Melanie Safka, the singer of hit Brand New Key, has died at 76

American folk-pop singer Melanie is no more. The legendary singer, whose real name is Melanie Safka, breathed her last on January 23. She was 76.

No cause of death has been revealed.Melanie, full name Melanie Safka, had given major hits like “Brand New Key” and “Lay Down (Candles in the Rain)” in the early ’70s.

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News of Melanie's death was confirmed by her three children. In the post shared on Facebook, they 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 of you, from the stars.”

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Born in Queens, New York City, Melanie's father, Frederick M. Safka, was of Ukrainian ancestry, and her mother, Pauline Altomare, of Italian heritage, was a jazz singer.

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Melanie started singing at a very young age and made her first public singing appearance at age four on the radio show Live Like a Millionaire. During her college days, she continued to perform at coffee houses, and soon she signed a deal with Columbia Records and went on to release two singles, “Beautiful People” and “Garden in the City.” Her breakthrough came in 1969, when her single, ''Bobo's Party'', topped the charts and went on to shatter several records.

Following the success of her song, Melanie, then 22, performed in front of thousands of people at the Woodstock Music and Art Fair in 1969. She was one ofthree women who performed at the renownedfestival.

Later, the singer went on to release another song, Lay Down (Candles in the Rain), that went on to become a huge hit in the US. The song ranked sixth on the Billboard Hot 100 Singles chart.