Bomb Threat Shuts Down Patti LaBelle Concert

Dillon BurroughsDecember 11, 2022

A Patti LaBelle concert in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, was evacuated on Saturday night following a bomb threat.

A security team interrupted the singer as she spoke to the crowd and quickly escorted LaBelle, 78, off the stage of the Riverside Theater. Attendees seemed unaware of the threat and soon began to grow concerned, with some screams heard.

#Milwaukee pic.twitter.com/jBD4MhbnDv

— Shane B. Murphy (@shanermurph) December 11, 2022

Another video showed concert-goers outside the venue as police secured and searched the theater.

“We do not know if we can go back inside to the venue. It is up to the Riverside Theater if we can go back inside,” the person taking the video added in the video. “But right now, everything’s on halt.”

The Milwaukee Police Department provided a brief update following the clearing of the venue, stating “all patrons have been safely evacuated” and that the “investigation is fluid and ongoing.”

“The building was searched by K9 units. No explosive devices were discovered. There is no threat to the public at this time,” a later statement, released at 1:13 a.m. CT on Sunday, added, according to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.

The Pabst Theater Group later announced the postponement of the event.

“We are working with the artist to reschedule the show,” the group tweeted.

LaBelle has not posted about the threat on her social media platforms as of publication.

LaBelle has been a well-known R&B musician for decades. She began as the lead singer of Patti LaBelle and the Bluebelles in the 1960s. The group changed its name to Labelle and released the hit single “Lady Marmalade” in 1974. LaBelle has sold more than 50 million albums during her career.

She has also been an actress in several TV shows and films. LaBelle recently appeared in a 2022 episode of “The Neighborhood” and was featured in the 2022 holiday film “A New Orleans Noel” on Lifetime and the 2019 film “A Family Christmas Gift.”