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Melanie Safka died on Tuesday, Jan. 23, according to a Facebook post by her family. A cause of death was not given. The Long Branch native was born on Monday, Feb. 3, 1947, her IMDb page said.
Her children called her a powerful performer and loving parent.
"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," Leilah, Jeordie, and Beau Jarred said.
"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 reached No. 1 on the Billboard with her 1971 hit song "Brand New Key." She was also widely known for other songs like "Lay Down (Candles in the Rain)", her cover of "Ruby Tuesday" by The Rolling Stones, "What Have They Done to My Song Ma", and "Will You Love Me Tomorrow".
Melanie attended Long Branch High School and transferred to Red Bank Regional High School, where she was inducted into the school's hall of fame in 2015.
"I was maybe the only oddball there," Melanie wrote in a 2020 post on Facebook. "If anything I would've been called a beatnik but they didn't have those in Red Bank."
Her passion for writing songs like "Momma Momma" as a teen took her to the height of the hippie movement at Woodstock in August 1969. Melanie said her mother drove her from the Jersey Shore to the legendary music festival on a dairy farm in Bethel, New York.
On the 50th anniversary of Woodstock, Melanie reflected on the impact the iconic festival had on her career, music, and the rest of the world.
"The artists were strong with songs they'd written to convey a certain feeling that was alive at that time," Melanie wrote in 2019. "They weren’t the product of a political campaign or today’s music machine. We thought if each person could change himself how wonderful we would make the world. If together in such large numbers we demonstrated love, maybe some way the world would be better.
"How that was supposed to work, I can not say. But Woodstock did make the world more peaceful. We must have done something right."
Seeing candles, lighters, and other glowing lights from the Woodstock crowd inspired Melanie to write "Lay Down (Candles in the Rain)." Her family asked everyone to light candles in her memory at 10 p.m. CST on Wednesday, Jan. 24.
Fans poured out their hearts and shared their memories of Melanie after hearing the news of her death.
"Melanie, thank you for sharing your voice with us," one fan wrote on Melanie's Facebook page. "Thank you for the meaningful emotions that your incredible work has evoked through our ears and into our hearts. And, most of all, thank you for all the smiles. Because "if everybody smiles, we'll have a hometown all over the world".
"I have many of her albums and still listen to them," another fan commented. "So many of her profound songs with their rich, deep, and meaningful lyrics resonated with me. This is one of my all-time favorites: Little Bit of Me. The song has always brought tears to my eyes, but especially so now...especially this poignant lyric:🎵"Now when it is all over and I become a seed they'll plant me in the universe where the balance got to be."🎵She will be sooo missed🫶💕."
According to Variety, Melanie had been working on a new album of cover songs before her death.
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