Cindy Birdsong and Patricia "Patti LaBelle" Holte soon completed the quartet, which first performed as the Blue Bells before adopting the name Patti LaBelle & the Blue Belles after another ensemble claimed the original title.
Patti LaBelle & the Blue Belles enjoyed success immediately. Their first single, "I Sold My Heart to the Junkman," reached the charts, and the group was selected to open dates on the Rolling Stones' debut American tour. Fears of dissolution arose when Birdsong departed for the Supremes, yet the remaining trio spent a year in England and overhauled both their visual presentation and musical style. Reemerging in the United States as Labelle, the singers appeared in futuristic costumes while delivering progressive material laced with sexual and political themes. Dash's four-and-a-half-octave range and preference for silver bras, space-age skirts, and flowing feathers continued to attract notice. The reconfigured group ultimately exceeded the earlier lineup's achievements, scoring the Top Ten single "Lady Marmalade." Although the members parted in the late '70s to focus on solo work, they reunited in 1995 to record "Turn It Out" for the Steven Spielberg-produced film To Wong Foo: Thanks for Everything!, a track that swiftly claimed the top spot on the Billboard dance charts.
Signed to the Kirschner label as a solo artist, Dash issued her self-titled debut album in 1978, highlighted by the hit disco single "Sinner Man." She maintained a solo recording career while increasingly serving as a session singer, appearing on the Marshall Tucker Band's 1981 album Tuckerized. Her long association with Keith Richards began on the 1988 album Talk Is Cheap, where she sang the duets "Make No Mistake" and "Rock Awhile." Further work with Richards and the X-Pensive Winos followed on the 1991 live set Live at the Hollywood Palladium and the 1992 album Main Offender, which featured her co-writing credit on the single "Body Works." She also contributed to the Rolling Stones' Steel Wheels.
Dash authored the autobiography Dash of Diva and wrote and performed in a musical of the same name staged at the Cross Roads Theater in New Brunswick. Much of her attention from the early '90s onward centered on fundraising for homeless single women with children in New York. Sarah Dash died on September 20, 2021 at the age of 76.
The seventh of thirteen children, Dash entered the world in Trenton, New Jersey. Her father held the position of bishop and Church of Christ father for the state of New Jersey, and her mother practiced nursing. Although gospel music marked her earliest performances, she embraced secular styles as a pre-teen by founding the vocal duo the Del Capris with schoolmate Nona Hendryx. Cindy Birdsong and Patricia "Patti LaBelle" Holte soon completed the quartet, which first performed as the Blue Bells before adopting the name Patti LaBelle & the Blue Belles after another ensemble claimed the original title.
Patti LaBelle & the Blue Belles enjoyed success immediately. Their first single, "I Sold My Heart to the Junkman," reached the charts, and the group was selected to open dates on the Rolling Stones' debut American tour. Fears of dissolution arose when Birdsong departed for the Supremes, yet the remaining trio spent a year in England and overhauled both their visual presentation and musical style. Reemerging in the United States as Labelle, the singers appeared in futuristic costumes while delivering progressive material laced with sexual and political themes. Dash's four-and-a-half-octave range and preference for silver bras, space-age skirts, and flowing feathers continued to attract notice. The reconfigured group ultimately exceeded the earlier lineup's achievements, scoring the Top Ten single "Lady Marmalade." Although the members parted in the late '70s to focus on solo work, they reunited in 1995 to record "Turn It Out" for the Steven Spielberg-produced film To Wong Foo: Thanks for Everything!, a track that swiftly claimed the top spot on the Billboard dance charts.
Signed to the Kirschner label as a solo artist, Dash issued her self-titled debut album in 1978, highlighted by the hit disco single "Sinner Man." She maintained a solo recording career while increasingly serving as a session singer, appearing on the Marshall Tucker Band's 1981 album Tuckerized. Her long association with Keith Richards began on the 1988 album Talk Is Cheap, where she sang the duets "Make No Mistake" and "Rock Awhile." Further work with Richards and the X-Pensive Winos followed on the 1991 live set Live at the Hollywood Palladium and the 1992 album Main Offender, which featured her co-writing credit on the single "Body Works." She also contributed to the Rolling Stones' Steel Wheels.
Dash authored the autobiography Dash of Diva and wrote and performed in a musical of the same name staged at the Cross Roads Theater in New Brunswick. Much of her attention from the early '90s onward centered on fundraising for homeless single women with children in New York. Sarah Dash died on September 20, 2021 at the age of 76.
Albums
