How this lady never got her props in music nor theatre, is truely a wonder...

http://www.dailymotion.co...thing-1980

She's a broadway dynamite too....anybody who haven't seen in 'Purlie' should start now. Its def worth tracing

I saw her at my aunt's church here in Brooklyn, about 3 weeks ago. She was there to promote her new CD and to talk about the work that she has been doing in Africa. She sounded GREAT!! She has had a lot of adversity in her life and I am glad to see that she is doing what she loves.

I saw her at my aunt's church here in Brooklyn, about 3 weeks ago. She was there to promote her new CD and to talk about the work that she has been doing in Africa. She sounded GREAT!! She has had a lot of adversity in her life and I am glad to see that she is doing what she loves.

shorttrini said:

Wow,,,I kinda envy you!

Anybody who goes out to see a Melba show doesn't come back bummed. She truly gives her money's worth to her audience.

Sadly, too much character like Ms.Moore is considered something scary to the eyes of "middle men" nowadays.

Harlepolis said:

Actually, Harlepolis, I'd say she DID get her props back in the day but when her "real life" intervened, she lost some of the glow (not in MY opinion, but I hope you know what I mean) having to deal with those issues. I was lucky enough to see her in Purlie on Broadway and that woman could hit some notes that you may never hear again!! I also have all of her albums from back then and remember the summer tv show she had with her then boyfriend, Clifton Davis. Had she been able to keep up the momentum, I don't doubt that she would be doing much better today. I just hope she can regain some of her glory because she is a deserving sister who still has a fabulous voice!

Thanks for the link, for some reason it got removed from youtube.

I LOVE Melba Moore

NewPowerSista said:

I'm sorry, I'm in the dark here

What kind of issues? I thought her work on the theatre was non-stop since she started out(the early 70s).

I honestly didn't know that she endured a set-back.

Harlepolis said:

Yeah I remember reading somewhere that like around sometime in the late 80s or early 90s, her husband left her and took everything, and all of that led up to her eventually goin on welfare and other things; I remember we had the Jet Magazine with Melba on the cover talkin bout all that.

DadeCounty305 said:

On welfare! You serious?

Talk about falling from riches down to rags was the husband, Clifton Davis?

Harlepolis said:

Naw, not Clifton Davis, and sheeeit, I can't see that dude doin anythang like that. I found this one article online, mentioning her then-husband/manager Charles Huggins.:



Award-winning singer-actress Melba Moore not only has sung about the blues; she just about has lived it within the last decade after she has had to deal with a divorce, welfare and estrangement from her daughter.

However, Moore's resilience won't allow her to wallow in sorrow about her past. She's moving back into the limelight with her new one-woman show, Sweet Songs: A Journey In One Life.

Moore was on top of the world when she first won fame in 1970 when she won a Tony Award for Best Supporting Actress for her role as Luttiebelle in the Broadway musical Purlie. She went on to appear in several TV shows and movies and even landed her own show, "Melba," in 1986.

As a singer, Moore made a name for herself with such hits as Love's Comin' At Ya, Livin' For Your Love, A Little Bit More, Falling and It's Been So Long. She even earned Grammy nominations for the albums, Read My Lips and This Is It.

But by the early '90s, Moore's life took a downturn.

She first endured a painful divorce from her then-husband/business manager Charles Huggins in February 1993, with whom she operated a multimillion-dollar management-production company, Hush Productions. Things were so heated during that time that she said she had to sneak into the office they once shared to retrieve her Tony Award-an allegation Huggins has denied.

Moore later made headlines when she applied for welfare, food stamps and emergency rent supplement in New York City in the same year her divorce was finalized. Things became more difficult, she said, because her friends turned their backs on her.

What's more, Moore said her daughter shunned her and moved out.

Now, nearly decade later, Moore is back and better than ever. In speaking of her trials and tribulations, the songstress said her options were either to lie down and die or to start over. She chose the latter.

Wow,,,,that was deep.

To possesse such royalty & status in the entertainment biz and then lose it at the drop of a dime is truly a scary thing to endure.

Whats even more sad is the rejection she suffered from her own flesh and blood. I got kids of my own and I'd die before I see my blood walk out on me.

Its beyond me how she managed to keep a straight face through out all this madness,,,,,thats a REAL stubbornly tough sister.

I applaud her strength. Thanx alot for the article, Dade I got more love and respect for 'Miss Thing' after that read
[Edited 5/28/07 19:11pm]

Harlepolis said:

Being on welfare is not the end of the world, nor is it a bad thing, Harlepolis. Sometimes, people just fall on hard times. The most important thing is that she has bounced back. He latest CD is pretty good and she was in the "Fighting Temptations", a few years ago. There are a few singers today, that should be taking pages out of her book.

shorttrini said:

I didn't say it was and I wasn't judging on her,,,but lets be honest here, considering where she came from, TO HER it must a humilation she had to endure for the sake of survival, just like Florence Ballard did before her.

Though unlike Florence, I'm happy that she overcame that crisis.

Thanks for filling in the details, folks. I'm just getting back on and see that other people knew the exact issues I was referring to....mainly the thing with her husband and how she became estranged from her daughter. I think that kind of thing might have done in a lesser woman so she has certainly proven herself to be a strong sista! We know it has happened to many women, but she has managed to serve as the example of a survivor and for that, I commend her.