"Lady Marmalade" is a song written byBob Crewe andKenny Nolan that is best known for itsFrench refrain of "Voulez-vous coucher avec moi, ce soir?", which is a sexual proposition that translates into English as: "Do you want to sleep with me, tonight?" The song first became a popular hit when it was recorded in 1974 by the Americanfunk rock groupLabelle. It held the number-one spot on theBillboard Hot 100 chart for one week, and also topped the CanadianRPM national singles chart. In 2021, theLibrary of Congress selected Labelle's version for preservation in theNational Recording Registry for being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".
The song has had many cover versions over the years. In 1998, girl groupAll Saints released a cover version that peaked at number one on theUK Singles Chart. The 2001 version by singersChristina Aguilera,Mýa,Pink and rapperLil' Kim, recorded for theMoulin Rouge!soundtrack, was a number-one hit on theBillboard Hot 100 for five weeks, and also a number-one hit in the UK. "Lady Marmalade" was the ninth song to reach number one by two different musical acts in America.[5]
The song was written byBob Crewe andKenny Nolan after Crewe visitedNew Orleans. A demo of the song was first recorded by The Eleventh Hour, a disco group made up of studio musicians fronted by Nolan on vocals.[6] It was added in 1974 as a track on theEleventh Hour's Greatest Hits LP, which did not chart.[7][8] Crewe showed the song to producerAllen Toussaint in New Orleans, and Toussaint then decided to record the song with Labelle.[9]
Labelle's version of "Lady Marmalade" was produced by Toussaint and Vicki Wickham, with the former also playing anRMI Electra-Piano on the recording. The rhythm section on the recording was New Orleans–basedfunk bandThe Meters. "Lady Marmalade" was released as a single in November 1974 from theNightbirds album released that September, their first album after signing with Epic Records.[10]Patti LaBelle sang lead vocals on "Lady Marmalade" with backing vocals being contributed by bandmatesNona Hendryx andSarah Dash. "Lady Marmalade" is about a man's sexual encounter with the titularprostitute, but Patti LaBelle later claimed that she was completely oblivious to its overall message, saying: "I didn't know what it was about. I don't know French and nobody, I swear this is God's truth, nobody at all told me what I'd just sung a song about."[11]
Steve Huey ofAllMusic selected the song as one of the best tracks on Labelle's 1995 compilationLady Marmalade: The Best of Patti and Labelle.[12] CriticRobert Christgau described it as "great syntheticFrench-quarter raunch".[13]
"Lady Marmalade" is billed as the song that made Labelle one of the "hottest girl groups" of the 1970s.[14] It was a number-one hit for one week on theBillboard Hot 100 singles chart in the United States for the week of March 29, 1975, and charted at number one for one week on theBillboardTop Soul Singles chart.[15] Along with the track, "What Can I Do for You?", "Lady Marmalade" peaked at number seven on the disco/dance charts.[16] The single was also a major hit in the United Kingdom, where it charted at number seventeen . "Lady Marmalade" replaced another Crewe/Nolan composition,Frankie Valli's "My Eyes Adored You", as theBillboard Hot 100 number-one single. This feat made Crewe and Nolan the third songwriting team inBillboard history (afterLennon–McCartney andHolland–Dozier–Holland) to replace themselves at number one.[5]Billboard ranked it as theNo. 22 song for 1975.[17] Labelle performed "Lady Marmalade" onSoul Train on December 7, 1974.[18]
"Lady Marmalade" debuted at number 92 on the CanadianRPM singles chart on February 1, 1975.[19] It subsequently peaked atop the chart on March 29, 1975, after five weeks on the chart.[20] Labelle's version of "Lady Marmalade" was inducted into theGrammy Hall of Fame in 2003.[21] and was ranked number 479 onRolling Stone's list ofThe 500 Greatest Songs of All Time in 2004 and number 485 in 2010. The Labelle version also appears in several films, includingThe Long Kiss Goodnight,Dick, andJacob's Ladder. It was used in the video gameKaraoke Revolution Volume 2 in a new version performed by Patti LaBelle.
