Melanie, Woodstock standout and 'Brand New Key' singer, dies at 76

Melanie, the folk-pop singer and songwriter who delivered a standout performance at Woodstock as a relative unknown in 1969 and went on to score hits with "Brand New Key" and "Lay Down (Candles in the Rain)," died Tuesday at 76.

Her children, Leilah, Jeordie, and Beau Jarred, announced the news on her verified Facebook page. A cause of death was not disclosed.

"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," they said. "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."

They added, "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 of you, from the stars."

Melanie, born Melanie Anne Safka in New York in 1947, had her first public performance at the age of 4, on the radio show Live Like a Millionaire. As a teen she began performing in coffeehouses, eventually leading her to sign with Columbia Records. While her debut album was well-received, it was her Woodstock performance that put her on the map. Melanie was one of three solo women to perform at the festival. She did not appear on screen in the 1970 documentary Woodstock, but her set was included as an extra on the 40th-anniversary DVD release.

Melanie recalled the performance fondly but admitted that she was "terrified" at the time; she was helicoptered in, led to a tent, and told to wait. "Every once in a while, someone would stick their head in and say, 'You're next!' and then, 'Never mind,'" she recalled to NJ.com in 2014. "I became so terrified all day that I developed a bronchial cough. I was in this weird terror all day long."

She continued: "I didn't go on until after Ravi Shankar. It started to rain. I finally got on. I went on stage, totally terrified. Right before, an announcer made an inspirational announcement about passing out candles. Somewhere in there, I absorbed all of that. And then, I had an out-of-body experience. I did. I really did. I left my body. I watched myself. At some point, I was back in my body. I felt this incredible glow of human connectedness. I was not afraid any more. I sang my heart out for a half-hour."

The experience provided the basis for her breakthrough hit, "Lay Down (Candles in the Rain)." From there, lighting candles became a trademark of her concerts, for better or worse. As she wrote in a 2019 Rolling Stone essay reflecting on the Woodstock experience, "It became so connected with my concerts that my shows were getting banned because fire departments wouldn't approve them. In fact, they wouldn't let me do concerts in New Jersey for several years because they said I constituted a music festival, and they didn't allow festivals in that state."

"Brand New Key" was released in 1971, becoming an inescapable track that reached No. 1 on the charts (it was her only top 10 hit in the U.S.). The song remains recognizable for its inclusion in films and TV shows like Boogie Nights and Doctor Who.

Melanie would later reach the top 10 in the U.K with her cover of the Rolling Stones' "Ruby Tuesday." Over the course of her career, she released 28 studio albums, with songs including "What Have They Done to My Song Ma," "Ring the Living Bell," "Together Alone," and a cover of "Will You Love Me Tomorrow."

Melanie married record producer Peter Schekeryk in 1968, with whom she shared her three children. Schekeryk died in 2010. Melanie recently collaborated on music with her children, and was working on a new album of cover songs.

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