At the age where those who can afford to retire are planning to do so or at least giving it serious consideration, Patti LaBelle (64), Nona Hendryx (64) and Sarah Dash (63), are working harder than ever. Reuniting under the Labelle moniker after more than 30 years, they have released the album Back to Now (Verve). Working with Lenny Kravitz and Wyclef Jean, as well as legendary Philly soul godfathers Gamble & Huff, Labelle sounds as glorious and divalicious as before. Remaining true to their origins and to the formula that brought them fame, the trio is as dazzling as ever – it’s almost as if no time has passed at all. We spoke to Patti, Nona and Sarah shortly before the release of the album.

Gay & Lesbian Times: Patti, Nona and Sarah, did the three of you remain in contact with each other after Labelle first disbanded?

Patti LaBelle: We did. We would talk at least once a month.

Nona Hendryx: And we did a couple of performances with Patti at the Apollo. You [Patti] were filming … it was for your DVD or something.

PL: For Live at the Apollo.

NH: We would go and see each other’s shows. I’d see Patti, she came to see me. I’d see Sarah. Kind of like sisters, I guess (laughs); catch up on the gossip.

GLT: Who gets credit for coming up with the idea for the Labelle reunion?

PL: (Laughs)

NH: Patti was always saying it.

PL: I was the town-crier. I was spreading the word. Every year I would say that we were getting back together. People would go crazy. And I knew that eventually we would. But I knew that it wouldn’t be anytime soon in my future, because I had a lot of stuff to do. But I kept keeping the hope alive. But I knew that we would – I just didn’t tell them the truth about how long it would take (laughs). I said, we will get together and when we do get together it’s going to be the three original girls. Not two girls from someplace else. It has to be Sarah, Nona and me.

Sarah Dash: Right!

PL: People were very happy about that information and it finally came true. So, I wasn’t lying! I was just prolonging.

SD: Sometimes our family members – and Nona experienced the same thing – they would go, “Oh, my god! When is the reunion?” And we’d go, “Huh?”

PL: A lot of times, folks were at the show, and they would tell Sarah and Nona, “Oh, Patti says you’re getting back together.” And they said, “Yeah, we are!” They didn’t know what to say, because they didn’t know when. But I said it every chance I got, because I knew it was inevitable.

GLT: In terms of working together, does it feel like picking up right where you left off?

PL: It does to me. To me it feels like we’re picking up because the sound still remains the same.

SD: It does feel like we’re picking up. The other day when we did (W)DAS, a radio station in Philadelphia, we performed live and it was just wonderful banging into each other and doing all the same things. And just to hear Pat’s voice again with Nona and mine – it just feels like we took a vacation and we’re back.

NH: It was a live, in-studio radio broadcast with people who won a contest as an audience. And it was great because there was a woman who was actually crying and Pat went over and hugged her, because she was so thrilled to win the tickets and to be there and that we were together again. It was great!

GLT: Then would you say that this disc is as much a gift for your fans of, shall we say, a certain age, as it is for younger generations?

SD: Uh-huh!

NH: Definitely. I think for our fans, the baby-boomers out there, who have been missing and wanting and longing for Labelle music and for us to be together again – I think it’s a dream come true for them. Somebody said the other day that they never thought they’d be holding another record by Labelle. And for the younger audience, who grew up with their parents playing it in the house, they now get a chance to hear a new CD, new music, and to see live performances that their parents have probably bored them to death about (laughs).

GLT: One of the remarkable things about Back To Now, is the way that the songs, including “Candlelight,” “Superlover” and “Without You In My Life,” remain faithful to the vintage Labelle sound. Was it a conscious decision not to divert from the original recipe?

PL: It was very conscious.

SD: Yes.