Billboard ranked the song at number sixteen on their list of the "100 Greatest Girl Group Songs of All Time".[22] In 2021, theLibrary of Congress selected the song for preservation in theNational Recording Registry for being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".[23][24]
"Lady Marmalade" was covered byItalianpop starSabrina on hereponymous album. It was released in 1987 as the album's second single byBaby Records. In some countries, including France and the Netherlands, the song was known as "Voulez-vous coucher avec moi? (Lady Marmalade)" and was released in 1988. Author James Arena named the cover among Sabrina's "relentlessly catchy" singles.[42] The song charted at number 36 on the Belgian Flanders Singles Chart, number 40 on the Dutch Single Top 100, and number 41 on the French Singles Chart.[43]
All Saints' version features different, slightly racier lyrics for its verses, written by the group; the only lyrics retained from the original song are heard in thechorus: "gicchi-gicchi-ya-ya da-da" (though "gicchi" is changed to "coochie"), "mocha-choca-latte ya-ya" and theFrench "Voulez-vous coucher avec moi ce soi" ("do you want to sleep with me tonight"). Also, instead of singing "Creole Lady Marmalade" as in the original, an unidentified female voice can be heard (albeit to the same melody) singing "Where you think you're sleepin' tonight...?" before fading into the next part of the chorus.
Daily Record described All Saints' version as a "passable version ofLaBelle'sdisco classic".[49] "Lady Marmalade" was the third single (fourth in Japan) from their self-titled debut studio album; it contained the "Marmalade" cover and a cover version of "Under the Bridge" byRed Hot Chili Peppers. The single reached number one on the official UK Top 40 chart, becoming the group's second number-one hit. A total of 424,799 singles have been sold in the UK, with proceeds from the single going to breast cancer charities.[citation needed]
Themusic video for the song shows the band members and other people having a dance party on one of the floors of a skyscraper in New York City at night. British actress Kathryn Allerston appears in the music video.[citation needed]
In 2001, "Lady Marmalade" appeared as part of a medley in theBaz Luhrmann filmMoulin Rouge! (2001). For the film's soundtrack album,Christina Aguilera,Lil' Kim,Mýa, andPink recorded a new version; it was released as the soundtrack's firstsingle in April 2001.[76] Produced byMissy Elliott and writing partnerRockwilder, the song includes an intro and outro by Elliott. Lyrics were changed from the original version (with the verses being largely identical to the original), Lil' Kim's rap verse being the only obvious new addition. The reworked version transfers the song's setting fromNew Orleans to the titularMoulin Rouge inParis.
Aguilera said she embraced the idea of collaborating with Elliott, Pink, Mýa and Lil' Kim on the track as soon as it was pitched to her. "I'm a fan of all of theirs, and just to be in the same song doing something with them—collaborating, which I love to do, is a really big thing for me," she said. "And it's cool to be out there before my next album comes out there, too."[77]
All four singers recorded their vocal parts in separate sessions. Mýa noted that, "I think everyone had a schedule and was on tour and doing things at the time."[78]
TheMoulin Rouge! version of "Lady Marmalade" received mixed-to-positive reviews. AllMusic's Brand Kohlenstein praised the song, saying that "the ladies teamed up for a surefire hit with their naughtier version of Patti Labelle's 'Lady Marmalade.'"[79]Slant Magazine praised the collaboration as well, describing it as "an accolade to the performers' various distinctive styles, with Lil' Kim trashing it up and Aguilera caterwauling her way through the second half of the song".[80] However,Rob Sheffield ofRolling Stone called the cover "god-awful".[81] TheSun Journal opined that theMoulin Rouge! version helped the song "find a new life".[82] In a retrospective review, journalist Bianca Gracie noted that the song "highlighted each artist’s signature style: Lil Kim’s raunchy raps, Pink’s soulful tone, Mya’s sultry coos, and Aguilera’s theatrical vocal runs".[83]
MTV ranked "Lady Marmalade" at number six on the list of the best 2001 songs,[84] andLiveAbout.com placed it at number 21 on its list of the hundred best pop songs of the year.[85]Entertainment Weekly's Andrew Hampp named it the best all-female collaboration of the time span 1998 to 2018.[86] The song won the 2002Grammy Award in the category of "Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals".
