Melanie, the folky pop artist who scored a global hit with her 1971 single “Brand New Key,” died on Tuesday. News came via Melanie’s family via her 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… Mom passed, peacefully, out of this world and into the next on January, 23rd, 2024.
We are heartbroken, but want to thank each and every one of you for the affection you have for our Mother, and to tell you that she loved all of you so much! 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.
We ask tonight, Wednesday January 24th, at 10pm central time, each of you lights a candle in honor of Melanie. Raise, raise them high, high up again. Illuminate the darkness, and let us all be connected in remembrance of the extraordinary woman who was wife, mother, grandmother, great-grandmother and friend to so very many people.
Born Melanie Anne Safka on February 3, 1947 in Astoria, Queens, Melanie began performing in the mid-’60s. She found success in Europe first with 1969 singles “Bobo’s Party” and “Beautiful People,” which were radio hits in Germany and the Netherlands. That same year she was one of three women to perform at the original Woodstock festival, an experience that inspired her song “Lay Down (Candles in the Rain),” which became her first Top 10 hit in the US. It was her 1971 single “Brand New Key” that became her signature song, though, going to #1 in the US, the UK, Australia and elsewhere.
Other hits included “Ring the Living Bell,” “Bitter Bad,” and her cover of The Rolling Stones’ “Ruby Tuesday.” Melanie continued to make music after her chart success faded, and according to The Hollywood Reporter, she was currently working on her 32nd album which featured covers of Morrissey’s “Ouija Board Ouija Board” and Nine Inch Nails’ “Hurt.”
Rest in peace, Melanie. Thanks for the music.
