Darlene Love

A powerful, versatile vocalist, Darlene Love provided a special ingredient that often helped songs reach a higher stratosphere. Best known for her collaborations with Phil Spector -- and, to an extent, her subsequent acting career -- Love reached the top of the charts and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Born on July 26, 1941, in Los Angeles, Love began singing in church, and then paid her dues in an assortment of doo-wop and vocal groups. Her biggest success came early, when she sang lead vocals on “He’s a Rebel” in 1962. While she was never a member of the Crystals, the group to which the song was attributed, the song reached Number 1 and was an early defining example of Spector’s trademark sound. That same year, Love was a backing vocalist on the Number 8 hit “Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah”, a Spector-produced version of the Disney tune, released as Bob B. Soxx & the Blue Jeans. Things didn’t slow down in 1963, as she released several singles that reached the lower rungs of the charts, and closed out the year with “Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)”, from Phil Spector’s acclaimed A Christmas Gift for You album. The song has gone on to become a beloved holiday standard, and has been covered by U2, Mariah Carey, Cher (who was a backup singer on the original session), and many other artists. Further chart success eluded Love after 1963, but she remained very active as a backing vocalist, often as part of the Blossoms, and was featured on the Ronettes hits “Be My Baby” and “Baby, I Love You”, the Halloween classic “Monster Mash”, and Frank Sinatra’s “That’s Life”. Her legacy as a supporting singer was explored in the Oscar-winning 2013 documentary 20 Feet From Stardom, which focused on influential musicians who rarely received top billing despite being key collaborators. Love took off most of the ‘70s to start a family, and returned to entertainment in the ‘80s, when she began appearing in television and films. Notably, she appeared in all four installments of the Lethal Weapon franchise, playing the wife of Danny Glover’s Roger Murtaugh. She eased into respected veteran status, was a regular participant in celebrations of the music of the ‘60s, and hosted an annual Christmas concert. She was voted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as part of the 2011 class, and released the playfully-titled Introducing Darlene Love in 2015.