Chaka, Gladys, Patti, Stephanie:  Four Queens, One Night, Mixed Results… Worth Every Penny!

(May 29, 2025).  It’s a once in a lifetime billing that no old school soul music fan should miss.  And when Gladys Knight, Patti LaBelle, Chaka Khan, and Stephanie Mills lit up the stage at the Colonial Life Arena at University of South Carolina while I was in the Palmetto State for a work trip, it was an opportunity I couldn’t pass up.   

It was billed as “Queens: Four Legends. One Stage.” It certainly lived up to that hype, with a couple of detours.  These four women have more than 225 years of recording history combined between them, with Gladys and Patti’s first hits dating back to the early ‘60s (maybe even late ‘50s but who’s counting?).  Three of the four women — Gladys, Patti, and Chaka — once fronted legendary groups, while the fourth made her mark on Broadway before building a strong catalog of hits in her own right during the late 1970s and early ‘80s.  There were some surprises and a couple of disappointments, which I’ll get to shortly… but first the biggest surprise.  

The Opening Act

Gladys Knight was first to grace the stage — a surprise, considering most of us expected her — the most accomplished of the four singers from a longevity and chart hits perspective — to close the show.  Still recovering from a sidelining illness, Ms. Knight had to be assisted on and off the stage.  But once in place, the voice was there — seasoned, a bit weathered, but unmistakably Gladys.

The storytelling that Gladys is known for — like on her past tour with the O’Jays — was absent, understandably so.  So we didn’t get historical nuggets about her days with Motown or how she reacted when she first heard that “I’ve Got to Use My Imagination” (one of her many hits with family act The Pips) appeared on the soundtrack to the movie Forrest Gump. Instead, we were treated to a solid representation of her most memorable hits and a setlist that seemed shortened but still sweet.

Gladys leaned on a teleprompter for some lyrics, was off-cue on others, but never phoned it in.  And when the icon —who turned 81 Wednesday (May 28) — shuffled her feet in sync with her dancers, you couldn’t help but smile.

Related reading: Gladys Knight and the O’Jays satisfy soul palettes in Chicago

With an incredible catalog of hits that is unmatched by any of her contemporaries on this tour, there’s little doubt that — under healthier circumstances — she would have been the closing act.  The beauty is knowing that each subsequent show should improve as she heals.  

Gladys’ setlist included:

(all songs originally recorded with The Pips except where noted)

“Taste of Bitter Love”

“Love Overboard”

“Best Thing That Ever Happened To Me”

“I’ve Got to Use My Imagination”

“If I Were Your Woman”

“Neither One of Us”

“I Heard It Through The Grapevine”

“Stand” (Donnie McClurkin song)

“That’s What Friends Are For” (Dionne & Friends)

“Midnight Train to Georgia”

Songs that should’ve been there:

“Make Yours a Happy Home”

“On and On”

“Save the Overtime For Me”

“Daddy Could Swear, I Declare”

“Landlord”

Stephanie

Next up was Stephanie Mills, the baby of the bunch at 67 years young.  With her powerhouse vocals on full display, her performance brought an energy that recalled the days when she racked up five No. 1 soul hits and a host of other classics between 1979-89.  Her show began with a heartwarming introduction from one of her adult sons, who was born with Down’s Syndrome, after he and three other men kicked things off with some nifty dance moves.  Then, with a formidable catalog to choose from, Ms. Mills appeared from stage right, strutting and showing off her still-vivacious figure as she belted out hits like “You’re Putting a Rush On Me,” “Something In the Way You Make Me Feel” and “What Cha Gonna Do With My Lovin’.”  Anyone who’s seen a performance from the former Broadway star in recent years — including her turn on the show Verzuz with friend Chaka Khan a few years ago — knew that she was still of fine voice, so her stellar performance on this night was not a surprise.  

If there were any surprises, it was her song choices — or particularly one No. 1 smash she left off the setlist: “I Feel Good All Over.”   Anyone hoping to hear it would have to be happy with the companion No. 1 ballad, “I Have Learned to Respect the Power of Love” — the 1986 tune penned by Rene Moore and Angela Winbush that Stephanie turned into a rousing anthem on this stage.  The tune was given a powerful assist by her three backup singers, each of whom was given a chance to showcase his solo vocal skills.  The last one — her other son — tore down the house as they say, just as his mom had predicted.  He reached several notes that would put EWF’s Philip Bailey (in his prime) on notice.

