Labelle head against the wall until it began to bleed severely. She was removed from the theater in restraints. Feeling the group had reached the end of its rope, Patti LaBelle advised the group to disband as long as their friendship remained intact. Nona Hendryx and Sarah Dash agreed and formally announced their split at the end of 1976 after fourteen years together. Following her departure from the Blue Belles, Cindy Birdsong enjoyed success as member of the Supremes, singing background on hits such as "Stoned Love". Birdsong prominently left the group in 1975, only sporadically recording music as a solo
Singing News Fan Awards for Favorite Group Singing News Fan Awards for Favorite Group The Singing News Favorite Group award is awarded in the yearly Singing News Fan Awards ceremony held at the National Quartet Convention every September. It is awarded to the Southern gospel group which readers of the Singing News Magazine judge to be the best group on the road. This award was awarded from the first ceremony in every year from 1970 through 1996, except for 1981. In 1997, the award was split into three more specialized awards, Favorite Traditional Male Quartet, Favorite Mixed Quartet, and Favorite Trio. In the 2007 Fan Awards, the