Melanie, 76, gained fame after a famous Woodstock Festival performance and later wrote a song inspired by the experience, ‘Lay Down (Candles in the Rain).
MelanieSafka, an American singer and songwriter best known for her global hit song ‘Brand New Key,’ passed away on Tuesday, January 23, 2024. She was 76 years old at the time of her passing.
Her children, Leilah, Jeordie, and Beau Jarred, announced the sad news in a post on her official social media page and paid a heartfelt tribute to their late mother.
“We are heartbroken, but 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 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.”
They requested everyone to light a candle in her honor on Wednesday, January 24, at 10 p.m. “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.”
Who was Melanie Safka?
Melanie Safka was an American singer and songwriter born in Astoria, New York, on February 3, 1947, and raised in Queens. She studied at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts. She began her career in singing by performing at the folk clubs of Greenwich Village.
Melanie gained notoriety with her globally hit song “Brand New Key,” her 1970 version of “Ruby Tuesday,” originally written and performed by The Rolling Stones. She composed “Look What They’ve Done to My Song Ma” and her 1970 international breakthrough hit “Lay Down (Candles in the Rain),” which was inspired by her performance at the 1969 Woodstock music festival.
The Song reached No. 6 on the Hot 100 in 1970. It was not the only single that earned her notoriety; her song “Brand New Key” ranked No.1. These two songs were the only singles to make it to the top 10 hit in the US. Her cover, “Ruby Tuesday,” reached the top 10 in the UK.