In nineteen hundred and ninety-five, Patti LaBelle sang for Frank Sinatra. It was part of a tribute show that was put together for him. Sinatra was eighty and the show included performances by people like Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen, Eydie Gorme and Paula Abdul. All talented, and brilliant in their own way.

And then Patti LaBelle arrived onstage. She transformed that room into something that can only be described as divine. She was divine. She was lcked into something bigger than everything else in that room. I was in my teens when I watched this - I must have been thirteen or fourteen. Naturally, I became obsessed with it. I watched it voer and over again - as I did with many performances by incredible artists.

I haven't seen it in twenty-five years. I've been so BUSY. So very very busy with my life. Doing very important things. (yawn)

I rewatched it on Saturday. And I cried. I cried really hard. It is one of the most moving, astonishing pieces of art I have ever seen.

It's not just singing. It's not just music. It's a message to an icon. From an icon. It's an anthem to a people. It's a call to arms. It's a moment of love, passion, and sheer force captured on celluloid that will stand the test of time.

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We Will Always Have Art

In this time of uncertainty and anxiety and fear, as men kill and torture and starve, we can feel bereft of all peace. It's as though we have no anchor. We are floating - and the waves have all control.

The world is scary right now. As we are confronted with daily horrors and war and social media doom scrolling - remember that we will always have art. Art will outlive, outsurvive everything. It will survive you and me. It will survive war. It will survive genocide. It will survive business.

It will survive everything.

Because art is ultimate truth. It is malleable. It is not fixed. It runs in the crevices and cracks of everything that seems fixed and immovable. It challenges. It questions. It does not care about money or power. It only cares about truth. And love. And deep, deep commitment to everything that is bigger than politics and economics.

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A love letter to America

I've only been to America once. I loved it. I loved the people.

But America has given me so, so much.

Music.

Film.

Television.

Art.

And I know some Americans now. Through my work. Through LinkedIn. Through colleagues.

​This song, sung by Patti LaBella in nineteen hundred and ninety-five - this is a love letter to America.

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Listen to it. Watch it.

This is art at work.

This is why we will (and MUST) always have art.

​You can (and should) watch it here. ​

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