Lady Marmalade

“Lady Marmalade” is a song written by Bob Crewe and Kenny Nolan, originally for Nolan’s disco group. The song first became a popular hit when it was recorded in 1974 by the American R&B group Labelle and held the number-one spot on the Billboard Hot 100 chart for one week, and also topped the Canadian RPM national singles chart. Labelle’s version of “Lady Marmalade” was produced by Allen Toussaint and Vicki Wickham.

It was released in November 1974 from Nightbirds, their first album after signing with Epic Records. 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 explicit French lyric “Voulez-vous coucher avec moi ce soir?” (English: “Do you want to sleep with me tonight?”) in the refrain. In 2021, the Library of Congress selected Labelle’s version for preservation in the National Recording Registry for being “culturally, historically, or artistically significant.”