Melanie Obituary: singer-songwriter who topped charts with Brand New Key, dies aged 76

Melanie Obituary, Death: This is the hardest post for us to write, and there are so many things we want to say, first, and there’s no easy way except to say it… Mom passed, peacefully, out of this world and into the next on January, 23rd, 2024.

Melanie Safka, the American singer-songwriter known as Melanie who had a global hit with Brand New Key, has died aged 76.

Born and raised in Queens, New York, Melanie broke through in the late 1960s after a grounding in the folk clubs of New York’s Greenwich Village. Chiming with the boom in singer-songwriters, her bright but husky voice appealed to pop fans and the counterculture alike, and she was signed to the Buddah label which released her debut album Born to Be in 1968. She first found success in Europe, with the album going Top 10 in France and the Netherlands.