PL: We knew that we had to still be Labelle. (But) we’re older, so we also had to do age-appropriate music. When we were 35 years younger, we were still doing age-appropriate music, and we were still a little ahead of our time, since there were not many women singing about politics and sexual whatever you want to call it (laughs) – my son calls it “poor choices” as far as his mother’s concerned, he doesn’t like me singing anything sexual, but we do. We did back in the day and we do now. And when you think about it, there aren’t any three-girl groups left. We’re the only three-girl group out there now. We’re singing music that older folks and younger folks, anybody with a listening ear and who wants to think about what’s happening to our world today, they’ll listen to Labelle’s new CD and they’ll hear every kind of subject matter that people are talking about on this new CD.

GLT: I’m so glad that you mentioned politics, because with this extremely important Presidential election on everyone’s minds, I wanted to ask you about some of the more political songs – “Dear Rosa,” “Tears For The World,” “How Long” – on the disc. Was it for you to be able to use this album as a medium for expressing those sentiments?

PL: It wasn’t that we meant to do that, it’s just who we are. The song “System,” we did that 30 years ago. It was relevant then and it’s relevant now. In the song, Sarah’s sort of like the undecided voter, Nona is kind of like a McCain kind of person and I’m an Obama kind of person.

NH and SD: (laughs)

PL: And we’re both trying to get Sarah to come to either side. That’s what the system is today. They’re having these debates trying to get the undecided voters to vote for somebody. In this song we’re saying the same thing; how the world is twisted and they don’t know which way to go. Especially right now with the way the economy is and everything else; everybody’s jacked up. They don’t know if Obama’s too black or too white because he’s both – he’s everyman. They don’t know if McCain’s too old or Palin’s too silly. They don’t know what to do. The album is timely, but not intentionally.

SD: In the past, Nona wrote a song called “I Believe I Finally Made it Home,” and there is a line in the song about having hope. That’s something that we’ve always said in our music; back in the day, in the ’70s, so we’re just picking up and saying something different, but saying the same (thing).

GLT: As three women who played significant roles in establishing the soul sound that many of us know today, what do you think of the retro soul revival, exemplified by the new Raphael Saadiq disc, as well as by Amy Winehouse and others?

PL: I think it’s wonderful. This new guy named Dwele and so many young people with great thoughts, great writing skills; and they have to compete with Nona Hendryx, who I think is the best writer in the world.

SD: Even some of the rap stars used the old James Brown licks and sequenced them into their music. They appreciated it and used it in their music for the young kids, never realizing that we, the classic musicians, have been a staple there.

GLT: I recently interviewed jazz performer Patricia Barber about her new album The Cole Porter Mix and Back To Now closes with Labelle’s wondrous rendition of “Miss Otis Regrets.”

PL: And you know what else, honey? That should have said on there: “Recorded 30 years ago.”

NH: That was recorded in 1970.

SD: Yes.

GLT: Do you think there might be a Cole Porter revival on the horizon and Labelle wants to be part of that wave?

PL: There should be.

SD: There were a lot of fans who put “Miss Otis Regrets” on YouTube. And it was being played there. And it was almost as if they said that this is something that they want to hear today. Nona met with the guy to do the digital mix of the song, to take out the noise. I think we recorded it on eight tracks, you guys?

NH: We found an eight-track master tape. It was digitally remastered. We were going to do it from the vinyl, but it had so much noise, so much crackling on it. It was a limited release 45 out of England and we were able to find the tape and digitally remaster it. That’s why it sounds as good as it does – he did a great job. And Cole Porter is always relevant; one of the greatest lyricists and songwriters, I think, ever. The fact that you have a record called Back to Now, where you have Cole Porter and then you have Wyclef Jean – that is then and now.

GLT: Back To Now comes out 10 days before Halloween. Do you anticipate seeing an increase in Labelle-themed drag queens in Halloween parades in gayborhoods across the country?

PL: We better!

SD: I hope so!

NH: (Laughs) That would be great!

GLT: So it’s safe to say that there won’t be any AARP magazine stories about how Patti, Nona and Sarah are enjoying their retirement any time soon?

PL, NH, SD: (Laugh)

SD: The hardest working woman in show business and her cohorts.

PL: [You’re] going to see a lot of Labelle for a long, long time, darling. And I know we have a few more CDs in us.