15 Years Of “Lady Marmalade” by P!nk, Mya, Christina Aguilera and Lil’ Kim

Today, 15 years ago, the song “Lady Marmalade” was released in the version of Pink, Mya, Christina Aguilera and Lil’ Kim. Also featuring Missy Elliott, who produced the song together with Rockwilder.

In many countries, it was the third time this song climbed the charts.

Moulin Rouge

It was the soundtrack of the Baz Luhrmann movie, “Moulin Rouge!”, starring Nicole Kidman and Ewan McGregor, that put the four ladies together. You know how soundtrack for big movies always get the best one-off collaborations. But this one, being all major female stars coming together, included major diva moments.

Lady Marmalade

This epic collabo turns 15 today

Does The Song Have High Parts?

According to Pink, a rep for Christina Aguilera, immediately claimed the high parts of the song – removing them from her parts – but she, in true Pink style, stood her ground and held her own on the song.

In the end, this song would be Christina Aguilera’s last number one in the US charts, to date. For Pink another number one hit single would follow in 2008. So, she has the last high note after all, ha!

Lady Legendary

By the time the song was recorded and ready to go, Missy Elliott knew the song was going to be a major hit, even calling it “legendary”. She revealed this during the shooting of the video in a behind-the-scenes-documentary by MTV. That same documentary shows that the ladies got on really well by then.

Patti LaBelle

As you may know, this version is not the original. Patti LaBelle was responsible for the first and original version of the song. Her girl group, LaBelle, took the song to the charts in the middle of the 70s. It’s been one of those songs that has never stopped playing on the radio since.

Especially the notorious French lines – and their meaning – are one of the main reasons for the songs popularity. Hence, the lines “Voulez-vouz coucher avec moi (ce soir)?” mean “Do you want to sleep with me (tonight)?”.

All Saints

In Europe, the song made it to the charts again in 1997. This time in the version of All Saints, whom released it on their double a-sided single. The other side of this release contained a cover of “Under The Bridge”, originally by the Red Hot Chili Peppers.

P!nk, Mya, Christina Aguilera, Lil’ Kim, Missy Elliott

The first line of the song got altered in this version to mention the movie Moulin Rouge. The theme of the musical movie also continues in the video, which shows the women performing a peep show in a 1940s night club. It gave the famous singers and rappers an opportunity to go all out with hair and make up, as you can see. Looks like a lot of fun.

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