American singer-songwriter Melanie has died at the age of 76. Her children announced this on Thursday. She had her biggest hits around 1970, such as Beautiful People in Brand New Key.
Melanie Safka tellingly called her last tour The First Lady Of Woodstock. Forever linked to the legendary festival in 1969 where she launched her career as a 22-year-old singer-songwriter. In recent years she has reminisced about the festival, including an extensive tour through the Netherlands.
In addition to that one Woodstrock performance, there was of course also the music. Beautiful People, above all. But hits such as Ruby Tuesday, Brand New Key and Lay Down (Candles In The Rain) are also part of her catalog. Together with her partner, producer and manager Peter Schekeryk, she always continued to visit the stage. When he passed away in 2010, her son Beau-Jarred joined him from now on.
Her three children write on social media that the singer died peacefully in her sleep on Wednesday. Nothing has been released about the cause of death.
