Melanie, a singer who had hits in the 1970s with “Brand New Key” and “Lay Down (Candles in the Rain),” died Tuesday.
She will be missed. She was 76 years old.
In a post on Wednesday, her children, Leilah, Jeordie, and Beau Jarred, told everyone about it. No one knows what killed her, but in their statement, her reps said she had been “ill.”
“This post was the hardest for us to write because we have so many things to say. There’s no easy way to say them all however…” “Mom peacefully crossed over from this world to the next on January 23, 2024,” her children wrote.
To remember their mom, they asked fans to light a candle on Wednesday at 10 p.m. Central time.
“She was one of the smartest, bravest, and most passionate women of her time, and it showed in everything she wrote and sang,” they wrote. “Without her, our world is much darker, and the colors of a dull, rainy Tennessee are washed out. But we know she is still here, smiling down at us from the stars.”
Melanie, whose real name was Melanie Safka, was making a new record with cover songs not long ago. Cleopatra, her record label, said that the album, called Second Hand Smoke, would have been her 32nd.
Melanie played at Woodstock when she was 22 years old. She told the AP in 2019 that she was scared to play at the music festival in front of hundreds of thousands of people. Other artists performing there included Joan Baez, Jimi Hendrix, and the Grateful Dead. She said she was getting more and more anxious as she waited hours to perform.
She said, “The fear kept building up in me.” “It scared me to think about performing in front of all those people on that big stage by myself.” After that, it started to rain, and I was sure that everyone would leave. There’s rain outside, I’m free, and I’ll go back to my old life. I might become an archaeologist or join the Peace Corps. “They told me, ‘You’re next,’”
Melanie was born in Astoria, New York, on February 3, 1947. While she was trying to become a singer, she went to school at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts. In Greenwich Village, she set up shows at coffee shops and folk clubs. In 1967, she met Peter Schekeryk, who would become her manager, producer, and husband.
Two singles, “Beautiful People” and “Garden in the City,” were released by Columbia Records. But, according to her reps, Clive Davis wouldn’t let her record an album, so she left Columbia Records for Buddah Records, which put out her first album. Woodstock, on the other hand, was her big break.
Her first big hit in the U.S. was “Lay Down.” Then came “Peace Will Come,” “What Have They Done to My Song Ma,” “The Nickel Song,” and a cover of the Rolling Stones’ “Ruby Tuesday.” Billboard named her the best-selling female artist in the U.S. that year.
Her reps say that when she started her own record label, Neighborhood Records, it was the first independent rock label owned by a woman. The world’s best-selling single, “Brand New Key,” was her first release for Neighborhood. A commercial for HP printers brought the song to the attention of new people a few years ago.
Melanie became a UNICEF spokesperson and kept putting out albums until her husband Michael died in 2010. She did, however, often perform live with her children and record and produce shows of their home concerts for the Internet.
Some of the songs she covers on her new album are “Ouija Board Ouija Board” by Morrissey and “Hurt” by Nine Inch Nails.
Read the whole post from her kids below.
A message from Beau Jarred, Leilah, and Jeordie
To All of You,
We’re having a hard time writing this post because we have so many things we want to say first. There’s no easy way. On January 23, 2024, mom peacefully left this world and went to the next.
We are so sad, but we want to thank all of you for how much you loved our mother and tell you that she died loving all of you. Every word she wrote and every note she sang showed that she was one of the smartest, strongest, and most passionate women of her time.
Today, her absence has made our world much darker, and the colors of Tennessee’s gray and rainy days are less vivid. But we know that she is still here, smiling down at us from the stars.
We ask that each of you light a candle tonight, January 24th, at 10 p.m. central time, in Melanie’s honor. Lift them up high, high, high again. Light up the darkness, and let’s all remember the amazing woman who was a wife, mother, grandmother, great-grandmother, and friend to a huge number of people.
We are planning a Celebration of Life for Mom, and anyone who wants to come can. As soon as the details are set, they will be shared. We hope to see you there.
Right now, please give her family some space to grieve, remember her, and figure out how to get through this crazy world without her.
She really appreciated all of your love.
Peace and Love,
Jean, Leilah, and Beau Jarred
