Episode 2268: Melba Moore ~ TONY AWARD® Winning Actress, Hollywood Walk of Fame, Honoree, 4x Grammy® Nominee, TV, Film Trailblazer PLUS NEW Music "Imagine"

TONY AWARD®, United States Congressional Record & National Recording Registry of the Library of Congress, Hollywood Walk of Fame Inductee 2022!!Marvelous Melba is truly a triple threat in the entertainment industry -- winning top honors in music, theatre and television: American prolific 5 Octave singer and Tony award winning actress.Broadway, Contemporary Soul/R&B, Pop, Rock, Jazz, Gospel and Classical.The Music Historian in ME Loves to Talk to the Legends in Many Niche Careers & Ms. Melba Moore has a unique career in Entertainment!Melba has NEW Music Compilation called "Imagine'. Already Topping the American & British Soul charts.Melba Moore has done it all, twice. At the tender age of 10, Melba notes that it was then that she was introduced to music and that “I didn’t have any music in my life before my mother married my stepfather. He introduced music into our home and into my life.” From that moment forward, Melba began to develop her 5-octave, note-holding soprano that would soon bring audiences to their feet. Theater:Won a Tony Award for best featured actress in a musical for her role in the musical "Purlie,"Replaced  Diane Keaton in  the Broadway musical "Hair"Was first African American woman to play the female lead in the musical "Les Misérables" on Broadway.The Newark, NJ Arts High School graduate started doing recording sessions after a chance meeting with singer/songwriter/composer Valerie Simpson (of Ashford & Simpson).  That opportunity in the studio led Melba in the company of the Broadway musical “HAIR!” First in the ensemble of the show, Melba’s name was tossed into the conversation when actress Diane Keaton left the show and Melba took the female lead and broke all the rules, being the first Black woman to replace a white actress in a featured role on Broadway. The journey of Melba’s career took her meteorically from there to the lead of “PURLIE,” a musical adaptation of a play written by acting husband and wife pioneers Ossie Davis and Ruby Dee.  That role and its musical soundtrack would earn Moore a Grammy nomination as Best New Artist in 1971 and a Tony Award for Best Featured Actress.  The power of her presence on Broadway got Melba noticed and she became a virtual sensation.  TelevisionStarred in her own sitcom, "Melba." Melba Moore became so well known that network television offered her a summer variety series.  Starring Melba and actor/singer Clifton Davis, who was starring on Broadway in another show, the duo, who were dating, were given the choice to bring their mass appeal into Middle America.  Music Celebrated top hits during the70s, 80s and 90s-- "Falling," "You Stepped Into My Life," "Love’s Comin’ At Ya," and "A Little Bit More" — and othersPerformed a special rendition of 'Lift Every Voice and Sing' Merged her inspirational and gospel style in many songs.Soon after the success of the ‘The Melba Moore/Clifton Davis Show,” it was time for her soaring soprano to take her foray into the recording studio. First signed to Buddah Records, Melba had hits like “This Is It,” “Lean On Me” and “You Stepped Into My Life,” garnering Grammy nominations and international success. Later signed to Capitol Records, she followed that success with “Love’s Comin At Ya” and then a string of R&B hits followed, including "Read My Lips"—which later won Moore a third Grammy nomination (for Best Female Rock Vocal Performance), making her just the third black artist after Donna Summer and Michael Jackson to be nominated in the rock category.  Hits like the #1 "A Little Bit More" with Freddie Jackson and "Falling," a hypnotic ballad that features one of the longest held notes in recorded history. Moore would also record “Lift Every Voice And Sing” (the Negro National Anthem) at the behest of Dr. Dorothy Height, the president of the National Council of Negro Women, who wanted Moore to use her formidable talent to ensure(continued)