Melanie Thornton

Early life

Melanie Janene Thornton was born in Charleston, South Carolina and began studying voice from the age of six, as well as learning to play the piano and the clarinet. Inspired by singers whom she idolized and grew up listening to such as Aretha Franklin and Roberta Flack, Thornton would mimic the female vocalists she watched on television and/or heard on radio. Later on, she financed her college studies with appearances in talent shows and smaller band concerts. Throughout that period, she frequented a club called The Peacock Lounge, getting up and doing jam sessions when the live band invited people up to sing.

Career

1991–1994: Career beginnings

She had long dreamt of a career in music and in February 1991, Thornton went to Germany. Her sister lived there with her U.S. Army husband and Thornton had dual citizenship in Germany and the United States. Her uncle, Bob Chisolm, a singer and piano player, encouraged her to give the German nightclub circuit a try. She had been singing in a Macon, Ga., band, Danger Zone, pulling down $50 on a good night. However, Bob Chisolm told her that on a bad night in Germany she would make $150. Thornton provided guest vocals for a lot of dance projects on their single releases, such as Orange Blue's "If You Wanna Be (My Only)", Comic's "I Surrender to Your Love", 100%'s "Power of the Light", Trance-Vision's "Take Me 2 Heaven 2 Nite" or Men Behind's "Feel the life" and "How Can I."

1994–1999: La Bouche and "Sweet Dreams"

Main article: La Bouche

Thornton tried it and soon found work in studios recording demos. It was her recording of the song "Sweet Dreams" that caught the attention of producer Frank Farian, the mastermind of the infamous 1980s duo Milli Vanilli. Farian took her under his wing, teaming her with rapper Lane McCray in the duo La Bouche, which is French for "The Mouth". La Bouche went on to become one of the biggest Eurodance groups of the 1990s, with a string of hits, worldwide. They released two studio albums "Sweet Dreams" and "S.O.S.", with "A Moment of Love" being the European version of "S.O.S.", the remix album "All Mixed Up" followed by a string of hits like "Sweet Dreams (Ola Ola E)", "Be My Lover", "Fallin' in Love", "I Love to Love", "Bolingo (Love is in the Air)", "You Won't Forget Me" or "S.O.S." In February 1999, she would leave La Bouche to be replaced by Natascha Wright as the new front-woman. Next to La Bouche, Thornton continued providing guest vocals on singles such as Orange Blue's "If You Wanna Be (My Only)", & Men Behind’s “How Can I" and on Le Click's U.S. chart debut "Tonight is the Night" in 1995.

2000–2001: "Ready to Fly"

She signed a record deal with Sony/Epic Records. Her first solo single was released in November 2000, titled "Love How You Love Me", a ballad (the CD-maxi includes a few dance remixes). Thornton presented her new single on November 29, 2000, on the RTL Spendenmarathon, and on December 1 at the Dome in Berlin. The follow-up singles were "Heartbeat" in March 2001, and "Makin' Oooh Oooh (Talking About Love)" in September 2001. On May 7, 2001, Thornton released her first (and only) solo album entitled Ready to Fly under the label X-Cell, distributed by Sony/Epic Records. The album featured a mixture of soul and dance tracks that showed off her powerful voice. There was also a special edition of the album released later on November 26, 2001, featuring some remix bonus tracks and bonus songs such as the single "Wonderful Dream (Holidays Are Coming)". Thornton continued to do club appearances in the United States under the billing "Melanie Thornton, formerly of La Bouche". She was featured on Joy-Lab's single release "Freedom (Free Your Mind)" in 2001.

Death

Main article: Crossair Flight 3597

On November 24, 2001, Thornton and the German-Dutch Eurodance Trio Passion Fruit performed in Leipzig for the Christmas Coca-Cola tour; and two hours later, they took the flight from Berlin to Zürich, Switzerland on Crossair Flight #3597 for an upcoming night club performance and television appearances (among others, the broadcast Die Bar on TV3, which were cancelled after the crash). During the flight’s final moments, the flight captain (Hans Lutz) descended the plane too early to spot the runway at Zürich Airport and the plane crashed into a hill in a local forest in the town of Bassersdorf, Switzerland.