This version of the song reached No. 1 in its eighth week on the U.S.Billboard Hot 100 and spent five weeks at the top of the chart, 26 years after Labelle's version had reached No. 1, making "Lady Marmalade" the ninth song in history totop the U.S. chart when performed as different artists.[87] It was the third airplay-only song inBillboard chart history (afterAaliyah's 2000 single "Try Again" andShaggy's 2001 single "Angel") to hit No. 1 without being released in a major, commercially available single format.[88]
The song also holds the record for the longest-reigning No. 1 onBillboard'sMainstream Top 40 chart for an all-female collaboration, topping the chart for nine consecutive weeks.[89] "Lady Marmalade" is the best-selling single forLil' Kim and Mýa. Lil' Kim also held the record for having the longest No. 1 single on theBillboard Hot 100 for a female rapper, with "Lady Marmalade" being on the top of the charts for five consecutive weeks, until Australian rapperIggy Azalea's "Fancy" surpassed that record, holding the No. 1 position for seven weeks in 2014. "Lady Marmalade" was included on the non-US versions of Aguilera's first greatest hits album,Keeps Gettin' Better: A Decade of Hits (2008). "Lady Marmalade" was the top-selling song of 2001 and had sold 5.2 million copies worldwide by December of that year.[90][91]
In the United Kingdom, "Lady Marmalade" debuted at number 1 on that country's Official Singles Chart, and spent six weeks in the Top 10 and a total of nineteen weeks in the Top 100.[92][93]
The single peaked at number one in an additional thirteen countries, including Australia, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Spain and Sweden.
"We wanted to showcase each of the ‘four badass chicks from the Moulin Rouge’ bringing together their different skills and personas into a true celebration of diversity, talent, and female unity."
— Missy Elliott, the song's co-producer; 2021.[83]
The music video, directed byPaul Hunter, shows all four performers inlingerie in acabaret-style video (with rapperMissy Elliott giving an introduction) and was filmed on sets built to resemble the actualMoulin Rouge nightclub around the turn of the 20th century. Interviewed byMTV News, the singers expressed their excitement about the video. Pink predicted the clip would be like a "circus on acid", while Aguilera said that "The video's going to be dope." She further elaborated on the video's concept, saying: "We're going to be having cabaret costumes. It's something you've never seen from us before. So, it's going to be fun."[77]
The video's art directionanachronistically merged hip-hop sensibility with the film's French cabaret setting, thanks to some props and costumes actually used in the movie, according to Hunter's office. ChoreographerTina Landon was hired to choreograph the video. The video won the2001 MTV Video Music Award for "Best Video of the Year" and "Best Video from a Film". The four singers performed the song live at the2001 MTV Movie Awards,[94] as well as at the44th Annual Grammy Awards (2002), the latter performance featuring an appearance byPatti LaBelle, herself. In March 2021, Glenn Garner of thePeople magazine noted that "Lady Marmalade" "remains one of the most iconic music videos of our time".[95] The video received aVevo Certified Award onYouTube for over 100 million views.[96] As of 2024, the music video has over 555 million views on Aguilera's official YouTube channel.[97]
Moulin Rouge!, the musical, opened on Broadway at theAl Hirschfeld Theatre on July 25, 2019, featuring "Lady Marmalade" sung by The Lady M's: Nini 'Legs-in-the-Air' (Robyn Hurder), Arabia (Holly James), Baby Doll (Jeigh Madjus) and La Chocolat (Jacqueline B. Arnold). The song has been used in many promotional videos, and both opens and closes the show. It was announced that a full cast recording would be released in Fall 2019.
* Sales figures based on certification alone. ^ Shipments figures based on certification alone. ‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.
^abFred, Bronson (2003).The Billboard Book of Number One Hits: The Inside Story Behind Every Number One Single on Billboard's Hot 100 from 1955 to the Present (5th ed.). Billboard Books. pp. 399, 913.ISBN0-8230-7677-6.
