Lynda Laurence the departure of Florence Ballard in 1967 and lead singer Diana Ross in 1970, was about to lose another member of the group, Cindy Birdsong, who was expecting a baby. Birdsong originally replaced Tucker in the group The Ordettes, later to be named Patti LaBelle & the Bluebelles, so it was ironic that Tucker's sister, Laurence took Birdsong's place as a backing vocalist. At this time, Jean Terrell was the lead singer of The Supremes. Laurence joined the group around the time the group issued their "Floy Joy" album, and appeared on the cover with Terrell and Wilson, though Birdsong
Cindy Birdsong being initially impressed with the looks of Patsy Holt before Holt and the group sang to him during an audition, which prompted Robinson to change his mind, signing the group and changing the name of both the group (into The Blue Belles, based from a Newtown subsidiary, Blue Belle Records) and Holt's own name, from Patsy Holt to Patti LaBelle. The group had their first hit with "I Sold My Heart to the Junkman" in 1962 though LaBelle wrote in her memoirs that the song was actually recorded by The Starlets. When the controversy over the song wound down, the