Her set may have been brief, but Stephanie left no note unsung.  If the 1980s were her prime, 2025 finds her undiminished.

Ms. Mills’ setlist included:

(Brief intro: “I Feel Good All Over”)

“What Cha Gonna Do With My Lovin’”

“You’re Putting a Rush on Me”

“Something in the Way You Make Me Feel”

“I’ve Learned to Respect the Power of Love”

“Never Knew Love Like This Before”

“Home”

Songs I wish she had included:

“Put Your Body In It”

“Two Hearts”

“Sweet Sensation”

“I Feel Good All Over” – a full version

Patti

What can anyone say about Ms. Patti?  The diva of divas brought all of that diva energy with her and then some.  With a setlist that eclipsed the other three ladies (Patti sang 12 songs while Gladys had the second highest at 10), one can only imagine how the contract negotiations must have gone for this tour (Patti’s agent: “If Ms. LaBelle can’t be the closing act, then she must have more songs and run time than anyone else”).

Patti made her entrance in grand style — humming, moaning and cooing vocal runs to “New Attitude,” with lots of “whoo’s” and few discernible lyrics sprinkled in.  Her background singers did the bulk of the vocals on that tune, which consisted of the song’s chorus sung on repeat.  The career-spanning video montage that preceded Patti’s opening performance was far more interesting — a theme that would be repeated during her set’s closing number (more on that below).

The Godmother of Soul did slightly more on her second song — the 1984 R&B classic “Love, Need and Want You” — singing a few lines but occasionally pausing and at one point imploring the sound technicians to turn up her background singers.

But Patti — who made one costume change from the puffy, overflowing red dress she donned (along with a golden blonde perm) for the bulk of her performance to a more chic, fitted, but heavily accessorized black pantsuit (with a black bob wig to match) — mostly resorted to her trademark gimmicks, like occasionally pausing to throw stemmed roses to an audience member or kicking her high-heeled pumps off mid-performance.  At one point she picked up a handheld mirror from her musical director’s piano and primped in front of it before trading the mirror for a small bottle of perfume which she spritzed herself with before turning to do the same to a few unsuspecting fans seated in the front rows.

When Patti admitted about two lines into “On My Own,” her 1986 No. 1 duet with Michael McDonald and her biggest hit on both the pop and soul charts, that she had forgotten the words, it was an instant reminder that La Diva  — who rarely performs without drama — turned 81 on May 24.  This realization — plus the fact that Patti kept it real with her admission — made the gaffe somewhat forgivable, still I wondered out loud how anyone could forget the opening words to their biggest hit.  Or maybe this was another gimmick, one she uses at every show?

Patti seemed to do better on more obscure hits, like the 1979 disco nugget, “Music Is My Way of Life,” or her last big hit of the 1990s — “When You Talk About Love.”  On the top 20 soul chart hit with her 1970s group LaBelle — “Isn’t It A Shame” — Patti shared poignantly that it was the last song group member Sarah Dash recorded with her. 

Other highlights included the “Stir It Up” singer picking up a handheld snap fan and engaging the crowd while the current line dance anthem “Boots On The Ground” played in the background.  Another involved her inviting four people from the audience “who know how to sing and dance” to join her on stage.  Before she could finish the request, the “four” people had become five or six and they were magically already behind her, clearly having been picked before the request was even made.  Each one of Patti’s “guests” then showed off some not-so-nifty dance moves or vocal abilities, but not without first telling an unsolicited story of how they’d already met their queen on some previous occasion.  

Arguably the best highlight was the “In Memoriam”-style video at the end during “You Are My Friend.”  It was Ms. LaBelle ceding the spotlight to others — in this case, fallen celebrities ranging from Rick James to David Bowie and from James Brown to Aretha Franklin — which the audience clearly appreciated.  When the images of deceased icons Prince and Michael Jackson popped up at the end, the crowd erupted in applause and a show of appreciation.  

