Glastonbury and Woodstock legend Melanie Safka has died aged 76

American singer Melanie, whose full name was Melanie Safka, has passed away at the age of 76. She performed both at Glastonbury and Woodstock. Her three children Leilah, Jeordie and Beau Jarred shared the news of their mother’s passing on Facebook and wrote: “We are heartbroken, but want 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 and 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 you, from the stars.”

Melanie Safka’s children also asked that yesterday (January 24) at 10pm, CT, that “each of you lights a candle in honor of Melanie. 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.” 

Melanie Safka was born in New York in 1947 and studied at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts. She enjoyed performing at folk clubs in Greenwich Village and appeared at the Woodstock Festival in 1969; this was a year after she released her 1968 debut album Born to Be with Buddah records. 

Singer Melanie described the experience of performing at Woodstock for Rolling Stone in 1989 and said that “I had never performed in front of so many people in my life. I was just thrown into it, and I had my first out-of-body experience. I was terrified, I had to leave. I started walking across that bridge to  the stage, and I just left my body, going to a side, higher view. I watched myself walk onto the stage, sit down and sing a couple of lines. And when I felt it was safe, I came back.”

Melanie performed at Glastonbury in 1971 and 2011. Before she passed away, she had been in the studio working on a new album of cover songs Melanie Saflka is best known for her hit ‘Lay Down (Candles in the Rain)’ which was a collaboration with the Edwin Hawkins Singers. In 1971, she released ‘Brand New Key' which reached No.1. However, her success in the UK came when she did a cover of the Rolling Stones’ ‘Ruby Tuesday’ which reached the top 10.

Variety reported that “Melanie did not get her due in the male-dominated folk-rock scene of the time, and was too rarely mentioned even in the company of female artists like Joni Mitchell.” Melanie revealed to The Guardian that she was around at the time when “It wasn’t the age of smiling women.” She added that “Men can be cute. Randy Newman can sing ‘Short People’ and that’s OK because he’s a guy, he’s got something to say. But a girl? How could she possibly have any social significance?”