Four legendary Queens of R&B were on the marquee Thursday, but it was the Queen of Bounce who stole the night.
New Orleans’ Big Freedia was in the Smoothie King Center to see Gladys Knight, Stephanie Mills, Patti LaBelle and Chaka Khan on The Queens: 4 Legends, 1 Stage tour. When LaBelle closed her set, she asked for five male fans to get on stage. To her surprise, the voice of New Orleans bounce was a fifth of the quintet.
“I didn’t know Big Freedia was here,” Labelle said. “Freedia got to do a little more for Ms. Patti Patti. Come on, Free!”
Freedia then waited for the next beat drop to deliver her iconic ad-libs.
Getcha, getcha getcha, do, do it for Patti! Freedia sang.
The night was filled with fun as the quartet of vocalists aged 69 to 81 took the stage and sang into the souls of each fan in attendance.
Gladys Knight
Gladys Knight kicked off the show with “Love Overboard.” There has been much speculation about Knight’s performances over the past year.
In August 2025, Knight’s son, Shanga Hankerson, did an interview with The Shade Room and claimed his mother has been showing signs of declining cognitive health. Hankerson specifically pointed to her live performances, in which she appeared to miss some lyrics as the backup singers filled in the blanks.
Knight denied her sons’ claims and said she’s “doing very well for someone who has been on stage for three quarters of a century.”
Soul singer Gladys Knight performs on the Congo Square stage during the 50th annual Jazz Fest at the fairgrounds in New Orleans, La., Friday, May 3, 2019.
Advocate staff photo by SHAWN FINK
On Thursday night, Knight had moments where the backup singers kept the show going. Her set list also took a detour to perform covers of gospel classics “Stand” by Donnie McClurkin and Richard Smallwood’s “Total Praise.”
“God is good, you know,” Knight said before performing the gospel tracks.
Knight closed the set with “Midnight Train to Georgia,” an emphatic performance where she sang all the lyrics and worked well with the crowd.
Stephanie Mills
A standout moment of Mills’ set was hearing Jason, her adopted son, sing in falsetto on “I Have Learned To Respect The Power Of Love.”
Mills and her trio of backup singers tossed a bouquet of roses into the audience. Mills said she wanted the fans to feel loved. She wanted the fans to feel at home.
Slowly, a transition occurred. The atmosphere shifted from concert to a spiritual experience.
Mills performed a powerful “Home.” Behind her, a slideshow of her late friends and celebrities played on the big screen, including her ex-boyfriend Michael Jackson, Whitney Houston, Kobe Bryant, John Lewis and Muhammad Ali. The energy of the NBA-sized arena suddenly felt as intimate as the Saenger Theatre.
The room shook.
Stephanie Mills performs onstage in the VVIP Superlounge Experience during Day 3 of the 2025 ESSENCE Festival of Culture presented by Coca-Cola at Caesars Superdome on July 06, 2025 in New Orleans, Louisiana.
Photo by Josh Brasted/Getty Images for ESSENCE
Some of the emotions were nostalgia for the theatrical version of “The Wiz,” not to be confused with Diana Ross’ version in the silver-screen edition. It was enough to trigger moments of reflection.
As the DJ spun R&B classics and Hot Boys records , fans speculated whether Khan or LaBelle would be next.
Patti Labelle
It was indeed Ms. Patti LaBelle. The woman that one generation knows for producing popular store-brand desserts, and a slightly older generation knows as the sampled voice on popular rap songs from the 2000s, made it clear exactly who she is.
“I was the first to do it,” Labelle, who donned a lovely red dress with a bang swooped over her left eye, said. “I’m 81 years young. So don’t ever be ashamed of your age, girlfriend. If you’re 100, say you’re 100 years young.”
LaBelle went from hit to hit, including “The Right Kinda Lover,” “Somebody Loves You Baby” and “If Only You Knew.” She was in key and sounded on par with the era when she originally recorded these songs in the studio.
Patti LaBelle performs on the Congo Square Stage during the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival at the Fair Grounds Race Course in New Orleans, Sunday, May 4, 2025.
STAFF PHOTO BY SCOTT THRELKELD
In-between selections, she sipped from a glass of wine and checked herself in the mirror while jamming to the next song.
The energy stayed high during a breakdown that included a remix of T.I’s “Let ‘Em Know.” She took an intermission that allowed just enough time for the DJ to spin a couple songs and trombone player Jeff Bradshaw to cover Tevin Campbell’s “Can We Talk.”
She returned to the stage in a green dress and a different hairstyle. She closed with 1974’s “Lady Marmalade,” which had some New Orleans flavor on it from Freedia.
Chaka Khan
The 73-year-old Khan still moves great around the stage, but now leaves some of her more strenuous vocal runs to her backup singers or the audience.
Tony Maiden, the longtime guitarist for the band Rufus, has been replaced by Jon Dretto, a 27-year-old whom Khan hired in April 2025. In front of an older crowd, Dretto got a chance to show off his range in a funky “Tell Me Something Good” solo.
Khan’s visuals are those you’d imagine from taking psychedelics. During her set, fans slowly started to depart as the clock struck 11:17 p.m. But the classics kept coming . As Khan played records like “Sweet Thang,” some people who previously sat down rose back to their feet.
Chaka Khan performs on the Congo Square stage during the 50th annual Jazz Fest at the Fairgrounds in New Orleans, Sunday, May 5, 2019.
Advocate Staff photo by SOPHIA GERMER
Through her 53-year career, Khan has learned a thing or two about keeping the people intrigued. She worked the crowd a little and acknowledged a fan holding an older picture of her.
“Sometimes, people like to come up to me and show me pictures of when I was like, 10 or something,” she said.
She went to the other side of the stage and complimented a man’s hat. Before the next beat, the man threw the hat on-stage.
Khan performed her latest single, “Chakzilla,” and rushed back out for an encore of “Ain’t Nobody” before too many fans left . She carried the man’s hat off with her.
All in all, the Queens Tour is an opportunity to give legends their flowers while they can still smell them.