Patti’s show was less concert, more performance art — part soul revue, part QVC promo, part reality TV.  For longtime fans, it was quintessential LaBelle: oversized gowns, wigs, roses, forgotten lyrics, and diva charm.  For others, it may have leaned too far into spectacle at the expense of substance.  

Patti’s Setlist:

“New Attitude”

“Love, Need and Want You”

“The Right Kind of Lover”

“On My Own”

“Music Is My Way of Life”

“Feels Like Another One”

“Isn’t It A Shame” (LaBelle)

“Somebody Loves You Baby”

“When You Talk About Love”

“Boots on the Ground” — Interlude to costume change

“If Only You Knew”

“You Are My Friend”

“Lady Marmalade” (LaBelle)

Songs That Could Have Brought the House Down:

”What Can I Do For You” (LaBelle)

”If You Asked Me To”

”The Best Is Yet to Come” (Grover Washington)

Chaka

And finally there was the headliner, the Queen of Funk, Chaka Khan.  Few singers have overcome as many ups and downs and still come out on top.   Chaka displayed that resilience and then some on show night.

Chaka redeemed herself on this stage, more than atoning for all the meme-worthy material she’d given us in recent years.  Her svelte frame belied her age as she — at 73 — did that famous two-step dance that her fans know and love so well.  And after giving questionable performances as recently as earlier this decade (particularly when she did that ill-advised Verzuz episode with Stephanie Mills several years back, along with other challenging performances circulating the internet), Chaka was far from a joke on this night.

The “Clouds” singer commanded the stage from the start after being introduced by a career retrospective video montage that quickly removed any doubt as to why she was headlining this show.  While a good hype-video producer likely could have done the same for Gladys or, to a lesser extent, Patti, Chaka’s introduction elevated her to top billing, and her performance lived up to it.

Chaka breezed effortlessly through songs like “I Feel For You,” “Tell Me Something Good,” “Do You Love What You Feel?” and “What Cha’ Gonna Do For Me?” while the crowd (and I) enthusiastically sang along.  Her versatility shone through when she slowed the tempo for ballads like “Through the Fire” and “My Funny Valentine.”  The newly minted Rock and Roll Hall of Famer was of fine voice and form, she clearly owned the stage on this night — a big statement considering the other icons she shared it with.

Well, technically, the four soul Queens never actually graced the stage together, which was a disappointment for those of us hoping to see the quartet fittingly join forces for an ensemble performance of Chaka’s “I’m Every Woman.”  It would’ve been the perfect closer.  Instead, Chaka wrapped the show with a solo rendering of that and her last Rufus hit, “Ain’t Nobody.”

Chaka’s setlist:

“I Feel For You”

“Do You Love What You Feel?”

“What Cha’ Gonna Do For Me?”

“Sweet Thing” (Rufus)

“Through the Fire”

“My Funny Valentine”

”Tell Me Something Good” (Rufus)

“I’m Every Woman”

“Ain’t Nobody” (Rufus)

Songs I’d have loved to hear:

“Once You Get Started” (Rufus)

“Stay” (Rufus)

“You Got the Love” (Rufus)

”Please Pardon Me” (Rufus)

“Clouds”

“It’s My Party”

“Hollywood” (Rufus)

“At Midnight” (Rufus)

“Pack’d My Bags” (Rufus)

In the end, the night belonged to the memories — and to Chaka, who earned her headliner status with a commanding set that reminded everyone of her rightful place in the pantheon.  Stephanie proved she’s still a vocal powerhouse.  Gladys, even under physical duress, showed more soul in one note than most singers manage in a lifetime.  Patti, ever the entertainer, gave a show that leaned heavily on flair, less on fire.  Four queens, four journeys — not all equal, but all legendary.  And while they never shared the stage together, the collective impact of their music made this concert one for the ages… and one that any true fan should see if it stops at a venue near you.

DJRob

DJRob (he/him) is a freelance music blogger from the East Coast who covers R&B, hip-hop, disco, pop, rock and country genres – plus lots of music news and current stuff!  You can follow him on Bluesky at @djrobblog.bsky.social, X (formerly Twitter) at @djrobblog, on Facebook or on Meta’s Threads.

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