Melanie Thornton

Melanie Janene Thornton was born in Charleston, South Carolina, on May 13, 1967. Her mother, Ida Mae Delores Thornton (née Grimball), was a seamstress and school teacher, while her father, Julius Caesar Thornton, was a businessman and owner of J.C. Thornton Excavating. Julius is of Cherokee and Portuguese ancestry. During this time, she began performing with a wedding band called Danger Zone.While she was primarily a background singer in the band, she occasionally sang lead during a few of the band's performances. As Danger Zone only performed during certain periods of the year, she worked as a cashier to provide income for herself. Her elder sister Lois, who was briefly visiting her family in the United States, convinced her to travel to Germany to further her music career. Lois's husband Todd Chisolm had an uncle (known as Uncle Bob) who was an established musician and was willing to help Thornton with her music career. Before traveling to Germany, she briefly visited her family members in New York who arranged for her to perform at the Apollo Theater's amateur night. ==Career==

1992–1994: Career beginnings To pursue her music career, Thornton traveled to Germany in February 1991 and lived her with sister. She began working with Uncle Bob and performing in local nightclubs. She briefly acquired a job singing at Old Joy's Pub, a piano bar in Marbella, Spain. The name stemmed from their music producers watching Melanie sing in studio sessions and noticing that her mouth was really big when she was singing. La Bouche headlined their own concert tour which also featured their former group Groovin' Affairs as part of their shows. By September 1996, the album Sweet Dreams had sold millions of copies worldwide. In December 1996, they issued a remix album titled All Mixed Up, which also included "Tonight Is the Night"; which had been released under Le Click with Thornton's vocals. In November 1997, La Bouche released their second album A Moment of Love, which featured a lighter sound than the standard Eurodance sound in attempt to appeal more to the American market. 2000–2001: Ready to Fly Managed by her elder sister Lois Chisolm, Thornton signed a solo record deal with X-Cell Records and Epic Records in mid-2000. In October 2000, Melanie released "Love How You Love Me", the lead single from her debut solo studio album, Ready to Fly. The song peaked in the top twenty in Germany. On May 7, 2001, she released her first album Ready to Fly on X-Cell Records. Released exclusively in Europe and featuring a sound different than La Bouche, the album peaked at number 5 in Germany. The singles "Heartbeat" and "Makin' Oooh Oooh (Talking About Love)" were moderate successes on the charts. On November 26, 2001, the album was reissued with a new song "Wonderful Dream (Holidays Are Coming)" and several remixed songs. "Wonderful Dream (Holidays Are Coming)" became her highest-charting solo single, peaking in the top five of several European countries. The song was also featured in a Coca-Cola Christmas promotional campaign. In November 2001, she embarked on the Christmas Coca-Cola Tour. ==Death==

On November 24, 2001, Melanie Thornton and several musicians boarded Crossair Flight 3597 aircraft at the Berlin Tegel Airport in Berlin, Germany, to travel to Zurich Airport in Switzerland after she completed a concert performance in Leipzig as part of the Christmas Coca-Cola Tour. The plane crashed into a wooded range of hills where it caught fire near the small town of Bassersdorf, around 4 kilometres (2.5 mi) short of the runway. Thornton and twenty-three others on board—including Nathaly van het Ende and Maria Serrano Serrano of the eurodance group Passion Fruit—were killed. At the time of her death, she was survived by her mother Ida Mae, sister Lois, niece, and nephews. As the subsequent investigation by the Swiss Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) determined, the accident was a controlled flight into terrain (CFIT) caused by a series of pilot errors and navigation mistakes that led the plane off-course. This course deviation caused the plane to crash north of its assigned landing strip, runway 28. While visiting his family for Thanksgiving in the United States, former La Bouche music partner Lane McCray received news of her death from a phone call with Crystal Waters. Funeral A memorial service for Thornton was held at the Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church in Berlin on November 30, where German singer Sarah Connor sang "Love How You Love Me". Following the memorial service, Thornton's family arranged for her to be transported to South Carolina for burial. Her funeral was held at Fielding Funeral Home's chapel in Charleston, South Carolina, on December 8, 2001. Former La Bouche music partner Lane McCray did not attend the memorial service or funeral as he felt his presence could be seen as a disruption, in addition to the undisclosed legal litigation against Thornton's sister Lois Chisholm. In May 2002, Frank Farian released a compilation album titled Best of La Bouche feat. Melanie Thornton. On November 25, 2002, La Bouche release the single "In Your Life" with Thornton's vocals to commemorate the first anniversary of her death. A music video featuring La Bouche member Lane McCray watching clips of Thornton was also released. On December 1, 2003, a remix compilation titled Memories – Her Most Beautiful Ballads was released containing songs in acoustic ballad versions on X-Cell Records. On April 2, 2007, a second La Bouche compilation titled Greatest Hits was released. In October 2014, DJ Bobo released a studio video of him and Thornton recording the song "Love of My Life". ==Artistry==

Voice Melanie Thornton had the vocal range of a soprano, and with the release of La Bouche's debut single "Sweet Dreams", several media outlets and music critics compared her sound to eurodance group Snap!. However, Pan-European magazine Music & Media remarked that the added value of this "throbbing piece of Euro dance is Melanie Thornton's massive vocals, which definitely set the track apart from most of her competition." When reviewing the song "Be My Lover", Richmond Times-Dispatch's reviewer stated, "I am insanely jealous of the lead female vocal, Melanie Thornton. She has a wonderful, flexible voice." Juha Soininen, author of ''Move Your Body (2 The 90's)'', commented "Her voice could lift even the most mediocre songs to new heights." Thornton's songwriting was specifically influenced by Lionel Richie, Smokey Robinson, and Stevie Wonder. The song "Be My Lover" was written as a call and response to fellow La Bouche member Lane McCray. dance pop, Author Juha Soininen noted that Thornton's solo album Ready to Fly was a departure from her sound with La Bouche into the R&B genre. Image Melanie Thornton's outfits were often designed and created by herself or her mother Ida Mae Delores Thornton. She would often refuse being styled by designer brands. Thornton was known for never repeating the same outfit twice. ==Personal life==

Melanie Thornton began dating Christian Thornton, whom she met in October 1999. They married on January 15, 2000. The couple made an televised appearance on German TV show Love Stories. The couple divorced after fourteen months of marriage. According to Sweet Dreams Fulfilled, The Melanie Thornton Story, the divorce stemmed from Christian Thornton, who had been diagnosed with bipolar disorder, refusing to stay consistent with his medication, which would result in emotional and verbal outbursts. One specific verbal altercation took place on set of the music video for "Heartbeat", in which Christian appears in as Thornton's love interest. In addition, Christian Thornton spent much of his time at strip clubs and doing drugs to cope with his mental illness. Following their divorce, Thornton began dating a former professional football player named Tre. ==Legacy==

Melanie Thornton sold over 13 million records during her career. Her song "Be My Lover" with La Bouche won an ASCAP award for the "Most Played Song in America", as well as an Echo Award for "Best National Dance Single" in 1996.{{cite magazine|title=Echo 1996 - The Winners ==Discography==

Studio albums Compilation albums • 2002: Best of La Bouche feat. Melanie Thornton • 2003: Memories - Her Most Beautiful Ballads Singles Singles (as featured artist) ==Awards and nominations==

• Lois Chisolm: Sweet Dreams Fulfilled: The Melanie Thornton Story. Lois Thornton Chisolm, 2012. ==External links==