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Who Was Melanie Safka? The Singer Of Brand New Key Passes Away At The Age Of 76
Melanie Safka has passed away, announced by her PR firm on 23 January. Her cause and circumstances were not disclosed, and her children have also confirmed her death to various outlets.
Melanie Safka otherwise just known as Melanie has passed away. The sad news came courtesy of the singer's PR firm, which announced her death on Tuesday 23 January, but didn't disclose any official cause or the exact circumstances. Her children also confirmed her passing to various outlets.
Melanie was a renowned solo female performer who made a significant impact at the OG Woodstock in 1969, leaving a lasting impression on the audience and inspiring more music to follow.
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Melanie Safka passes away at the age of 76
On Wednesday 24 January, Melanie Safka's children shared the sad news in a post on the singer/songwriter's official Facebook page. "This is the hardest post for us to write, and there are so many things we want to say, first, and there’s no easy way except to say it," the statement begins. "Mom passed, peacefully, out of this world and into the next on January, 23rd, 2024."
The post continued, "She was one of the most talented, strong, and passionate women of the era and every word she wrote, every note she sang reflected that. Our world is much dimmer, the colors of a dreary, rainy Tennessee pale with her absence today, but we know that she is still here, smiling down on all of us, on all of you, from the stars."
Her children Leilah, Jeordie, and Beau Jarred shared information about a celebration of life that would be forthcoming. "The event will be open to all of you who want to come and celebrate her. The details will be announced as soon as they are in place. We look forward to seeing you there," the post reads.
In 1989, she won the Outstanding Achievement in Music and Lyrics award with Lee Holdridge for composing the lyrics to the Beauty and the Beast(1987-1990) theme song, starring Ron Perlman, Roy Dotrice, Jay Acovone, Linda Hamilton, and Renn Woods.
The late singer's discography includes her Billboard Hot 100 chart-topper Brand New Key, What Have They Done to My Song Ma and Lay Down. According to her website, Melanie co-founded Neighborhood Records with her husband Peter Schekeryk, making her the first American woman to open a mainstream record label.
Who was Melanie Safka?
Melanie Safka was born in Astoria, New York on February 3, 1947, and raised in Queens. She studied at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts, but it was her interest in performing at the folk clubs of Greenwich Village that would lead to her ultimate career path. Melanie was a virtual unknown when she was helicoptered into the Woodstock Festival in 1969 before she had any hits on the radio. In 1989, and again in 2019, as the festival reached landmark anniversaries, she wrote about the experience for Rolling Stone.
“I had my first out-of-body experience. I was terrified,” she said. “I just left my body, going to a side, higher view. I watched myself walk onto the stage, sit down and sing a couple of lines. And when I felt it was safe, I came back. It started to rain right before I went on. Ravi Shankar had just finished up his performance, and the announcer said that if you lit candles, it would help to keep the rain away. By the time I finished my set, the whole hillside was a mass of little flickering lights. I guess that’s one of the reasons I came back to my body.”
Melanie had her biggest hits at the outset of the 1970s with the Buddah label, which she left in 1971 to found her own label, becoming a pioneer for independent artists. She had recently signed with the L.A.-based Cleopatra label, which has been in the process of bringing together her entire post-Buddah catalog for reissue.
In early January, according to her label, Melanie recorded a cover of Morrissey’s Ouija Board Ouija Board for a forthcoming tribute album celebrating his music. She had also just cut a version of Nine Inch Nails’ Hurt, for her planned covers album, Second Hand Smoke. Other songs she had recorded for the new record included Radiohead’s Creep, the Moody Blues’ Nights In White Satin, Depeche Mode’s Enjoy the Silence and David Bowie’s Everyone Says Hi.
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