Thornton was among the 24 passengers who died in the crash. She was 34 years old. Two members from Passion Fruit — Maria Serrano Serrano and Nathalie van het Ende — also died in the crash, while one member (Debby St. Maarten) was among the nine survivors.

A memorial service for Thornton was held at the Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church in Berlin on November 30, where German singer Sarah Connor sang "Love How You Love Me". Thornton was buried at Mount Pleasant Memorial Gardens, in Mount Pleasant, Charleston County, South Carolina.

Aftermath and posthumous releases

Although Thornton's death occurred on the eve of the Christmas season, Coca-Cola decided to air the commercial featuring Thornton's "Wonderful Dream (Holidays Are Coming)" as planned. The original commercial has aired in Germany every year since 2001 around Christmas time, and the song has been in the German single charts every year since. It has also aired in several other countries. On November 25, 2002, the single "In Your Life" by La Bouche with Thornton, returning posthumously on lead vocals, was released to commemorate the first anniversary of her death. Included is an "in memory" dedication from Lane McCray and SonyBmg/X-Cell Records. The single has been included in the first La Bouche "Best of" compilation (Credited as "La Bouche feat. Melanie Thornton") on May 21, 2002. On December 1, 2003, another remix compilation called "Memories – Her Most Beautiful Ballads" was released containing her ballads and songs in acoustic ballad versions. On April 2, 2007, the second La Bouche compilation "Greatest Hits" was released.

Discography

Studio albums

Compilation albums

• 1996: All Mixed Up (La Bouche Remix Album) (December 16, 1996)
• 2002: Best of (Credited as "La Bouche feat. Melanie Thornton") (May 21, 2002)
• 2003: Memories – Her Most Beautiful Ballads (December 1, 2003)
• 2007: Greatest Hits (La Bouche) (April 2, 2007)

Singles

Singles (as featured artist)

• 1993: Feel the Life (Men Behind feat. Melanie Thornton)
• 1994: If You Wanna Be (My Only) (Orange Blue feat. Melanie Thornton)
• 1994: I Surrender to Your Love (Comic feat. Melanie Thornton)
• 1994: Power of the Light (100% feat. Melanie Thornton)
• 1994: Take Me 2 Heaven 2 Nite (Trance-Vision feat. Melanie Thornton)
• 1994: How Can I (Men Behind feat. Melanie Thornton)
• 1994: Nobody (Hysterie feat. Melanie Thornton)
• 1994: Tonight Is the Night (Le Click feat. Melanie Thornton)
• 1994: Freedom (Free Your Mind) (Joy-Lab feat. Melanie Thornton)
• 1995: Skate with me (Loop feat. Katarina Witt, Melanie Thornton, Joan Faulkner & Linda Rocco)

References

Literature

• Lois Chisolm: Sweet Dreams Fulfilled: The Melanie Thornton Story. Lois Thornton Chisolm, 2012.

References

1. (May 27, 1996). "La Bouche sings it like it is". Tampa Bay Times.
2. (November 27, 2001). "Melanie Thornton, 34; Singer With La Bouche Pop Duo Dies in Crash". Los Angeles Times.
3. (November 26, 2001). "US singer dead in Swiss crash".
4. [http://austriancharts.at/search.asp?search=melanie+thornton&cat=s Austrian peaks]
5. "Home – Offizielle Deutsche Charts".
6. Hung, Steffen. "Die Offizielle Schweizer Hitparade und Music Community".
7. link. (February 25, 2012)
8. "Vuonna myönnetyt kulta- ja platinalevyt: La Bouche". [[IFPI]] (Finland).
9. Musikindustrie, Bundesverband. "BVMI – Datenbank".
10. link. (February 9, 2012 (Retrieved July 28, 2008))
11. link. (December 12, 2011 (Retrieved July 28, 2008))
12. {{cite certification
13. link. (July 1, 2007 (Retrieved July 28, 2008))