71-Year-Old Patti LaBelle Dating 41-Year-Old Drummer [Photos]

Eric Seats, Patti LaBelle

71-year-old Patti LaBelle is dating her 41-year-old drummer Eric Seats, according to Daily Mail Online. Reportedly, they’ve been dating for over a year. A source tells the site:

She tried to keep it quiet, but everyone around her has figured things out now. She’s completely smitten with him and they spend so much time together.

The site reports:

The music legend and Seats first met when he was hired to be her drummer several years ago. LaBelle was just coming out of a bad relationship, but thought Seats was attractive and she started to chat with him after her shows.

‘It wasn’t long before he was helping her heal her broken heart,’ the source revealed.
‘He made her feel at ease and she loved that he had such a vast experience working in the music business.Seats packed up and moved across the country just to be with her. He left Los Angeles a year ago for Philadelphia – where LaBelle is based.

‘Patti was so happy he moved to Philly with her. She loves having him with her all the time. She even has a big portrait of the two of them up on her wall in her bedroom,’ told the source.

LaBelle has two Grammys and two American Music Awards for her R&B hits like ‘If Only You Knew’ and ‘The Right Kinda Lover’ and Seats has his own impressive resume.
He has toured with Stevie Wonder, Mary J. Blige, Timbaland and Missy Elliott, in addition to producing songs for Destiny’s Child, Aaliyah, 702 and Tank.

‘Everything they do now, they do it together. She hasn’t seemed this happy in years. Apparently those who know him, say he’s always dated older women,’ said a source.

Seats, LaBelle, Lee Daniels

While LaBelle is happily and love, a source tells the site that her 42-year-old son, Zuri Edwards, is not a fan. In fact he’s said to not like the idea of his mother dating a man that is younger than him. The source explains:

Not only is Zuri her son, but he’s her manager as well. He saw how hard she took her last breakup with the much-younger man she was seeing and just doesn’t want to see his mom hurt again.

In 1964, LaBelle was engaged to Otis Williams, founding member of The Temptations, but broke it off due. In 1969, LaBelle married a longtime friend, Armstead Edwards. After LaBelle started a solo career, Edwards became her manager up until the couple separated in the late 1990s. They divorced in 2003. They have a child, Zuri Kye Edwards (born 1973), who is now her current manager. In addition to Zuri, LaBelle has two adopted sons, Stanley and Dodd.

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