Moore was born Beatrice Melba Hill or Beatrice Melba Smith in New York City to Gertrude Melba Smith, who was a singer professionally known as Bonnie Davis and Teddy Hill, a big band leader.
19 Facts About Melba Moore
2.
For high school, Melba Moore attended Newark Arts High School, graduating in 1958.
3.
Melba Moore began her recording career in 1967, cutting the track "Magic Touch" which was left unreleased until 1986.
4.
In later years it became an enormous track on the Northern Soul Scene, eventually leading to Melba Moore performing it live in 2009 at the Baltic Soul Weekender 3 in Germany north of Hamburg.
5.
Melba Moore's career picked up after she met record manager and business promoter Charles Huggins after a performance at the Apollo Theater in 1974.
6.
The song is most notable for Melba Moore's extended long note at the end.
7.
In 1986, Moore headlined the CBS television sitcom Melba; its debut aired the same night as the Challenger explosion and the show was abruptly cancelled, though five episodes aired that summer.
8.
Melba Moore had a starring role in the 1990 horror film Def by Temptation.
9.
Melba Moore returned to Broadway in 1995 landing a part in Les Miserables.
10.
In 2003, Melba Moore was featured in the film, The Fighting Temptations, which starred Cuba Gooding, Jr.
11.
In 2021 Melba Moore collaborated with Stone Foundation on the song "Now That You Want Me Back".
12.
In 2022, Melba Moore performed in Washington DC in "Roll On", a gospel musical that originally opened with her in 2006.
13.
Melba Moore was engaged in a four-year relationship with television star Clifton Davis during the early 1970s.
14.
In September 1974, Melba Moore married record manager and business promoter Charles Huggins.
15.
In 1999, Huggins filed suit against Melba Moore claiming that she had publicly defamed him by stating that he abused her economically.
16.
Melba Moore was nominated for a Grammy Award in 1971 for 'Best New Artist'.
17.
Melba Moore was nominated for Best Female Rock Vocal Performance in 1986 for "Read My Lips".
18.
Melba Moore is the 2012 Recipient of the Atlanta Black Theatre Festival Theatre Legend Award.
19.
Melba Moore received the 2015 Sandy Hosey Lifetime Achievement Award during the Artists Music Guild's 2015 AMG Heritage Awards broadcast held on November 14,2015 in North Carolina.