About this Artist

Rolling Stone has proclaimed DARLENE LOVE (Motormouth Maybelle) “one of the greatest singers of all times.” The New York Times declares that her “thunderbolt voice is as embedded in the history of rock and roll as Eric Clapton’s guitar or Bob Dylan’s lyrics.”

In the sixties, Love sang lead on a string of Phil Spector-produced hits, including “He’s a Rebel,” “Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah,” “(Today I Met) The Boy I’m Gonna Marry,” “Wait Til My Bobby Gets Home,” “Why Do Lovers Break Each Other’s Hearts?,” and the seasonal classic “(Christmas) Baby Please Come Home.” In addition, she sang background vocals on numerous other Spector-produced hits, including the Crystals’ “Da Doo Ron Ron,” the Ronettes’ “Be My Baby,” the Righteous Brothers’ “You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feelin’,” and Tina Turner’s “River Deep – Mountain High.”

In the seventies, Love joined with Dionne Warwick, whom she backed on record and on tour. She also sang on the Warwick-hosted TV show Solid Gold, which debuted in 1980.

In 1984 she starred in one of the first successful “jukebox musicals,” Leader of the Pack (based on the Ellie Greenwich songbook), which had extended runs at New York’s Bottom Line and on Broadway. She also did dramatic work, appearing in all three Lethal Weapon movies and a stage adaptation of Stephen King’s Carrie.

From August 2005 until April 2008, Darlene Love starred as Motormouth Maybelle in Broadway’s Hairspray.

Simultaneously, the veteran singer has begun recording under her own name again. In 2007, she released a holiday album, It’s Christmas Of Course. In 2010, she released a live retrospective, The Concert of Love. In 2011, Darlene Love received the highest honor in rock music: She was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.