AMERICAN singer Melanie Safka has died aged 76, her family has announced.
The folk musician, known for the song Brand New Key and her cover of the Rolling Stones song Ruby Tuesday, passed away “peacefully” on Tuesday.
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American singer Melanie Safka has died at the age of 76, her family announced Credit: Getty
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The folk musician passed away ‘peacefully’ on TuesdayCredit: BackGrid
Her death was also confirmed by her label, Cleopatra Records, via Glass Onion PR.
In a Facebook post, Melania’s children Leilah, Jeordie and Beau Jarred said: “We are heartbroken, but we want to thank each and every one of you for the love you have for our mother and tell you that she loved you all 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 darker, the colors of dreary, rainy Tennessee fade with her absence today, but we know she’s still here, smiling down on all of us, all of you, from the stars.”
They asked her fans to light a candle to “illuminate the darkness and allow us all to be connected in memory of an extraordinary woman who was a wife, mother, grandmother, great-grandmother and friend to so many.”
Melanie was born in New York on February 3, 1947.
She studied at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts, but the folk clubs of Greenwich Village inspired her singing career.
Raised in Queens, Melanie was virtually unknown until performing at the 1969 Woodstock festival.
That moment was also the basis of Lay Down (Candles in the Rain) – her breakthrough hit.
One of the singer’s songs also inspired the classic Combine Harvester by The Wurzels.
Melanie will forever be known for her 1971 hit Brand New Key.
Still, she told the Guardian in 2021: “It was the bane of my existence for a few years.”
Melanie also made her first appearance at the Glastonbury Festival in June 1971, before a more recent performance in 2011.
The year before, she performed at the Isle of Wight festival.
Her husband, producer and manager, Peter Schekeryk, died in 2010.
Details of her funeral will be announced in due course and the family have asked for privacy.
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Melanie performing live at The Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, Netherlands, 1971. Credit: Getty
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Melanie on the main stage at Isle of Wight Festival 2010 Credit: PA
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