Power Point project on singer Darlene Love.

1. Darlene Love
By Juliana Jimenez

2. Rolling Stone
proclaimed Darlene
Love one of the
greatest singers of all
times. The New York
Times declared that her
“thunderbolt voice” is
as embedded in the
history of rock and roll
as Eric Clapton's guitar
or Bob Dylan's lyrics.
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3. However, Love’s
name isn’t nearly as
recognizable as
that of Clapton’s
and Dylan’s. QuickTime™ and a
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4. That is because for
much of her life
she worked in
relative anonymity
in studios and on
stages, backing up
others.
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5. She was often known as
popular music’s greatest
session vocalist and backup
singer, Love has been called
The most successful unknown
singer in rock and roll history. QuickTime™ and a
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6. Born in Los Angeles,
California, in 1941,
Darlene Love began
performing as a
backup singer for
artists including Elvis
Presley, Aretha
Franklin and Frank
Sinatra.
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7. She was invited to
join the girl group
The Blossoms,
which eventually
led her to be
noticed by music
producer Phil
Spector.
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8. She was discovered
by Spector in 1962.
Despite her success
as a backup
performer, however,
she struggled to gain
fame for her solo
endeavors.
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9. Love sang lead on
a string of Phil
Spector produced
hits from the early
Sixties, including
the seasonal
classic (Christmas)
Baby Please Come
Home.
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Darlene sang the lead vocals on
Spector’s first big hit He’s A Rebel –
credited not to her but to girl group
The Crystals. The tracks she recorded
continued to be released as The
Crystals.

11. She sang
background vocals
on numerous other
hits that Spector
produced for his
label, including the
Crystals’ Da Doo
Ron Ron, the
Ronettes’ Be My
Baby, and the
Righteous Brothers’
You’ve Lost That
Lovin’ Feelin’.
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12. Love wanted to be
the lead vocalist on
River Deep –
Mountain High, and
although that
assignment went to
Tina Turner, she sang
backup on the session
and has subsequently
made the song a
highlight of her live
performances
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13. “One time I had to
make a list of all the
people I’ve worked
for, Love recalled in a
1985 Goldmine
interview. The list was
unreal, with over 200
famous people we
had actually backed
up over fifteen years.”-
Darlene Love
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14. Darlene sang backup for
artists like Sam Cooke, Elvis
Presley, Dionne Warwick,
Cher and Aretha Franklin.
She also toured the
country as a member of
Bob. B. Soxx and the Blue
Jeans and had a regular
spot on the TV show
Shindig, where she crossed
paths with such legends as
Marvin Gaye, Ray Charles
and the Supremes.
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15. Over the years Darlene
Love has collected not
just hits but some juicy
bits of musical history:
Elvis coming on to her
after they worked
together on his
legendary ’68
comeback TV special,
the wild parties she
witnessed while touring
with Tom Jones, and her
love affair with Bill
Medley of the Righteous
Brothers.
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16. The huge demand for her
backup singing kept her too
preoccupied to aggressively
pursue a solo effort. At times she
also encountered almost
ridiculously bad luck. Her catchy
single "Christmas (Baby Please
Come Home)" was released just
two weeks before the John F.
Kennedy assassination and then
virtually disappeared from the
airwaves as only somber music
was allowed on the radio that
holiday season. Undaunted,
Love continued to promote the
song, and it eventually became
almost synonymous with holiday
music.
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17. Despite her many
near misses with
superstardom, Love
does not look back
on her life with
sadness. "I had my
home, my family," she
says. "Session work let
you do the music and
leave."
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18. Darlene’s epiphany
came one day at the
age of 40 when she
decided she was tired
of her vocals being
used as “an expensive
accessory” to other
artists. Her
determination to
begin her solo career
in midlife came after
working at a dry
cleaner and as a
maid in Beverly Hills.
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19. She has gone on to
appear in all four
Lethal Weapon
movies, has had
several starring roles
on Broadway, and
has been headlining
concert tours
worldwide.
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20. In 2011, Love
finally received the
recognition she
long deserved
when she was
inducted into the
Rock and Roll Hall
of Fame.
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21. Darlene Love was
recently featured
in the 2013
documentary 20
Feet From
Stardom.
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22. 20 Feet From
Stardom is all
about the hard
working, and
underrated lives of
background
singers.
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23. The documentary
won an Academy
Award, and in true
Darlene Love
fashion, she sang
her acceptance
speech, and
received a
standing ovation.
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24. In 1998 Darlene
Love wrote her
autobiography,
My Name is Love.
It was re-released
in 2013.
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25. In April, 2014, it
was announced
that Oprah Winfrey
would be
adapting My
Name is Love into
a movie starring
Toni Braxton, as
Darlene Love.
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26. Darlene Love has
had such a
fascinating career
spanning 50 years.
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27. She is a true
testament to
anyone never that
you should never
give up on your
dreams!
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28. Works Cited
http://www.metro.co.uk/2014/03/27/20-feet-from-stardoms-
darlene-love-i-was-the-voice-of-the-phil-spector-sound-
4679611/
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/tag/darlene-love/
http://www.darleneloveworld.com/
http://www.biography.com/people/darlene-love-17170008
https://rockhall.com/inductees/darlene-love/bio/
http://www.oldies.about.com/od/girlgroups/p/darlenelov
e.htm