Darlene Love became famous as a brilliant actress and pop singer. The singer has six worthy LPs and a significant number of collections.
In 2011, Darlene Love was finally inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Previously, her name was twice tried to be included in this list, but both times in the end were unsuccessful.
Childhood and youth Darlene Love
Darlene Wright (real name of the singer) was born on July 26, 1941 in Los Angeles. She was brought up in a large family of a priest.
When Darlene Wright was very young, her father was asked to be the founder of a church in San Antonio. He agreed, and in connection with this, the family changed their place of residence.
Darlene's first vocal abilities appeared precisely within the walls of the local church. The girl sang in the choir. In the mid-1950s, the family moved again to California, settling in Hawthorne.
Creative way
As a high school student, the girl received an invitation to become part of the little-known band The Blossoms. In the early 1960s, fortune smiled at her for the second time - she signed a contract with producer Phil Spector.
Darlene had strong vocal skills. It is thanks to this that she managed to stand out among little-known colleagues on the stage. At the beginning of his creative career, Love managed to work with such legends as Sam Cook, Dionne Warwick, Tom Jones and team Beach Boys.
The Blossoms tried to record their own compositions, but music lovers took the songs of a little-known band very cool. Soon the singer had a unique opportunity. She became a backing vocalist for many iconic stars of the 1960s, including singing Da Doo Ron Ron.
It is noteworthy that initially the main party went to Darlene Love. But soon the producer gave the order to erase the part recorded by the singer. The updated version featured the voice of Crystals lead singer Dolores "Lala" Brooks. By the way, this is not the only single where Darlene's voice was removed.
The name of the singer was first mentioned during the presentation of the single Today I Met The Boy I'm Gonna Marry. Then Darlene entered the trio with Bob B. Soxx & The Blue Jeans. In the early 1960s, the singers presented the legendary composition Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah. The song was warmly received by the audience. The track for a long time occupied a leading position in the local charts.
Soon the musicians from The Blossoms got a unique opportunity. They starred in one of the main shows in the mid-1960s. We are talking about the television project Shindig!. This increased the popularity of the team and made the face of Darlene Love even more recognizable.
Creative break in the career of Darlene Love
In the early 1970s, the singer decided to take a short break. This decision was made due to the fact that she wanted to devote more time to her family. Three years later, together with Michelle Phillips, she performed the role of a cheerleader for the composition of the group Cheech & Chong Basketball Jones. As a result, the musical novelty hit the prestigious chart thanks to the efforts of Darlene and Michelle.
Return of the singer to the big stage
Darlene Love returned to the stage in the early 1980s. By that time, even avid "fans" had managed to forget about the singer. The performer decided to update her repertoire a bit. She focused on the gospel music genre. Music lovers reacted very positively to such changes.
Gospel is a musical genre of spiritual Christian music that appeared at the end of the XNUMXth century. The musical direction is usually divided into African-American and Euro-American gospel.
In the mid-1980s, Darlene played in the legendary musical Leader of the Pack. The film told about the stars of rock and roll. Love did not need to try on someone else's image, the woman played herself. The highlight of the musical was the composition River Deep - Mountain High.
At the same time, the singer presented a cover version of the Alley Op composition by The Hollywood Argyles in the comedy film The Hangover. The work was warmly received not only by fans, but also by music critics.
In the late 1980s, Darlene sang along with the U2 team. The singer's voice can be heard on Christmas (Baby Please Come Home). In the early 1990s, she presented the beautiful mini-single All Alone on Christmas. The work sounded in the movie "Home Alone 2: Lost in New York".
Film career Darlene Love and participation in television projects
Besides the fact that Darlene Love built a brilliant career as a singer, she also proved herself as an actress. The peak of her acting career was in the 1980s and 1990s. It was then that she played the main character in the movie "Lethal Weapon".
It is impossible not to note the participation of Darlene in the cult musical Grease. Fans went crazy with her game, which allowed Love until 2008 to regularly appear on television. Until 2008, the actress played Motormouth Maybell in the Broadway production of Hair Gel.
With the increase in popularity, Love was a frequent guest on various television shows and projects. So, starting in the mid-1980s, she performed the musical composition Christmas (Baby Please Come Home) every year on the Christmas shows Late Night with David Letterman and Late Show with David Letterman.
Darlene Love at present
Darlene Love is in amazing physical shape. Despite her age, the singer looks just great. She continues to delight fans with her gorgeous voice. In 2019, Darlene Love performed in New York, California, Pennsylvania and New Jersey.
