Patti LaBelle, 71, Dating Drummer Eric Seats, 41

Patti LaBalle has been secretly dating her drummer Eric Seats, who is 30 years her junior.

Patti LaBelle’s Younger Man

LaBelle, 71, and Seats, 41, have been seeing one another for the last year and a half, according to the Daily Mail. Seats has served as her drummer for the last several years, but things only turned romantic for the pair more recently.

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“She tried to keep it quiet, but everyone around her has figured things out now. She’s completely smitten with him and they spend so much time together,” a source told the Daily Mail.

The sparks started to fly after LaBelle had just ended a rocky relationship, and Seats caught her eye.

“It wasn’t long before he was helping her heal her broken heart,” the source claimed. “He made her feel at ease and she loved that he had such a vast experience working in the music business.”

Seats had long been based in Los Angeles, but after things started to get serious with LaBelle, he relocated to Philadelphia to live with the singer.

“Patti was so happy he moved to Philly with her. She loves having him with her all the time,” says the insider. “She even has a big portrait of the two of them up on her wall in her bedroom.”

“Everything they do now, they do it together. She hasn’t seemed this happy in years,” the source added. “Apparently those who know him, say he’s always dated older women.”

The Godmother of Soul’s son Zuri Edwards isn’t quite as keen about LaBelle and Seats’ relationship, fearing that it won’t end well for his mother.

“Not only is Zuri her son, but he’s her manager as well. He saw how hard she took her last breakup with the much-younger man she was seeing and just doesn’t want to see his mom hurt again,’ the source explained.

LaBelle was married to Zuri’s father Armstead Edwards for 31 years before they split in 2000. Prior to her relationship with Edwards, she had been engaged to The Temptations singer Otis Williams.