Melanie Dies

Melanie Anne Safka-Schekeryk was born on February 3, 1947, in Astoria, Queens, New York City, USA. She grew up in the Astoria neighborhood and began singing in her local church choir at a young age. Melanie developed a passion for folk music and began writing songs during her teenage years.

Melanie’s career took off in the late 1960s. Her breakthrough moment came with her performance at the Woodstock Festival in 1969, where she delivered a memorable set. Following Woodstock, Melanie released her debut album, “Born to Be,” in 1968. However, it was her fifth album, “Candles in the Rain” (1970), that included the hit single “Lay Down (Candles in the Rain),” which catapulted her to international fame.

“Lay Down (Candles in the Rain)” was inspired by the Woodstock audience lighting candles during her set. It was her first top ten hit reaching number 6 on the Billboard Hot 100. The record was ranked number 23 on the Billboard Year-End Hot 100 singles of 1970. It was released March 7, 1970 on Buddah Records.

In 1970, Melanie was the only artist to ignore a court injunction banning the Powder Ridge Rock Festival, which was scheduled to be held on July 31, August 1 and 2, 1970. She played for the crowd on a homemade stage powered by Mister Softee ice cream trucks. Not long after this performance, she played at the Strawberry Fields Festival held from August 7 to 9, 1970, at Mosport Park in Ontario. She also performed at the Isle of Wight Festival, held between August 26 and 30, 1970, at Afton Down.

At the festival, she was introduced by Keith Moon and received four standing ovations. In June 1971, she was the artist who sang to herald in the summer solstice at Glastonbury Fayre (later the Glastonbury Festival) in England.

In 1971 she left Buddah Records finding them too demanding and formed her own record label, Neighborhood Records, with Peter Schekeryk, who was also her producer and husband. In 1972, she had her biggest hit, “Brand New Key”. The tune reached number 1 on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart, as well as, Cash Box, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and South Africa.

The follow-up single to “Brand New Key” was “Ring the Living Bell”. To compete with this release, Melanie’s former record company released “The Nickel Song”, which she had recorded while still signed to Buddah Records. Both songs were simultaneous top 40 hits while

“Brand New Key” was still on the charts, setting a record for the first female performer to have three top 40 hits at the same time. Melanie won Billboard’s No. 1 Top Female Vocalist award for 1972 and was awarded two gold albums, and a gold single for “Brand New Key”. Melanie released 28 studio Albums, 13 Live albums, and 59 singles during her career.

Melanie died Tuesday, January 23, 2024, at the age of 76. Her death was announced on Facebook by her children, Leilah, Jeordie, and Beau Jarred. The trio did not share a cause of death, but said that Melanie had “passed, peacefully, out of this world and into the next.”